{recipe} Baked Salt and Vinegar Sweet Potato Chips

Another day, another snack. This time I took sweet potato slices to the oven, seasoned with salt, thyme, and a vinegar tang. Fantastic!

Unlike other oven-baked vegetable snacks like crispy edamame or kale chips, these take a fair amount of time in the oven. Of course, the cooking time depends entirely on the thickness of the sweet potato slices. It’s really important to keep the slices consistent, or some will burn while others are underdone. The best option is to use a mandoline for uniform slices.

Once they’re sliced, I soak them in a bath of rice vinegar, olive oil, salt, and thyme for about 30 minutes. Then they’re laid onto a sheet pan in a single layer. If you like a little spice, you can sprinkle a few chili flakes on top, too.

After cooking for about an hour, they are crisp, delicious, and ready to eat. I’m pretty happy about it, because I’ve found another healthy snack that my son and I can both enjoy!

You can leave the peels on or take them off – it’s up to you. I think they taste good both ways, but the peels can get a little chewy, so if I’m sharing them with a kid, I will probably remove the peels before slicing.

RECIPE: Baked Salt and Vinegar Sweet Potato Chips
Makes about 30 big chips

INGREDIENTS:

• one large orange sweet potato, sliced thinly (on a mandoline if possible for consistency)
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar (can substitute another kind of mild vinegar if you prefer)
• 2 Tblsp olive oil
• 1 tsp dried or fresh thyme leaves
• salt to taste
• chili flakes to taste (optional)

METHOD:

• Put sweet potato slices, vinegar, oil, thyme, and salt in a ziploc bag. Squeeze out the air, seal the bag, and move everything around to coat. Let sit for 30-60 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper.
• Lay slices in a single layer without overlapping too much. (They can overlap a bit, because they will shrink a lot.) If there is extra marinade in the bag, pour it over the sweet potatoes. Sprinkle with chili flakes if using.
• Bake for about 30 minutes, then flip over and bake until crispy but not yet browned. They will crisp up a bit once cooled.
• Cool and enjoy.

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• Spiced Fried Chickpeas with Preserved Lemon
• Spicy Soy Kale Chips
• Five Minute Padron Peppers
• Crispy Parmesan-Garlic Edamame