Last week I attended a #SummerSocial with InStyle where several vendors were present. I knew SunChips was one of them so as soon as I entered the room I excitedly searched out the table holding one of my favorite whole grain snacks. I've been a long time snacker of SunChips so it didn't take me long to hunt down the table and dive right in to grab a bag for myself (#truestory...if you don't believe me, just see the picture at the bottom of the post). Seeing the table laden with chips, I couldn't help but think of the upcoming snack season (also known as football season to some, I have no idea why ;) ). I take my food, especially snacking, pretty seriously when it comes to snack, er I mean game, days. For morsels to munch on during Sunday games, it doesn't get much better than SunChips. They have 30% less fat than regular potato chips (aka you won't feel guilty if you eat the whole bag a few handfuls) and with so many delicious flavors (I personally love the Harvest Cheddar and French Onion), they are wavy good on their own, paired with dip, orrrrrrr in these totally wholesome meets awesome SunChips crusted baked onions rings. Just stop and let that sink in for a minute. Crunchy, flavor laden SunChips? Yup! Totally crunchy, delicious onion rings? You bet! SunChips PLUS onion rings that are baked so they're like tote McGotes super duper healthy? You better believe it! And just in case that isn't good enough, there's also a creamy, smokey chipotle yogurt dipping sauce (3 ingredients, also super healthy). I mean honestly, why even wait for football season?! It just can't be legal to put off consuming something so appetizing, so do yourself a favor and start stacking those rings of flavor right now. You'll be happy you did!

INGREDIENTS

ONION RINGS

1 7-ounce bag of SunChips (I used Harvest Cheddar but any of the flavors would work well)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 cup lowfat buttermilk
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 large Vidalia onion, peeled
Cooking spray

CHIPOTLE YOGURT DIP

1 small container of plain Greek yogurt (should be about 5.3-ounces or roughly 3/4 cup)
1 teaspoon of chipotle sauce
1/2 teaspoon of salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Spray a baking sheet lightly with oil, then set aside.
Slice onions into approximately 1/4-1/2 inch (depending on how thick you like your onion rings) circles and separate into rings. You can use only the large rings and set aside the smaller pieces for other recipes, or make a mixture of small and large onion rings....the choice is completely yours (just keep in mind that there may not be enough chips in one bag to cover all of the rings and the smaller ones will cook faster than the bigger ones). Set aside the rings once they're cut.
In a food processor, place the SunChips and pulse for about 20 seconds, or just until the chips have turned into crumbs. Add the paprika and pulse for another few seconds. Transfer the mixture to a shallow bowl and set aside.
In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, 2 tablespoons of flour, salt and pepper and set aside.
Place the remaining flour in a ziplock bag, then add onions, and shake to coat. Dip onions one at a time, first into the buttermilk mixture, then into the chip crumbs. Then, place them in a single layer on the baking sheet. Repeat until you've covered all the onion rings. (Please note that the chip crumbs will start to clump together towards the end of this process so you might have to press them onto the onion rings as opposed to dipping the rings.) Give the rings another quick spray of oil, then bake them for 10 minutes. Use tongs to flip them over then continue baking for another 5-10 minutes (shorter if you like them lighter, longer if you like them more well-done, like the pictures). Remove from the oven, sprinkle with a little salt (depending on tastes preferences), then serve right away.
While the onion rings bake, make the dipping sauce. Simply combine the yogurt, chipotle sauce and salt in a small bowl and stir until well mixed. Keep covered and stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

NOTES

One bag of chips makes enough crumbs to cover approximately one medium sized onion if you don't do the smallest rings...keep that in mind and use additional chip crumbs if you want to cover all of the ring sizes.
The sauce can be made a day in advance, however I would recommend making the onion rings right before serving. If you must make them in advance, I would advise no more than 6 hours. Bake them for about 3-5 minutes less, then, right before serving, finish baking them for a few minutes.

Sponsored by InStyle on behalf of SunChips