Chipotle Sweet Potato Chips and Guac

Maybe it’s because I am a middle child. These days, I’m trying to find a little common ground. I travel in the foodie world, where the next person I see might be on a gluten free diet, the next vegan, and the next is eschewing carbohydrates via a paleo style regimen.

It’s interesting to me, that the place where all these eating styles intersect is in the healthy plant world. And for some reason, one of the few rooty, starchy vegetables that paleos can have is the sweet potato.

It could not have happened to a lovelier tuber. The sweet potato wins by having so much fiber, a cup of cubes has 3 g fiber, and 3 g protein. The lively orange tones of the sweet potato give it a leg up on the oft-rejected potato, since the pigments are a giveaway of the amazingly high level of antioxidants. The carotenoids in that same cup of cubes gives you 711% of the days Vitamin A, which will protect you from several kinds of cancer, from sun damage, and keep your eyes healthy.

It’s also got a respectable dose of vitamin C, 27% of your day’s needs. It’s got B6 and and  potassium, all good for your heart and manganese, which pairs up with the fiber to keep blood sugar stable.

Overall, a pretty great root veg. So, since I usually use lots of them in everything from muffins to curries, I thought I should try making them into a slightly decadent snack.

If you don’t have a mandoline slicer, you might enjoy this recipe post on Sweet Potato “Fries” with Peanut Sauce.

For health conscious people, potato chips are a long-lost treat, and so a sweet potato chip might really hit the spot.

Evyone will love a sweet potato chip. These are brushed with coconut oil, baked at high heat, and then sprinkled with smoky chipotle and coarse salt. For a perfect paleo vegan dip, I threw together a simple guacamole, also made with nutrition superstars. You do need a mandoline or chop top slicer box, to make nice thin slices.

Sliced 1/8th of an inch thick

Chipotle Sweet Potato Chips with Guacamole

Serves 2 hungry people

1 big sweet potato, I used a 15 ounce Garnet Yam

coconut oil

ground chipotle powder

coarse salt

1 ripe avocado

1 large garlic clove, crushed

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 pinch salt

8 large Santa Sweet pear shaped cherry tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 450. Set the mandoline to 1/8 inch and slice the sweet potato in rounds. Melt the coconut oil and brush two sheet pans lightly with the oil, then arrange the rounds on the oil, and brush  lightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes, checking for doneness at 10. Rotate the pans halfway. When the edges are curled and some of them are deeply browned and look almost burnt, take them out and sprinkle with chipotle and salt. Cool on racks for five minutes before transferring the chips to a large bowl, then repeat to roast all the rest of the slices.

Eat them up, they soften after they sit for a few hours.

For the Guac, mash the avocado and then add the garlic, lime and salt. Mash and stir to a chunky paste. Stir in the tomatoes.

Serve chips with guac.