A very common belief is that chicken skin is bad for us because it is a concentrated source of saturated fat and cholesterol.
I don’t buy into this perception.
Saturated fat is a naturally occuring fat found in conjunction with other fats in both plant and animal sources. Our physiology requires saturated fat from birth. The fat portion of breast milk is 48% saturated fat, 33% monounsaturated and 16% polyunsatured.
While contrary to popular belief “Saturated fats are heart protective: they lower the Lp(a) in the blood (Lp(a) is a very harmful substance which initiates athersclerosis in the blood vessels), reduce calcium deposition in the arteries and are the preferred source of energy for the heart muscle. Saturated fats enhance our immune system, protect us from infections and are essential for the body to be able to utilise the unsaturated omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.” Dr. Natasha Campbell Mc Bride, author of Put Your Heart in Your Mouth
http://www.putyourheartinyourmouth.com/dr-natasha-campbell-mcbride.asp
What about cholesterol then? The body can make cholesterol even faster than it can extract it from food and there is good reason for this, we can’t live without it! Since this post is just about a recipe, I won’t get into it, but here is a link to learn why http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/
So now if you are the least bit brave or curious and still reading this and if you’ve known me for the last nearly 15 years as a vegetarian, then you’ll probably wonder how the heck I got to the place where I serve my children a near weekly dose of chicken chips!
It is pretty bizarre to me too, being that one of the things that turned me off from eating meat personally since I was a child, is the texture of grizzly, mushy fat!
While moving more towards a traditional diet including some animal foods, I feel that it is responsible, sustainable and respectful that we use the entire animal as best we know how….at this point with the cooking skills I have, I can use the meat, the bones and feet for broth and now the skins and soft parts for chicken chips! Next I will be experimenting with organ meats, but that is for another post.
Ok, so here are the chicken chips just out of the oven!
Still sizzling hot! My children love this local, healthy whole food snack! I am excited to have found a palatable way to serve such a nutritious food that is typically discarded in most north american homes.
And before I share the recipe, I must mention that Chicken Chips (AND dehydrated vegetable chips, such as Kale Chips!) are a way better choice than potatoe chips.
Reason being? Potatoe chips contain carcinogenic acrylamide and not to mention that since they are deep fried or baked with vegetable oils (which cannot tolerate high heat cooking) they are a source of toxic rancid oils. For more info on acrylamide and potatoe chips and french fries, click through the following link http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2009/02/24/f-acrylamide.html
How’s that for some perspective? I’m pretty sure that it is not 1 small batch of chicken chips, shared once a week by a family that we should be concerned about!
And now for the Chicken Chips recipe!
Ingredients:
Boiled Chicken skin and other soft parts from a compassionately raised pastured chicken
unrefined sea salt
Instructions:
1) Put oven on low broil
2) Put chicken skin and otherwise unpalatable soft parts on a pie plate or other pyrex baking dish
3) Sprinkle on unrefined sea salt
4) Broil for 10 minutes on each side (or until crispy, it just depends on how thick the skin and other soft parts are)!
Let cool and serve!
Sherry Rothwell
Whole Foods Family 