Thin slices of sweet potato baked crisp with a little oil and seasoning. The whole-food answer to the bag of chips, built on the Black South's defining root.
The sweet potato is the defining root of the Black American South — the New World stand-in for the African yam, the base of the pie, the candied dish, the survival crop. Turning it into a baked chip keeps that root at the center of everyday snacking instead of the imported potato in the bag.
Swapping the corner-store chip for a baked sweet-potato chip is one of the highest-leverage snack moves in the whole repertoire. The sweet potato carries enormous beta-carotene for eyes and immunity, potassium against sodium-sensitive hypertension, and fiber that the white-potato chip lacks. Baked with a teaspoon of oil instead of deep-fried, it keeps almost all of that while shedding the seed-oil calories and the acrylamide that hard, hot frying of starch produces. Season with herbs and a light hand of salt and this is a daily-tier snack that tastes like a treat.
Slice sweet potato thin on a mandoline. Toss with a teaspoon of oil and seasoning (smoked paprika, garlic, a little salt). Spread in a single layer and bake at 375°F, flipping once, until crisp — about 15-20 minutes. Watch the edges; they crisp fast.
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