One of things you miss on a low-carb diet is crunch. No chips, no crackers — it takes a little joy out of life. Carrot sticks just don’t cut it.

August is my month of -free, dedicated to recipes free of some dietary target. I started with gluten-free, followed by meat-free. Next week will be sugar-free. For now, carb-free.

These chips are made of cheese and a topping that you choose — two ingredients. Or you can skip the topping, in which case — one ingredient.

They do contain dairy and fat. If those items are forbidden in your diet, it’s back to carrot sticks for you, sorry.

On the plus side, they do not involve frying, and are gluten- and carb-free. Some of the fat does ooze out and away, so you aren’t getting as much as if you ate a straight-up square of cheese.

The process is so simple it’s barely a recipe: Buy precut cheese (like those party packs of mixed varieties). Sprinkle them with a topping, if you want. Line them up and bake in a 400-degree oven for 15 minutes. They’ll bubble and spread, creating pukas that make the final product look lacy.

Because this is so easy, you can afford to experiment with different semi-hard cheeses. The default is cheddar, but even that gives you room to explore with mild, medium or sharp. (If you’re an over-achiever you can buy a fancy cheese and slice it yourself.)

Toppings are easy, too: I tried sesame seeds, fresh ground pepper, cumin, furikake, Cajun spice and chopped rosemary from my yard. Just be sure to use a lot. Cheese is strongly flavored, so the seasonings can get lost if applied too timidly.

Baking time is a bit of a variable that also bears experimentation. You want your slices firm and nicely browned before you take them out of the oven. They’ll crisp up more as they cool. If you don’t bake them long enough they won’t get really crisp (still delicious, though). Bake them too long and your toppings could burn. So work on a few at a time until you get the timing right.

If you’ve ever mistakenly (or mistakenly on purpose) dropped some cheese in a skillet while making a grilled-cheese sandwich, you know how delicious those errant pieces can be once they brown in the pan. This is kinda like that, but using an oven you can make a lot at once.

PURE CHEESE CRISPS

By Betty Shimabukuro

• 24 2-inch-square pieces cheddar cheese or other semi-hard cheese, such as Gouda
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds or other topping

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with baking parchment.

Place cheese squares on parchment, 1 inch apart (they will spread). Cover cheese well with sesame seeds. Bake 15 minutes, until firm and turning brown.

Remove from oven and let sit until cheese stops sizzling and cools slightly.

Use thin spatula to move cheese to paper towel-lined plate to cool completely (slices will be greasy; paper towels will absorb the oil). Makes 24 crackers.

Approximate nutritional information (per 4 crackers, using sesame seeds): 300 calories, 26 g total fat, 16 g saturated fat, 80 mg cholesterol, 500 mg sodium, 21 g protein, no carbohydrate, fiber or sugar.

Write By Request, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813; or email requests to bshimabukuro@staradvertiser.com.