Vegetable chip chips may be prepared with sliced vegetables that are fried, deep-fried, baked, dehydrated, or simply dried. Vegetable chips may be produced from a variety of root vegetables and leaf vegetables, such as carrot, turnip, parsnip, beet, radish, taro root, sweet potato, garlic, zucchini, cassava, kale, spinach, fennel and jicama, among others. Some baked versions utilize vegetables that are sliced, lightly tossed in oil, and then oven-baked until crisp. Vegetable chips prepared using this method have been described as more healthful compared to deep fried chips, particularly when prepared using "heart-healthy" olive oil. Simple versions are prepared by slicing vegetables and
Vegetable meaning then being "the edible part of such a plant". A more precise definition is "any plant part consumed for food that is not a fruit or seed, but including mature fruits that are eaten as part of a main meal". Falling outside these definitions are edible fungi (such as edible mushrooms) and edible seaweed which, although not parts of plants, are often treated as vegetables. In the latter-mentioned definition of "vegetable", which is used in everyday language, the words "fruit" and "vegetable" are mutually exclusive. "Fruit" has a precise botanical meaning, being a part that developed from the ovary