Thursday, February 21, 2008

Recent Eats

'Potato Chips' are classic. These are a healthier version and take only a little time to prepare.

You'll need 2 baking potatoes, 2 tablespoon olive oil, sea salt & freshly ground pepper, 1 tsp. chopped fresh parsley (from our AeroGarden)
Preheat oven to 400*. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice potatoes 1/8 inch thick and toss with oil to coat. Season with salt & pepper. Bake until crisp and browned. Transfer to coffee filters and top with fresh herbs and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately.

Recently a friend asked me "What do vegetarians eat on St. Patrick's Day?"
Hmmm, I've never really thought about that, and didn't have an answer until receiving the March '08 issue of Vegetarian Times. I counted all the recipes, and of 37, 17 are vegan. This is one of those, featuring seitan (I used White Wave), stout beer (Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale), butternut squash (organic), edamame, and fresh thyme (Aerogarden). Yume!



'Updated Irish Stew ' plated up with steamed collared greens, an Idaho potato (with chives from Aerogarden) and Earth Balance, and sliced baby orange bell pepper.

This was good enough to become a new tradition as I've never actually had Irish stew.







I was skeptical of 'Carrot-Pineapple Sunshine Muffins' from Veganomicon from the get-go, and only made them because I was out of stuff for the other muffins. The description says, "These muffins don't rise very high, preferring to have a flat, crisp top instead."

Ahhh ha! I'd found a dud recipe from Isa. Everybody knows the muffin top is the best.



But Liv really wanted to make breakfast muffins and was the prime motivator for our kitchen adventure. We found out she's quite talented at straining pineapple juice.
Art snagged a muffin while they were cooling. "What're these?" And after much munching and "mmmmm-ing" He proclaimed that these were the very best thing I've made since Chocolate Mint Melties (eat, drink, & be vegan). So glad I gave these a try, you should too! :)

24 comments:

The Little Mama said...

I love the plate the muffins are on!
Hmm...I hadn't given any thought to St. Patrick's Day... what do non-vegans eat?

urban vegan said...

You sure eat well!

Actually, making potato chips was something my mom and I used to do together--it's a nice memory.

MeloMeals said...

I love oven baked chips and your looks amazing.

It's great the something turns out so much better than you expected...

Anonymous said...

I had a bad experience trying to make oven (and microwave) potato chips many years ago. The ones you made look great, though!

Unknown said...

The potato chips look so yummy! I need to try this soon as its been such a craving for me lately.

The stew looks good but those muffins! Wow. They are so pretty and golden with the perfect top for a little dollop of earth balance margarine. YUM!

trina said...

I will. Thanks for the rec. I love your coffee filter idea, and your chips look perfect!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

vegmomma: good question! :)

uv: cooking with my girls is at the top of favorite things to do! i like to pick kid-friendly recipes and/or find new ways they can help.

melody: i suppose expecting nothing & anything is a sweet reward. your new profile pic is cute!

vbt: these are fool-proof, i can testify to that! :)

kerry: we never even busted out the EB on these mama-jammas

trina: the coffee filters work well to cradle the potatoes & absorb oil & i've seen others use them. my inspiration comes from a pommes frites stand in amsterdam near rembrandt square with similar spud sleeves. go there if you can.

theONLYtania said...

Heyy long time no see! The potato chips look great. Are they crunchy? But those muffins do look sad :( heheh.

moi + toi PHOTOGRAPHIE said...

i am going to made those chips for sure!!

can i come over for some stew??

Carrie™ said...

My mom used to make us chips when I was young. I forgot about that until now. They were gooooood!
Thanks for the scoop on the current VegTimes issue. I want to grab that. You've got quite a talent on your hands there. Your daughter is very keen on helping in the kitchen. That's wonderful!!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Oooh, those homemade potato chips sound great; and I too saw all those St. Patrick's Day recipes in VT (none of them were vegan, of course - blah).

Haha, I wholeheartedly agree - the muffin top IS the best part!!

Liv is such an adorable little chef :0)

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

hi veggiegirl: the irish stew is the only one that's vegan in the VT St. Patrick's Day article. their mashed potatoes with chives could easily be vegan, & the other 2 recipes use all kinds of dairy junk.

KleoPatra said...

YUM!!! And how cute that last photo... sweetness all over this post.

xo

Jackie said...

Thanks for the potato chip recipe. Often a problem here to buy them as they are either not Vegan or from a company that tests.

The muffins sound great and great to see Liv is going to become a great cook like her Mum :)

Theresa said...

Yum! We made sweet potato chips a few times in PNG but they weren't that great... I'll have to try this recipe!

bazu said...

Homemade potato chips sound good. So do the stew and the muffins- thanks for the recommendation!

julie hasson said...

Awesome Vicki!

Bonnie said...

Everything looks delicious! Now I really want to make my own potato chips... Yours look so great - thick and browned, much better than storebought ones!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

I always eat vegan Irish soda bread on St. Patrick’s Day—it’s oh-so-good. But your stew looks incredible! As someone who has had non-vegan Irish stew, let me assure you that yours looks much, much better!

Jennie said...

I made these tonight and they were delicious! Thanks for the recipe!!! How long do you usually have to bake them for? It seemed like mine took forever!

Jennie said...

I guess I should be a little more specific. I made the potato chips.

Thanks!

DJ said...

Those potato chips look nummy, and that vegan Irish stew looks hearty and rich! Yum!

Theresa said...

Ah! Vicki! I meant to put a link in... thanks for reminding me!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Definitely try roasting Brussels sprouts. It really brings out an amazing flavor :o).