These were an impulse purchase. I had never noticed or heard of them before, but spotted them while looking for something else. My first thought was that I probably wouldn't like them much, but Nina would. That constitutes reason enough to buy something as an experiment.
What are "vegetable root chips"? Good question. They're made from sweet potato, taro, batata (yeah, I had to look that up, too), and parsnip, plus some oil and salt.
If nothing else, they look pretty, and would be almost elegant served in a fancy bowl:
However, I was right about my reaction. I've had them three times now--once with dinner that first night, then a few with my lunch each of the two subsequent days. They're OK, and kind of an interesting change-up from standard potato chips. A little softer than regular chips. But they don't make me want to keep reaching for more, and likely wouldn't even if they had more salt (which they need).
Will I buy it again?
Probably not.
Other opinions
Here are some other views from around the web:
http://foodriot.com/2014/01/14/take-taste-toss-veggie-chip-edition
The chip’s texture provides the best kind of crunch that I feared would be lost in a veggie chip. The variety of sweet potato, taro, batata, and parsnip kept me guessing and never tiring of one kind of chip. The mix isn’t overly salty, but it offers more of a sweet aftertaste. I questioned whether these were a borderline dessert, but my tastebuds couldn’t quite decide.
Verdict: Take. These were purely vegetable chips meeting all of my expectations for a lighter snacking occasion.
http://wildchildurbancity.blogspot.com/2012/04/root-vegetable-chips-trader-joes.html
You get taro, sweet potato, beet, parsnips, batata in a bag. Crisp, crunchy, and salted. But you also get a variety of flavours within that bag, from the variety of thinly sliced root veggies. The taro is a little on the starchier side, and less sweet. In comparison, the sweet potato is the sweetest of them all with a little less crunch and little more chew. You get that sweet-salty combination in your mouth that makes chocolatiers create bacon chocolate. The beets fall on the sweet side as well but are still crispy, and do not worry - these will not turn your pee red. In between sweet and plain-starchy lie the parsnips and batata, both with their own unique flavours.
You get taro, sweet potato, beet, parsnips, batata in a bag. Crisp, crunchy, and salted. But you also get a variety of flavours within that bag, from the variety of thinly sliced root veggies. The taro is a little on the starchier side, and less sweet. In comparison, the sweet potato is the sweetest of them all with a little less crunch and little more chew. You get that sweet-salty combination in your mouth that makes chocolatiers create bacon chocolate. The beets fall on the sweet side as well but are still crispy, and do not worry - these will not turn your pee red. In between sweet and plain-starchy lie the parsnips and batata, both with their own unique flavours.
Root vegetable chips are so good that after tasting them, you may not want to go back to old potato chips!
Comments: "Love these. Veggie flavor comes through, without a lot of salt." "Deep, resonant flavor." "Beautiful colors, giant crunch."
[That is from a comparison taste test published in the Chicago Tribune, incorporating comments from an unspecified but obviously plural number of tasters. They gave TJ's product 8.2 out of a possible 9 points--the highest score for any of the five chip varieties they tried.]
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