Baked Plantain Chips: 2 Ways (Vegan, GF)

We were watching the Colbert Report (love it! I can safely say that Stephen Colbert is pure wit!) and he did a report on the banana crisis, apparently bananas are becoming wiped out by some kind of virus...this is actually real news, not satirically made up, like most of the news on the show. This is bad! because we love bananas so much! I'm assuming that wild bananas are still out there...but in any case all good things eventually come to an end, so I decided to buy plantains to get used to a world without bananas. They're terrible eaten raw, they have the taste and texture of a raw potato; which makes them perfect for baked chips! You have to make sure you slice them really thinly or else they will become chewy and not crunchy and crisp. We did two different versions: Cinnamon-Sugar and Spicy Chili.

2 plantains, thinly sliced

Spicy Chili:
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp marjoram
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2-1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp safflower oil or coconut oil
Squeeze of lemon juice

Cinnamon-Sugar:
3-4 tbsp sucunat (ground up a bit)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp safflower oil or coconut oil
Squeeze of lemon juice

Toss half of the slices in one mixture and the other half in the other mixture. The chili blend may be a bit too much, so if you don't like it really spicy don't use all of the mixture. Spread out onto two cookie sheets. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Spicy Chili vs. Sweet Cinnamon: it's on.

Crunchy Goodness

These chips are so good! Plantains are a very neutral flavour, similar to potatoes so they are a perfect canvas. The spicy chips would be great along side a burger to replace the fries.

-Jennifer