[1] We love these beet chips any day, with a glass of wine, a beer, or a Martini, dirty or otherwise (photo and recipe © Gelson’s).

[2] You can use any color of beets. We find the orange and white ones at farmers’ markets (photo © Edible Madison).

[3] How about a mix of red and orange beets (photo © Good Eggs).

[4] You don’t need beet chips to enjoy beet hummus. Here’s the recipe (photo © California Olive Ranch).

[5] Terra Chips were our first experience with gourmet veggie chips, way back in 1990 (photo River Soma | The Nibble).

[6] Today, Terra Chips are made in 16 flavors†, plus seasonal editions (photo © Good Eggs | Abacus).

[7] We’ve made chips in the microwave for years with our trusty Mastrad Chips Maker and Slicer Set (photo © Mastrad | Abacus).

How about something different for National Chip & Dip Day, March 23rd? We’re having beet chips with two different dips.

Thin-cut beets bake up delicate and crunchy, with an intense, earthy beet flavor that’s wonderful with rosemary and sea salt.

The chips feel fancier than store-bought veggie chips, and they’re simply delicious with wine, beer, or a Martini (dirty or otherwise).

Our tips: The beet chips are best when they’ve had a chance to crisp up, so time them to come out of the oven a few minutes before you want to eat them. For accompaniments, something like a light chive or dill dip wouldbe great. The chips would also be good as part of an ensemble that includes fresh veggies and hummus.

If you have a dehydrator, so much the better; or buy this affordable microwave version (photo #7)—we recommend buying an extra tray).

Below:

> The recipe for beet chips.

> Three dips to pair with them.

> The history of vegetable chips.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> Beet hummus recipe (photo #4).

> The history of beets.

> Exotic beets.

> The history of potato chips (ancestor of vegetable chips).

> The year’s 90+ snack holidays.

> The year’s 95+ vegetable holidays.
 
 
RECIPE: BEET CHIPS WITH SEA SALT & ROSEMARY

If you have a mandoline, now’s the time to get it out.

The red beets make dazzling chips, but we made a second batch with yellow beets and mixed them together. Gorgeous!
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 300°and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. TOSS the beets with kosher salt, rosemary sprigs, and olive oil and let them sit for 15 minutes. The beets will sweat a bit. Drain them and remove the rosemary.

3. TOSS the beets with sea salt and transfer them to the baking sheet, laying the beet slices out in a single layer.

4. BAKE for 45 minutes, and then check: The chips should be dark red and curled on the edges. If not, bake them for another 15 minutes or longer if necessary.

5. TRANSFER to a cooling rack to crisp up, and then serve immediately. Tip: Use a white platter so the color pops.
 
 
DIPS FOR BEET CHIPS

Beet chips have an earthy, concentrated sweetness and are thicker than potato chips, so they can handle a much thicker, bolder dip.

Whipped Feta Dip With Lemon and Hot Honey

The salty tangy of the feta sets of the sugar in the beets.

 
Horseradish & Chive Crème Fraîche Dip

Beet and horseradish are a classic Eastern European pairing. Balance the earthiness of beets with this high-acid creamy dip.

 
Smokey White Bean Hummus

This vegan dip is hearty and protein-packed from the beans. Beans make a smoother dip than conventional chickpea-based hummus.

 
 
THE HISTORY OF “OTHER” VEGETABLE CHIPS

Going back millennia, the dehydration and frying of sliced vegetables was a long-standing cooking technique. In the mid-19th century, what we call thinly sliced, crunch fried potatoes got commercialized as “chips.”

Potato chips were invented by accident in a contretemps at a resort in Saratoga, New York in 1853.

In fact, the situation soon‡ led to the use of the word “chip” for the potato chips we know today:

Because the potatoes were “chipped,” i.e., sliced‡, “Saratoga Chips” became a well-known, became sold to the many summer tourists, and the word “chip” shifted to describe crunchy, paper-thin snacks.

(In the U.K. the same snacks are called crisps.))

The first print mention of “potato-chip” appeared in print in the U.S. by 1854. By 1858, the “crispy delicacy” appeared in recipe books.

After 75 years, the generic “potato chips” eased the name “Saratoga Chips” out of the way.
 
The 1970s Home Dehydrators

Certainly, home cooks who like to deep-fry created their own chips. But home chip-making got a boost in the 1970s when home dehydrators came onto the market.

Health-oriented people began to make their own apple chips, fruit leathers, jerky, and veggie chips (today, beet, kale, parsnip, sweet potato, and zucchini chips are staples).

In the early 1990s, the famed infomercial entrepreneur Ron Popeil released the Ronco Electric Food Dehydrator. “Set It and Forget It!” was the tag line.

This made dehydrators affordable and accessible to the average household. Around the same time, consumers who had known no thing about jerky beyond Slim Jim realized there was tender, quality jerky to be made at home. Ronco was there to help feed their need for beef snacks.
 

In the late 20th century, what consumers mean by “vegetable chips”—beet, carrot, parsnip, sweet potato, taro mixes—became widely available as a packaged snack.
 
In the 1980s, two New York City chefs/caterers—Dana Sinkler and Alex Dzieduszycki—created a mix of multicolored root vegetable chips for their events. They were served with cocktails at parties, and the buzz grew.

A big retail order from Saks Fifth Avenue pushed them to focus on chips full-time. They launched Terra Chips in 1990 (photos #5 and #6).

Bags of Terra’s Real Vegetable Chips flew off the shelves. The duo gave up catering and focused on Terra Chips full-time*.

The brand quickly expanded into mainstream grocers and health food stores.

Prior to then there were niche/regional products and imported snacks—largely available at small natural food stores—but Terra Chips had a major hand in popularizing the category.

There are now some 16 different flavors of Terra Chips—including Beets & Sweets—plus seasonal flavors.

Given America’s thirst (pun intended) for crunchy, salty snacks, there may be no end in sight!

The article continues below with new ways to use veggie chips.
 

[8] Veggie chips brighten up a salad beyond the beige of bread croutons (Gemini Photo).
 
Beyond Snack Chips

Chefs and home cooks are already using veggie chips as bases for tartare or ceviche canapés, and for a twist on nachos (because beet, carrot, parsnip, and taro have higher fiber than corn chips, they don’t get soggy as quickly under the toppings).

Because vegetable chips—especially those made from beets, carrots, and parsnips—retain their cellular structure and concentrated sugars better than potatoes do, they are being utilized as versatile building blocks in the kitchen. They’re also gluten free.

Use them for:

 
Get Creative!

[9] New uses for beet and other veggie chips: as a horseradish dip” (recipe in the ‡‡footnote and as a cocktail rimmer for a Beet Gimlet (Gemini Photo).
 
________________
 
*After selling the Terra Chips to Hain Celestial Group in the late 1990s, Alex Dzieduszycki founded Alexian, a gourmet foods brand known for pâtés, mousses, terrines, and related charcuterie-style products.

**An amuse-bouche is an hors d’oeuvre served at the table at the start of a meal, to “awaken the palate.” It means “mouth-amuser” in French, and it’s something unanticipated. While the provenance of fine restaurant chefs, we enjoy it so much that we now serve them at home. The concept originated during the Nouvelle Cuisine movement in France in the 1960s and 1970s. It was popularized by a small circle of legendary French chefs: Paul Bocuse, Michel Guérard, and the Troisgros brothers, Jean and Pierre.

†The Terra Chips line as of this writing includes Original plus Blues, Classic, Exotic Potato, Heritage Blend, Mediterranean Plantains, Salt & Vinegar, Screamin’ Hot, Sour Cream & Onion, Sweet Plantains, Sweet Potato, Sweet Potato Crinkle Cut, Sweet & Smoky BBQ, Sweets & Beets, and Taro. Seasonal flavors include He5rbed Stuffing, Red, White & Blues, and Sweets & Apples.

‡The first recorded food to be called a chip was in 1769, referring to thin, preserved slices of fruit (like orange or lemon peel). At this point, it meant any thinly sliced and dried piece of a plant. In the mid-19th century U.K., “chips” began to describe potatoes, but they referred to (and still refer to) what Americans call French fries. In British English, the potatoes were were cut with a knife—i.e., chipped—into chunks. The famous “fish and chips” consists of fried fish fillets with these fried chips. Charles Dickens is credited with one of the first literary mentions in “A Tale of Two Cities” (1859), where he describes “husky chips of potato, fried with some reluctant drops of oil.”

‡‡The feta-horseradish dip is served in small ramekins or whatever serveware you have that works. We serve it as an amuse-bouche. Ingredients for 1.5 cups, you’ll need 8 ounces (225g) firm feta, crumbled, 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (full fat for stability), 2 tablespoons EVOO, 1.5 tablespoons prepared horseradish (liquid drained), 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground pepper (use white pepper if you want a perfectly white dip), and an optional 1 teaspoon honey.

Preparation: 10 minutes. (1) Place the crumbled feta and EVOO in a food processor and pulse until it starts to become a thick paste. Add the yogurt and lemon juice. Process on high for 2–3 minutes until you have a completely smooth, aerated “mousse” texture. If it’s too stiff, add one more tablespoon of yogurt. (2) Fold in the horseradish, lemon zest, pepper, and optional honey. Pulse just 3–4 times to combine; don’t over-process the horseradish, or it can become bitter. (3) Chill to set. Transfer the dip to the individual ramekins and smooth the tops. Cover with a bit of plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes (or longer) to allows the proteins in the feta to firm back up, creating a “structural” surface for the beet chip lid.

Give the ramekins a gentle tap on the counter to remove air bubbles and create a glassy, flat top. Use a small offset spatula or the back of a warm spoon to smooth the tops. If any dip gets on the inner rim of the ramekin, wipe it away with a damp paper towel before refrigerating. Place the beet chip lid on at the last moment before serving, so moisture from the yogurt won’t soften the underside.

Optional surprise garnish: When the guest lifts up the beet chip, you can put a colorful surprise on top of the white dip. Suggestions: pomegranate arils and minced mint, toasted black sesame seeds and smoked salt, fried capers and lemon zest. Add it to the chilled dip, before placing the beet lid on top. Use the back of a small spoon to create a tiny “well” or indentation in the center of the chilled dip. Place the garnish in a tight, vertical pile in the well, keeping the garnish slightly lower than the rim of the ramekin to create a small air pocket between the dip and the beet chip lid. The air gap is the secret to keeping the chip crispy for up to 15–20 minutes after it’s been set on the table.

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While you can see all the vegetable holidays below, in botany there is no such thing as a “vegetable.” The term doesn’t exist in science,

 
Below:

> The history of vegetables.

> Botany meets kitchen: categories of vegetables.

> Some vegetable histories.

> The year’s 95+ vegetable holidays.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF “VEGETABLES”
 
1400s: The Linguistic Origin

Originally, the word vegetable didn’t mean a food group. It came from the Medieval Latin vegetabilis, which meant growing or flourishing.

 
1700s: The Scientific/Culinary Split

The specific use of “vegetable” to distinguish savory produce from sweet fruit didn’t solidify until the mid-18th century.

 
What defines a “vegetable?”

1893: The U.S. Courts Weigh In

As mentioned earlier, he most famous “official” distinction happened in the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Nix v. Hedden, adjudicated in 1893. It wasn’t about science; it was about taxes. To recap:

 
> The subcategories of follow, but first:
 
 
THE HISTORIES OF FAVORITE VEGETABLES
 
This is a small portion of The Nibble’s food histories. See the full list here.

 
…to be continued.

[1] Broccoli spans two categories: the bus are Flowers, and the stalks are Stems (photo © California Olive Ranch).

[2] Bulbs are a plant’s underground energy storage. Garlic, onions (in photo), and shallots are examples (photos #2 and #3 © Good Eggs).

[3] Rhizomes are horizontal underground stems that send out roots. Examples include galangal, ginger (in photo), and turmeric.

[4] Root crops are those that are pulled from the soil. Botanically, they are divided into taproots (a single, dominant root that grows straight down e.g., beets, carrots, parsnips, radishes, and turnips) and tuberous roots, which are modified lateral roots that swell to store nutrients (e.g., cassava, sweet potatoes). The photo may appear to be radishes, but they’re baby beets, a cousin (photo © Burpee).

[5] Tubers are swollen underground storage stems. They’re different from roots. Examples include Jerusalem artichokes a.k.a. sunchoke (in photo), potatoes, and yams (photo © Culinary Vegetable Institute).

 
________________
 
*National Tomato Day is June 1st. April is National Florida Tomato Month. October is National Tomato Month.

**Botanically speaking, a tomatillo is a fruit, specifically, a berry. However, like its cousins the tomato and the eggplant, it is almost always treated as a vegetable in the kitchen because of its acidic, savory, and slightly herbal flavor profile.

***The Tariff Act of 1883, signed by President Chester A. Arthur, required a tax to be paid on imported vegetables, but not fruit. The John Nix & Co. company filed a suit against Edward L. Hedden, Collector of the Port of New York, to recover back duties paid under protest on his imported tomatoes, which were botanically fruits. The Supreme Court unanimously voted that the tomato should be classified under the customs regulations as a vegetable, based on the ways it is used. While there have been numerous tariff law revisions since then, since the Supreme Court never overturned its decision, it remains the standard for how the U.S. government interprets produce categories when a law doesn’t provide a specific botanical definition—i.e., the heck with science, it depends on how the item is used.

†The official name for March 16th holiday is National Artichoke Hearts Day. However, many people and organizations (including the California Artichoke Advisory Board) use the names interchangeably, so you will frequently see it listed simply as National Artichoke Day.

‡Botanically, garlic is not a vegetable in the traditional sense; it is a bulb. It belongs to the genus Allium, making it a close cousin to chives, leeks, onions, and shallots. Because it’s a part of a plant that stores energy underground, a bulb functions similarly to a tuber, but its structure (layers of cloves) classifies it specifically as a lily-family bulb. It’s the underground storage organ of a perennial plant. In the USDA dietary guidelines, however, it’s grouped with vegetables because of its nutrient profile.
 

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It’s National Celery Month and April is National Fresh Celery Month, both celebrating a vegetable that most of us don’t pay much attention to.

Yet celery, an unsung hero, is one of the most versatile “workhorse” vegetables in the kitchen.

According to the California Celery Research Advisory Board, U.S. per capita consumption of celery is about 9 to 10 pounds per person annually. That means that even if you don’t think you eat much celery, you do—in one way or another.

While it may be best known as healthy munchie (alone or with carrot sticks) and as stuffed celery (from Ants on a Log to fancier fillings like crabmeat salad), it’s famously the star of Ants on a Log (stuffed with peanut butter and raisins), its most popular uses are actually foundational to global cooking.

To give celery it due, we have a number of “food for thought” suggestions below, including:

> Fancy stuffed celery recipes (photo #8).

> Beyond the Bloody Mary, other cocktails that like a celery stick garnish.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of celery.

> The two different types of stalk celery.

> The year’s 7 celery holidays.

> More ways to use celery.

> 35 celery recipes from Bon Appetit.
 

[6] Cheesecake-filled celery sticks for a sweet-and-crunchy snack. Here’s the recipe (photo © Duda Fresh).
 
 
1. AROMATICS

Before we proceed, a tip: Don’t throw away the celery leaves. They are:

 
Onto the main body: the celery stalk.

 
As part of the flavor foundation of many Western recipes, celery is a critical component of major vegetable bases used to start most soups, stews, and sauces. The “big three”:

 
 
2. MAYONNAISE-BOUND SALADS

Because of its high water content and satisfying crunch, celery is the primary way to add texture to salads that bind the ingredients with mayonnaise. Celery provides the essential “snap” in:

 
 
3. SNACKS, SIDES

 
 
4. SOUPS & STOCKS

 
 
5. DRINKS

 

[7] Cheesy celery gratin is an unexpected but special side. Here’s the recipe.
 

[2] Top grilled fish with shredded celery hearts or ribs (photo © King Restaurant | NYC).

[3] Instead of peanut butter and raisins, these “ants on a log” use cream cheese and other toppings (photo © Cava).

[4] A sophisticated upgrade: lady bugs on a stick tops the celery with guacamole and cherry tomatoes (photo © Calavo Avocado).

Thai Celery Salad[/caption]
[5] You don’t need lettuce for a green salad. This Thai salad combines celery, peanuts, chiles, and cilantro. Here’s the recipe.

[6] If you like cream of celery soup, this easy recipe cooks in just 25 minutes (photo © Taste Of Home).

Start with uniform lengths: cut all the stalks to exactly 2.5 or 3 inches.

 
Seafood

 
 
Sophisticated Cheeses

 
 
Gourmet

 

[9] Three cocktails with celery garnishes: Celery Gimlet, Savory Gin & Tonic, and Dirty Martini (Abacus Photo).
 
 
CELERY STICK COCKTAIL GARNISHES

Celery is a surprisingly versatile garnish because of its structural integrity and its ability to provide a crunchy, vegetal contrast to a drink.

While it is the go-to partner for a Bloody Mary, here are several other cocktails where a celery stick (or a small celery heart) works beautifully.

It the stalk is too wide, use half of it, sliced vertically.

We’ll start with Bloody Mary’s “relatives” before moving onto drinks that are only related to her by alcohol.

 
Now, for the “Way Beyond Bloody Mary” cocktails:

 

[10] Pascal celery, the most common type grown in the U.S. (photo © Good Eggs).

________________
 
*For drinks like a Celery Gimlet, savory G&T, or Dirty Martini with celery and olives, check out:
> Gin Mare (Spain), for explicit olive/rosemary/thyme synergy.
> Monkey 47 (Germany, Black Forest): 47 botanicals, with plenty of forest herbs and lots of green, herbal, and woody notes.
> Hendrick’s Orbium (Scotland), for a bitter, more amaro-adjacent Martini base.
> St. George Terroir (California), for lots of pine and sage.
> The Botanist (Scotland, Islay), for layered herbal complexity that’s still very mixable.
 

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Below:

[1] Guinness, a St. Pat’s standard (photo © Erik Jacobson | Unsplash).

[2] Irish whiskey, straight, on the rocks, or cocktails (photo © Slane Irish Whiskey).

[3] Baileys Irish Cream, the O.G. Irish cream liqueur (Abacus Photo).

[4] Irish Coffee in the standard glass mug (photo © Libbey).

[5] Smithwick’s Irish Red Ale (photo © Smithwick’s).

[6] Irish whiskey on the rocks (photo © Jameson Whiskey).

 
 
THE PURPOSE OF CINCO DE MARCHO

A clever play on Cinco de Mayo, its intent is to start a 12‑day “liver training” discipline leading up to the heavy drinking often associated with St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th. It was established in 2007.

The founders—the fancifully named Carlos Fantastico and Lady O’ Le, realized on March 5th that year that they’d need to “prepare” for a St. Patrick’s Day with heavy-drinking friends.

They were at a Mexican restaurant at the time, drinking Margaritas at a Mexican restaurant, noticed the coincidence with Cinco de Mayo, and turned it into a recurring joke-holiday that blends Mexican‑style drinks with Irish‑themed drinking culture.

Their thought was that people—especially those who don’t drink much normally—need to “warm up” with Margaritas or drinks of choice starting on March 5th, so they’d be ready for St. Patrick’s Day festivities.

It you’d like to celebrate Cinco de Marcho, today’s the day to start.

Here are 35 Margarita recipes: many more than you need to “warm up.”
 

[7] Classic Margarita (photo © Casa Noble Tequila).

> To warm up with St. Patrick’s Day drinks, head to the section below.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of St. Patrick’s Day.

> 100+ Irish-themed recipes for every meal of the day.

________________
 
Editor’s Note: The Spanish word for March is Marzo, not Marcho. National Margarita Day is February 22nd.
 
 
THE MOST POPULAR ST. PATRICK’S DAY DRINKS

At bars you’ll find green beers (lager + a few drops of green coloring, green vodka lemonades, “Lucky” green Margaritas, Shamrock and Grasshoper-type cocktails, (minty green, often crème de menthe + cream).

If you want to host a St. Patrick’s Day cocktail party, here’s where to start.

Irish Beer

 
Plus:

 
Irish Whiskey

 
Irish Cream Liqueur

 
 
ELSEWHERE ON THE NIBBLE

> The history of beer.

> The different types of beer: a photo glossary.

> The different types of whiskey: a photo glossary.

> The history of whiskey.

> The different types of whiskey and whiskey (Irish) vs. whisky (Scotch).

> The history of cocktails.

> The year’s 50+ cocktail and spirits holidays.

> The year’s 40+ beer holidays.
 

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Why?

To accent various foods and drinks, of course. But there’s a bonus benefit: Charring citrus fills the house with fragrance.

It’s far better than aroma of baking cookies for fragrance, a trick recommended by realtors when potential buyers come to view your home.

Be it lemon, lime, grapefruit, or orange, there’s plenty you can do with charred citrus.

Below:

> Why char citrus fruits?

> The recipe to char citrus.

> Uses for charred citrus.

> The year’s 45+ citrus fruit holidays.

> More smoky foods.
 
 
Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The year’s 40+ citrus holidays.

> The history of grapefruits.

> The history of lemons.

> The history of limes.

> The history of oranges.

> The history of mandarins.

> The difference between mandarins and oranges.

> The different types of lemons: a photo glossary.

> The different types of limes: a photo glossary.

> Albedo? Columella? Exocarp? Beyond the rind and the juice sacs, check out the different parts of a citrus fruit.
 
 
WHY CHAR CITRUS FRUITS?

Charring any citrus fruit gives it more depth and complexity: the sweet notes are sweeter, the acidity is somehow brighter, and then the smoky aroma and flavor is a treat for lovers of smoky foods. See more of them below.

Charred lemons, limes, oranges, and other citrus fruits develop a smoky, caramelized flavor that adds depth and brightness to both savory and sweet dishes. There are numerous uses for them below.
 
Charred Vs. Grilled Citrus

In culinary terms, grilling is a controlled enhancement to a food, while charring is a deliberate transformation of it.

A grilled lemon is still fundamentally a lemon; a but a charred lemon is something more intense.

 
 
RECIPE: CHARRED LEMONS, LIMES, & ORANGES

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the broiler. Slice the ends off the citrus fruits, and then slice them in half.

2. PLACE the citrus on a cast iron griddle or a baking sheet with the cut side up. Broil on the very top rack, or as close as you can get, for 10 to 15 minutes or until charred.

3. COOL the citrus before using.

[1] It’s easy to char fresh citrus. Here’s a video (Chat GPT Photo).

[2] Slice ‘em and char ‘em (photo © Monika Stawowy | Wesual | Unsplash).

[3] Squeeze the juice of the charred lemon or lime for a charred lemonade or limeade with mezcal. Here’s the recipe. You can omit the mezcal for non-drinkers (photos © Gelson’s Market).

[4] Grilled salmon with charred lemon and orange slices. Here’s the recipe (photo © Wild Alaskan Company).

Charred lemons in particular have been having a moment in restaurant kitchens over the past several years, showing up in everything from cocktails to vinaigrettes to finishing sauces. The technique is simple enough for home cooks but adds a sophisticated touch.

All charred citrus fruits develop a smoky, caramelized flavor that adds depth and brightness to both savory and sweet dishes. Here are some popular and creative uses for them:

 
While not a citrus fruit, we want to give a shout out to charred tomatoes. Use them in:

 
 
MORE SMOKY FOODS

If you like smoky flavors, there’s world of smoked foods in the U.S. that goes way beyond the usual brisket, ribs, smoked salmon, and Lapsang Souchong tea. Here are more smoked foods to buy or make:

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