Are ya’ll over root vegetables yet? Between root veggies and greens, that’s all we’ve got at the local market these days. I see no light at the end of the tunnel ( light = summer veggie season) so I’m looking for diverse ways to incorporate them into the everyday diets. I know, “diet” and “deep fried chips” aren’t really a pair – but it was the Super Bowl! With a excess of purple sweet potatoes in my house from a Saturday field trip (more to come), I fried them up into chips for the Super (Puppy) Bowl. Making chips is really easy if you are open to home deep frying – which can be intimidating at first but very simple. Just slice any potato or root vegetable into 1/4 inch slices and fried them in batches in 350 degree vegetable oil. Remove when crisp and salt right away.

I made up a simple dip of equal parts Greek Yogurt and Mayo, added about 3 ounces of goat cheese, a couple scallions (diced), a small cherry red pepper (diced) and a tablespoon of Crushed Urfa Red Pepper. Don’t forget to season with salt and pepper. Dips are like salad dressing, just throw things in until they taste good. I can see my measurement loving friends rolling their eyes now! Loosen up and let go of your measuring spoons!

 I got the urfa at our new Savory Spice Shop in Friendly Center.  Here is what they have to say about the spice: Also known as Isot pepper, this wonderful crushed chile from the Turkish town of Urfa is similar to Aleppo crushed red pepper. Though Urfa chiles are called “red” pepper they actually are purplish black in appearance. These premium peppers are picked and cut, dried in the sun by day, then wrapped and sweated at night for more than a week. This sweating process gives the chile a rich, earthy flavor and smoky aroma. I liked the color and smokey flavor it gave to the dip.