Face it, folks. Potato chips have less to do with the earth-shattering flavor and character of potatoes than they do with their role as a delivery-mechanism for salt and grease. When you want a snack, it's because you're not satisfied. Fat is what tells your stomach you're done and ready to move on to something other than eating.

For this review, we shied away from corporate giants like Lay's and Ruffles, favoring instead the fancy brands featured in upscale, granola-pushing markets popular with health-conscious yuppies who recycle. Those consumers fall prey to snack attacks like anyone else. Here are some chips that do the job.

Terra Sweet Potato Chips (no salt added)
Sweet Potato - Canola Oil and/or Sunflower Oil. 6 oz.
Terra's chips sport a nice, earthy texture, drier than the Olive Oil brand but perfectly terra-ific. True to their unsliced, unfried origins, they are vaguely sweet, and since sweet potatoes are moister than regular spuds, these chips are denser and less crunchy than regular chips.
snack effect: If you adhere to the one-ounce serving size, these sweet potato chips are low on guilt and high on pleasure. Their delectable flavor, however, lends itself to supersizing.

Cape Cod Potato Chips Classic
Potatoes - Canola Oil - Sea Salt. 5 oz.
The small sailing vessel cruising past the 19th-century lighthouse in the New England harbor on Cape Cod's label is the very image of mildness and simplicity. Cape Cod handcrafts its chips in small batches, a process that evidently makes for a mellow chip that's not at all salty. There's a bonus map on the bag, should you find yourself in Hyannis, MA.
snack effect: These chips offer good crunch, texture, and friedness, but very little saltiness. If you need your NaCl, navigate to another brand.

Kettle Chips, Lightly Salted
Russet Potatoes - Expeller-pressed High-monounsaturated Safflower and/or Sunflower Oil - Salt. 5 oz.
Kettle chips hail from Oregon, where they prefer the golden Russet. Potato flavor is well balanced with salt, and the Kettles appear not to be peeled, which results in a rich, gold color and nice fried texture, especially on the chips with more peel.
snack effect: Hearty and crunchy, Kettle chips are snack'em-good. Extra greasiness means they stay fresh longer.

Olive Oil Potato Chips - Rosemary
Russet Potatoes - Rosemary - Olive Oil - Sea Salt. 5 oz.
Wow. Thick and solid, these chips are intense, heavy on both salt and rosemary. If you don't have time to clean, slice, drizzle and bake, serve these along with roast chicken and vegetables. It's surprising that these chips have only 10 mg more sodium per serving (120 mg versus 110 mg) of many other brands, because they pack a punch.
snack effect: They're so crunchy and herby that you probably won't overdo it. A few go a long way.

Kettle Crisps Baked Potato Chips
Russet Potatoes - Expeller-pressed High-monounsaturated Safflower and/or Sunflower Oil - Salt. 4 oz.
The least adulterated of all the chips we tested, the baked Kettle Crisps taste just like baked potatoes (lightly salted, no butter), only crunchier. Surprise -- less fat means more sodium: as compared with the above-mentioned Kettle Chips, Crisps have 1.5 g fat per serving (9 g for the Chips) and 135 mg sodium (versus 110 mg).
snack effect: Feel less guilty snacking on these than on other chips weighed down with all that tasty oil.

Barbara's Ripple Potato Chips
Unpeeled Potatoes - High Oleic Oil (Canola and/or Sunflower) - Sea Salt. 5 oz.
Not sure if it's worth buying these over Ruffles, because they taste just like them. That probably explains why they've got the highest sodium and fat content of the chips we tried: 180 mg and 10 g per serving, respectively. Great for dipping.
snack effect: Barbara makes 'em light and mellow -- easy enough to eat the whole bag in one sitting!

Boulder Potato Company Potato Chips - Thai
Potatoes - High-monounsaturated Sunflower and/or Safflower Oil - Brown Sugar - Soy Sauce Powder - Garlic - Sea Salt - Ginger - Rice Vinegar Powder - Corn Starch - Chilies - Spices. 5 oz.
Usually I stay away from flavored chips, but these are light enough in both texture and flavor that your buds aren't overwhelmed in fakey flakiness. No need to glop dip over the delicate mix of brown sugar and ginger. Without the Thai, though, I'd say these chips are probably about average.
snack effect: The flavor was so unoffensive, I'd be willing to try other Boulder flavors, which include Malt Vinegar, Spicy Barbecue, Jalapeño Cheddar, and Herb and Garlic.