I’ve mentioned here before that the family and I are making an attempt to eat healthier this year. (A cliche, I know, but I’ve got three kids aged 6 and under, I’m too tired to be original. Especially with the baby currently teething and up all hours of the night.)
What I’ve noticed lately is that the hardest part, my downfall really, is snack time.
Our whole family can eat the same breakfast day-in-and-day-out pretty much without complaint (steel cut oats and strawberries for me, smoothie for my husband, waffles and yogurt for the kids). I’ve been trying out a new online meal planning service for dinners and eating the left-overs for lunch. Our meals are covered.
It’s around 3:00 pm when my stomach growls and I start trolling the pantry that disaster strikes. Fruit and veggies just don’t cut it for me – I crave something salty and crunchy.
No matter what I did, I couldn’t keep myself from reaching for the chips and crackers every day.
Then one weekend my friend, who was doing Whole 30 at the time, brought over some homemade plantain chips and guacamole.
It was the perfect snack! Just the thing to get me through my cravings until dinner time and super simple to make (a real rarity, I’ve found, amongst healthy snacks).
So today I’ve asked our food contributor, Natalie, to share her recipe for the same delicious, healthy snack. Make a bunch, they won’t last long – trust me.
I have been enjoying store-bought plantain chips for a while now, so when Steph asked me to whip up a batch of homemade chips and guacamole, I was totally on board. Thanks, Steph, for giving me an excuse to make this yummy snack!
I used to be afraid of cooking with plantains. They were not an ingredient I ever saw growing up – Taco Bell was about as cultured as it got in my town.
When I started looking for alternative starches in my cooking, I saw a lot of recipes using plantains and wanted to try them out. Turns out, they’re not so scary if you know a few basic things.
- Yellow/brown/black plantains are soft and sweet.
- Green plantains are firm and starchy. (You’ll use these for the chips.)
- You can find them in the produce section by the bananas or tropical fruits.
Plantains don’t peel quite as easily as bananas, so you’ll have to cut off the ends and thinly slice down the side of the plantain to reveal the flesh.
The green plantains will be firm and easy to slice, making them perfect for these chips.
You’ll only need five ingredients for this recipe, three for the chips and two more for the guac. Just remember to grab plantains, avocados and a lime at the grocery store on your next trip and you’ll be all set to make them at snack time.
If your kids love chips and dip, I would double the recipe and use the chips throughout the week.
If you’re looking for something sweeter, dust them with a little cinnamon sugar mixture when they come out of the oven.
My kids were grabbing for them as soon as they could. I feel great about giving them this snack because it’s full of healthy fats for brain development and fiber to keep them full until meal time.
I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Simple Plantain Chips and Guacamole
Ingredients
- 2 green plantains
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 2 ripe avocados
- 1/2 lime
- sea salt to taste
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two large pans with parchment paper and set aside.
- Cut off the ends of each plantain. Cut a thin vertical slit down each plantain, being careful not to cut too far into the flesh. Peel away the thick outer layer and discard. Cut each plantain into very thin slices, as uniformly as possible (or cut length-wise using a mandolin).
- Toss the plantain slices in the melted coconut oil. Place the slices in a single layer on the baking pans and top with sea salt.
- Bake the plantain slices for 15-20 minutes, switching the pans about half way through. The chips are done when the edges begin to brown. Keep an eye on them toward the end and remove any of the thinner slices first, as they will brown up quickly and can burn before the other chips are finished cooking.
- While the chips are baking, cut the avocados in half and discard the pit. Squeeze or scoop the flesh into a bowl. Mash with a fork. Squeeze the lime juice into the bowl and add sea salt to taste. Mix well.
- The chips are delicious right out of the oven, but they’ll need to cool a few minutes before tiny fingers can handle them. Let them cool on a paper-towel-lined plate and then dig in!
For more of our most popular healthy snacks, be sure to also check out:
23 Healthy Homemade Kid Snacks
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