Baked Plantain Chips with Guacamole

Every time I buy bananas at the grocery store, I see the plantains sitting there and I'm intrigued. They're so often passed by, ignored in favor their smaller but far more popular cousin. Well just like in high school, popularity doesn't always equal greatness. Perhaps the plantain has more to bring to the (cafeteria) table than we all assume. Maybe like they'd add a new dimension to our palate just like the slightly-off emo musician who went on to be the 'star of his record label' hottie that the new crop of high school girls swoon over...

Ok I think I've officially beaten that metaphor to death. So anyway, I bought a plantain. And I had to decide what the heck to do with it. I had thought about making this recipe (which I still intend to try out one day.. do I smell a future blog post?) but when I found myself with a ripe avocado, I decided to go in a different direction - baked plantain chips and guacamole. 

I've had fried plantain before at restaurants but lacking a deep fryer (and fearing getting burnt by splattering oil), I decided to bake them, which results in a crunchy chip rather than the tender inside you'd find with a fried plantain. Equally delicious if you ask me. 

It's incredibly simple (as many of my recipes have been lately, perhaps a reflection of the fact that it's not the dead of winter anymore and there's more incentive to actually leave my apartment rather than stay in and cook all day...). Slice an unripe plantain into thin, equal slices. Place the slices onto a sprayed baking sheet, spray with olive oil, and season with salt, pepper, and chili powder. Put into a 375 degree preheated oven. After 15 minutes, flip the plantains. After an additional 5 minutes, test one of the chips. If it's sufficiently crunchy, remove. If not, pop it back in for just a few more minutes. 

While the chips cool, mix up your guacamole. Now everyone has their own preferences when it comes to guacamole, but I use ripe avocado, chopped red pepper, tomato, onion, jalapeno, and cilantro. I also mix in a squirt of lime juice and season with red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. And it's delicious. So delicious that I forgot to take a picture before digging in, hence the somewhat pathetic photography in this blog post. But there you have it: now you're ready to dig in!

Baked Plantain Chips with Guacamole

Plantain Chips:

Unripe plantain

Olive oil

Salt 

Pepper

Chili Powder

Slice plantain into equal pieces, approximately 1/4" thick. Spray with olive oil and season with spices. Bake 15 minutes. Flip. Bake another 5-10 minutes until desired crunchiness. 

Guacamole: 

Ripe avocado

Red pepper, diced

Tomato, diced

Onion, diced

Jalapeno, seeds and membrane removed (if desired) and finely diced

Lime juice

Red pepper flakes

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Salt

Pepper

Cut avocado in half and remove pit. Scoop out avocado into bowl. Mix in all other ingredients and mash with fork until desired texture.