Don’t Be a Jerk Spicy Baked Sweet Potato Chips + Cooling Yogurt Dip

by spiceaholic on December 31, 2014

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I’ve been going through a potato chip phase lately.  Usually my chips cravings tend towards the nacho cheese tortilla chip spectrum (the store-brand generic ones have MUCH more flavor!), but for the past few months, potato chips have captured my tastebuds.

Jalapeno kettle chips, dill pickle flavored chips, Limon (like a spicy tangy lime), cheddar and sour cream,  and even regular plain potato chips — all are fair game.  And the thing with me is that any size bag has the potential to be a single-serving bag.  Yikes!

Well clearly I can’t keep gorging on them, much as I’d love to.  So I needed to come up with a healthier alternative.  Naturally, I looked into making my own baked chips at home.  This way I could control the quantity, calories, and customize the flavors!

Now I could be practical and just use a nice sharp knife to thinly slice my potatoes, but of course I started thinking how useful a mandoline slicer would be. Yes, perfect for making chips.  Must have one.  Except I’m trying my best to tackle some major decluttering around the house, and buying more kitchen gadgets kind of defeats the purpose of that.

But then I had an opportunity come my way that helped solve my problem.  As part of the Stonyfield Clean Plate Club, I was given the chance to try out a kitchen gadget from Kitchen IQ and then come up a recipe using it and Stonyfield yogurt. After a couple minutes of looking at their website, I knew I wanted to try out their V-etched Container Grater.  This comes with 3 different grating blades AND a slicing blade, as well as a storage container that you can directly grate/slice into.  The idea is that now I can get rid of my other graters and use this 4-in-one tool instead.

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As far as what to make using this item, I think you know what I planned on making. You guessed baked potato chips, right?  Good!

I actually first started off with experimenting with making sweet potato chips in the microwave.  I can be impatient and sometimes you need chips NOW.  And they actually didn’t turn out too bad! I basically lined a plate with parchment paper, sprayed it with olive oil cooking spray, sprinkled some spices, put the potato slices on the plate, then repeated the cooking spray and spice layer. Then I microwaved them for a little over 3 minutes.  I’ve read it’s anywhere between 3-4 minutes. That’s it!  I ate a couple as soon as they came out and they were good!  If you can wait a few more minutes, they get a bit crispier as they dry out, but I couldn’t wait that long.

Next, I tried making them in the oven. This time, I used a mix of sweet potatoes and some small purple potatoes, just for some color and contrast.  The preparation is the same as microwaving — just use parchment paper on a cookie sheet instead.  I baked these at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes and they were almost there.  I tried one batch at 30 and they were almost burned.  So I’d try for between 20-30 minutes depending on your oven.  I did turn them over halfway through. For the post I ended up doing just sweet potatoes since my purple potatoes went bad after my experiment.

To season my chips, I used some spicy jerk seasoning.  I must have bought the extra spicy kind, because these were REALLY spicy.  I was planning on making a dip to go with the chips anyway, but I decided to change the flavor of the dip after tasting my chips. I used some Stonyfield Organic plain 0% fat Greek yogurt and added some minced garlic, dried thyme, and a splash of lime juice for flavor.

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As far as how the V-etched Container Grater works, it’s not bad!  I do like having the container to catch what you’re grating or slicing.  I’ve never used a mandoline before, and while I know the slicing blade isn’t an actual mandoline, it gives me a good idea of how one works.  One thing — you should be careful when slicing not to get your fingers too close to the blade, since there’s not a guard. Luckily, no sliced fingers for me this time!

I’m looking forward to playing around with some more homemade baked chip creations!

I am honored to be a member of the Stonyfield Clean Plate Club. I received product or coupons for writing this post, but all opinions are my own.

Don’t Be a Jerk Spicy Baked Sweet Potato Chips + Cooling Yogurt Dip

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Chips:

1-2 small sweet potatoes  (I buy a packet of small sweet potatoes for microwaving and use those — they are about 100 calories each)

jerk seasoning to taste

olive oil cooking spray

Yogurt Dip:

1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt (I used Stonyfield)

1/4 tsp. jarred minced garlic

pinch of dried thyme

salt to taste

 

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.

2.  Thinly slice sweet potatoes using a sharp knife, mandoline slicer, or slicing blade.

3. Sprinkle jerk seasoning on baking sheet, then lay sliced sweet potatoes on top.  Add more cooking spray and  jerk seasoning on top.

4. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven, until chips are crispy.  Chips will shrink quite a bit!

5. While chips are baking, take yogurt, add seasonings and adjust to taste.

6. Serve chips with dip for dunking and enjoy!

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