I’ve been blogging for almost 2 years now (March), and I just realized I have never posted one of our all time favorite things. My friend Jean mentioned to my daughter  “I haven’t seen those those dried tomatoes your Mom used to make all the time”.  She’s right!  I used to make them every week or so!  We call it Tomato Candy because we eat it like candy.  “Toasted Tomatoes” or “Tomato chips” is another name.  They are so yummy!  Almost NO calories and relatively lo carb.    Healthy, and pretty easy to make, except for all the chopping.  And trust me, you want to make lots of them cause they go so fast!  I use Roma tomatoes because they are firmer.  Also remember that tomatoes are very juicy, so this will take longer to dry than other foods, such as the “Salami Chips” I posted last year.  (check table of contents under appetizers, meats, tips, etc).   I actually tried these in my Son’s food dehydrator.  It works eventually, but the problem is you can’t do enough of them at a time and they seem to take forever.

TOMATO CANDY

about 15 -20 Roma Tomatoes (after slicing and placing on baking sheet, dab them dry)

Olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper

Prepare two large cookie sheets with something Non-Stick. I use a Silpat.  You can use parchment paper, but spray it first because it sticks.  Ask me how I know….

Slice tomatoes as thinly as you can.  Drizzle with olive oil and “make it rain” with salt, pepper and Garlic Powder.  That just means you sprinkle it from up high and get it all over the tomatoes.  Also, notice it’s garlic powder, not salt.  If you use garlic salt, leave out the other salt.  It gets too salty…..again, Ask me how I know….

The tricky part of these is how long to cook them and how you like the finished product to be.  If you like them really crisp they will take longer, but just be sure to watch them and do 15 minutes at a time.  The could take as long as 3 or 4 hours.  So start by setting the oven at 250 degrees and check them after one hour.  Some people actually like them a little softer and chewier.  So that would be a shorter time.  But we like them like potato chips:  crispy! Again, the trick is not to let them burn.   Also, do not put these in plastic bags.  They won’t go bad and you need to leave them out in the air to stay crisp (unless you live in a  really wet climate).  You might have to crisp them up occasionally.

NOTES about tomato candy:  Tomatoes are juicy, so they take longer to dry.  I went through a period where I tried drying all kinds of things.  Onions were my favorite.  But this is just a recipe really for crazy people like me who like to try new things and aren’t afraid to fail!