Spicy eggplant strips

Ingre­di­ents:

• 1 tbsp map­le syrup
• 1 tbsp fresh­ly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teas­poon Toma­to paste
• 1/2 tsp Gar­lic powder
• 1/2 tsp Oni­on powder
• 1/2 tsp Papri­ka powder
• 1 tip of a kni­fe Chip­ot­le pow­der (made from smo­ked jala­pe­ño chi­li), more if desired
• 1 medi­um eggplant

Pre­heat the oven to 120°C and line a bak­ing tray with bak­ing paper. 

First the mari­na­de is made. To do this, whisk tog­e­ther the map­le syrup, lemon juice, toma­to pas­te, gar­lic pow­der, oni­on pow­der, papri­ka pow­der and chip­ot­le pow­der in a small bowl. 

Remo­ve the stem from the egg­plant and quar­ter it leng­thways. Cut the quar­ters into very thin sli­ces. The sli­ces will be most even if you use a vege­ta­ble slicer. 

Place the sli­ces on the bak­ing tray and brush light­ly with the mari­na­de. Turn over and brush the back too. 

Bake the sli­ces for 40 to 60 minu­tes, tur­ning the sli­ces half­way through the bak­ing time. Final­ly, you should check regu­lar­ly to ensu­re that the sli­ces do not beco­me too dark. 

The other opti­on is to dehy­dra­te the egg­plant sli­ces in a dehy­dra­tor for a lon­ger peri­od of time until they are crispy. 

At the end of the baking/drying time, let the strips cool on a kit­chen rack. They will keep in an air­tight con­tai­ner in the ref­ri­ge­ra­tor for 3 to 4 days. 

Bon appe­tit!

Source: Heal your brain, The prac­ti­cal program

Pho­tos: Maar­ja Urb