Valonda Calloway, host of My Carolina Today, and me

I had a wonderful time yesterday morning on the My Carolina Today show here in Raleigh, NC.  The executive producer had challenged me to come up with healthy snack alternatives for potato chips for National Nutrition Month®.  I accepted that challenge by creating chips made from apples, taro root, sweet potatoes, kale, and plantains.

In order to make the chips meet my criteria for “power snacks”, I paired each of them with a variety of foods that are known to be high in protein and complex carbohydrates and minimal in healthy fats. The examples of power snacks that I showcased on the show today were almonds and mozzarella cheese with the apple chips, black bean salad with plantain chips, white bean dip for the sweet potato chips, Greek yogurt veggie dip for the kale, and hummus with taro root chips.

You can see my video segment here:

Check out my pictures below from my time at the station.  There was a musical guest, Spencer Sutherland, an up and coming singer/songwriter, who was in town for kick off his concert tour last night.  Not only did the crew and staff of the My Carolina Today show enjoy my food, but the band did as well.  I wish Spencer best of luck on his career.  Truly a nice and gifted guy.    A huge thank you goes out to the executive producer, Kim Green, and host, Valonda Calloway, for having me as part of their show.  It was a great experience!

Recipes:

Apple Chips

Ingredients:

• 4 cups water
• 3 cups sugar
• 4 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 large Granny Smith apples

 Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 200°F.
2. In small pot, combine water and sugar and bring to a medium boil.  Let the mixture boil until all of the sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes.
3. Take pot off of stove and set aside to let the water cool.
4. With a mandolin, slice apples, using the thinnest setting.
5. Sprinkle slices with lemon juice and submerge them into the cooled syrup for several hours or overnight.
6. Remove apples and place them on paper towels to dry excess syrup from them.
7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place slices on top.  Keep slices separated from each other.
8. Bake until crispy, about 60 minutes.
9. Remove and let the chips cool
10. Serve with favorite cheese or nuts.

Taro Chips

 Ingredients:

• 4 to 5 taro roots, peeled *NOTE: raw taro root is toxic, do not eat.
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• Sea salt to taste

 Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Slice taro roots using thinnest setting on a mandolin.
3. Brush each slice, both sides with olive oil.
4. Gently sprinkle sea salt on top.
5. Bake for 10 minutes each side or until golden brown.  Need to monitor baking carefully to avoid burning.
6. Serve with hummus.

Hummus

 Ingredients:

• 1 16-ounce can chickpeas
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic or ¼ tsp garlic powder to taste
• 3 Tbsp. tahini
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbsp. parsley flakes
• ¼ tsp cumin

 Preparation:

1. Drain the chickpeas, saving ¼ of the liquid
2. In a food processor, mix the chickpeas, ¼ cup reserved liquid, lemon juice, garlic, tahini, and seasonings.
3. Blend until smooth.
4. Serve with taro chips.

Sweet Potato Chips

 Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato, washed and dried
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• ¼ tsp. garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
• ¼ tsp. cumin
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg
• ¼ tsp. paprika

 Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 200°F.
2. Mix together oil and spices in a separate bowl and set aside.
3. Slice potato using a mandolin on its thinnest setting.
4. Brush both sides of potato slices with oil spice blend and arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Try to keep sides from touch each other.
5. Bake for about 50 minutes.
6. Take out of oven and turn over chips.  Place back in over and bake for another 35 minutes or until slices are crisp and fluted.  Centers should remain orange.
7. Serve with white bean dip.

White Bean Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 15 oz. can of Great Northern White beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 Tbsp. parsley flakes
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• Red pepper, halved and diced

 Preparation:

1. In a food processor, combine beans, garlic, parsley, olive oil, and lemon juice.  Mix until desired blend until smooth.
2. Transfer bean mixture to a bowl.
3. Add diced red pepper, salt and pepper to taste, and mix until red pepper is evenly distributed through bean mixture.
4. Serve with sweet potato chips.

Kale Chips:

 Ingredients:

• 6 oz. kale
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. vinegar (can try balsamic, or red wine)

 Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
2. Cut inner ribs away from the kale.
3. Place kale leaves into a large Ziploc type bag.
4. Add ½ of oil to bag and gently mix the oil with the kale.  When coated, add the remaining ½ of oil and vinegar to bag and re-squeeze to gently coat the kale.
5. Take leaves out of bag and place onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast until crisp.
6. Check kale chips every ten minutes to minimize chance of burning.  Chips should be done after about 30 to 35 minutes of baking.
7. When done, take out baking sheet out of oven and lightly sprinkle kale chips with sea salt.
8. Serve immediately with Greek yogurt dip.

Greek Yogurt Dip

 Ingredients:

• 1 cup non-fat, plain Greek yogurt
• 2 Tbsp. green scallions, thinly sliced
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• 2 Tbsp. minced celery
• 2 Tbsp. shredded carrots
• Pepper to taste

 Preparation:

1. In a small bowl, combine yogurt, minced onions, garlic powder, celery, carrots and pepper.  Mix until veggies and seasonings are evenly blended.
2. Serve with kale chips.

Plantain Chips

 Ingredients:

• 2 green plantains, peeled.  *NOTE: do not eat raw plantains, they are toxic.
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• ½ tsp. cumin
• Dash of cayenne pepper to taste
• ½ tsp. salt

 Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Combine olive oil and spices together and set aside.
3. Slice plantains using a mandolin on its thinnest setting.
4. In a small bowl combine plantain slices with olive oil and spices mixture.  Coat the slices well.
5. Place coated plantain slices on top a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, separating slices and trying not to have them touch each other.
6. Bake for 8 minutes. Take out of oven and turn chips over.  Bake for another 7 to 8 minutes or until crisp, but not brown.
7. Remove from oven and serve with black bean salad.

Black Bean Salad

 Ingredients:

• 1 16oz. can of black beans, drained and well rinsed
• 1 10oz can of whole kernel corn, drained and well rinsed
• 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
• ½ red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 2 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. fresh cilantro

 Preparation:

1. Toss together all the ingredients except the cilantro.
2. Generously sprinkle the salad with the cilantro.
3. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
4. Serve with plantain chips.