Spam chips. Sounds bad. Sounds wrong. Perhaps you are swearing you could never, ever, in a billion years even touch such a thing.

Oh, loosen up.

Here’s my story: A few weeks ago I discovered that I could make cheese chips simply by putting sliced cheese in a 400-degree oven for 15 minutes. I was passing them around, inordinately proud, as though I’d just discovered fire.

Then my friend Marsha said, “You know you can do that with pepperoni, right?”

Whoa.

Meat chips turn out to be a thing with the low-carb crowd, those who can’t have potato chips. Place sliced pepperoni on paper towels and microwave for about a minute. Like a miracle, out come crunchy, meaty chips. You can even serve them with dip. And — big plus — most of the fat is cooked out of the chips and absorbed into the paper towels.

The technique works with salami and other sausages, too, as long as they have enough fat. I tried it with a low-fat chicken sausage and all I got was tough sausage. Not enough fat to create any crunch.

Getting back to my story … we’re at the part where someone said, “I wonder if you can make Spam chips.”

Whoa.

So I tried. Thin slices on paper towels went into the microwave. And came out — delicious.

When I passed them around, someone actually pronounced them “life-changing.” That’s a bit much, but they are crisp, savory, unique, addicting. A distinctive high-protein snack food. And all that fat in the Spam? Most of it is absorbed into the paper towels and thrown away.

This is a one-ingredient recipe, one of the world’s simplest:

Cut Spam into very thin slices. I like the Hot &Spicy flavor, but any type works. (Use a vegetable peeler to get ultra-thin slices.)

Cover a plate with a couple sheets of newspaper and a paper towel (to absorb fat). Arrange Spam slices on the paper towel. Cover with another paper towel and microwave on high about 2 minutes, until crisp.

I’m not saying these chips are health food, or even completely carb-free. Spam and most commercially prepared sausages contain a lot of sodium and other additives, as well as sugar, or a sugar equivalent such as dextrose. And sugar is a carbohydrate.

I am saying they’re remarkable. And, hey, you only live once.

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