Baked Crunchies :Spiced Plantain chips and Pumpkin seeds

Baking is a good alternative to frying or deep frying ,with lesser oil used the food has lesser fat calories.Deep frying(or even over cooking)destroys some of the essentials nutrients like vitamins and antioxidants.Also prolonged heating(at temperature greater than 375F) or repeated reusing of vegetable oil at high temperatures can turn the fat into trans-fatty acids.Even though there are some guidelines to detect the number of times oil can be reused depending on the kind of oil used or temperatures it heated,but to be on safe side,I avoid deep frying as much as possible.

With that said,two of my favorite baked crunchies that are totally guilt free any time munchies.I used the same spice mix for both of them.The chips can lose the Crunch pretty fast ,so make sure its stored in air tight container.

Ingredients
1 plantain,peeled and thinly sliced or 1 cup pumpkin seeds,cleaned and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon chili powder or cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon each of ground cumin and coriander
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ginger and garlic paste(optional)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil or canola oil,1 and 1/2 tablespoon for the chips and 2 teaspoons for the seeds.

Method
Preheat oven to 400F.
Mix the ingredient number 1 with all the spices and oil,coat the chips completely.Let sit for 2-3 minutes while the oven heats up.
Spread on a baking sheet and bake ,while turning once ,for about 15-18 minutes for the chips and 10-12 minutes for the seeds.Cool and immediately transfer in air tight containers.Chips tasted best on the same day,if store properly are good for a week or two.The seeds are good for over a month.



Interesting read: Reusing deep fried oil?

One more week to go for the last date of sending in theGuilt-free snacks.Big thanks to those who already did.