Lentil Chips

Posted on December 31, 2016 by melsmosaic

Was roaming through World Market and a fuchsia bag jumped out at me. Had to inspect a bit. It was (Bandar) lentil chips, or Poppadums, to be exact, and they were original cumin flavor. Figured I should give them a try, especially since I had my 20% off coupon that expired that day.

They were very dry and cardboard-y. And ironically soft at the same time. Not all that impressed, though ironically I kept eating them. The cumin taste was very nice, especially considering it’s one of my favorite spices. Totally not something I will pick up again, but was worth trying.

Brussels Sprouts Turned Chips

Posted on March 4, 2016 by melsmosaic

I love kale chips so it’s fun to find recipes that parallel them. I was going through some sites recently and found a similar one for Brussels Sprouts chips. Those little round green veggies taste great to begin with so why not try them in another form?

Ingredients:

-2 cups of Brussels sprout leaves (outer leaves from 2 pounds of sprouts)
-2 tablespoons of melted ghee (I used olive olive)
-Kosher salt to taste (threw some pepper in there, too)
-Lemon zest (optional)

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350°F
-Mix the leaves, ghee, and salt together in a large bowl
-Line two large baking trays with parchment. Divide the leaves evenly in a single layer on each tray.
-Bake each tray for 8-10 minutes or until crispy and brown around the edges.
-Microplane some lemon zest over the chips (optional)

My deep thoughts on these; they took WAY too much work. You have to peel all these sprouts. My friend and I must have stood there for well over 20 minutes doing this. I felt like we were picking crabs. We tried various methods for this — quick tear, cutting the bottom to see if leaves would fall. No method seemed super efficient.

The taste was great. Crisp, flavorful. So, if I need to kill time, will totally make them again. Otherwise, will stick to kale chips.

Paladar

Posted on August 3, 2015 by melsmosaic

Went to check out a place down the street from me with all this heat because of little desire to cook. It’s Paladar, in the DC-area, and I’d been there once right when they opened so it was packed. Was looking forward to checking it out again.

It’s a Latin restaurant which means some of their drinks are perfect for a hot evening. My friend and I both opted for Sangria — one of us red, one of us white. These things went down way too easily!!

For some food, we grabbed the neccesary guac then went with ceviche. The guac is served with yucca, plaintain, malanga and ‘regular’ chips.
They have unique ceviche options! I opted for Salmon & Mango, which was thinly sliced salmon, fresh mango and red onion tossed in sweet and tangy coconut ginger marinade. Very nice balance between all the flavors.

The other ceviche at the table was the Mixed Seafood one, with a great blend of fresh snapper, calamari, and shrimp tossed in sweet and tangy broth made with lemon, lime & orange juices, aji peppers, and celery, topped with fresno peppers, carrots and onion. Nice flavors all around.

A place worth checking out for drinks and/or dinner, definitely on a hot summer night.

These Chips are(n’t) BS!

Posted on August 17, 2014 by melsmosaic

Was in Whole Foods the other day roaming through the chip aisle to grab some pita chips (of course, right?). I always have to see what else is on the shelves that I really don’t need. Well, a couple years ago I had some chips after running a race that were so good! They were just so unique and I haven’t been able to find them again. I couldn’t quite remember what they were, unfortunately, so have been on this endless hunt. I see these sweet potato chips and try them and realize they aren’t quite right. Well, finally I have found what I was looking for! Garden of Eatin’ Butternut Squash Chips! They are and aren’t BS! So good! The bag says NEW, no, they were around a couple years ago and now are finally back! The chips are made with corn, butternut squash and some spice. They have a bit of sweetness, they’re crunchy and something unique to them. I don’t even think they need salsa to pair with them. I did put some hummus on them once or twice, though — the pita chips didn’t have to get all of it, right? They are also gluten free and dairy free. Check them out, let me know what you think. And, if you find them at different stores, let me know.

New Snack/’Chip’ Find

Posted on March 4, 2014 by melsmosaic

I was in the deadly Wegman’s the other day roaming through the aisles and an aisle-end product display caught my eye. The main ingredients/flavors were things I like, the nutritional value was good, so I had to give them a try. The product — Lesser Evil’s (love that name) Super 4 Snacks, White Bean, Quinoa, Lentil, Chia, with Kale & Roasted Garlic. And, after visiting their site, I noticed a product I’d tried before that’s addictive, the Chia Crisps.

A serving has 46 pieces — that’s a nice amount to be able to eat! And has 110 calories, 3g fat, 2g monosaturated. There are 18g carbs per serving, with less than 1 of the grams being sugars.

The pieces you eat are light and hollow, the shape of ziti. They just sort of float in your hand, they weigh so little!

Very flavorful. They were a little bit salty, and going back there are 220g of sodium per serving. Overall though, addictive… There are a couple other flavors of them, too — Roasted Red Pepper and Cheesy Nacho. And, on the back of the bag, they nicely note, the product fits into a lot of (positive) categories:

-all natural
-gluten free
-beans are low glycemic
-kosher
-corn free
-good source of fiber
-no MSG
-baked not fried
-not genetically modified
-empty calorie free
-no artificial preservatives, flavors or colors
-no milk hormones