Showing posts with label potato free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label potato free. Show all posts

Monday, July 30, 2012

Microwave Sweet Potato Chips

  This is just a quick recipe and no picture as my camera STILL is m.i.a. but I found this on Pinterest using regular potatoes and I decided to try it with some sweet potatoes we had laying around and oh my goodness!! These were just like store bought chips, but they took me 6 minutes to make!
 These are so quick, you can whip some up to go with your sandwich for lunch.

Microwave Sweet Potato Chips

one medium sweet potato, scrubbed
about 2 tsp olive oil
about 1 tsp salt
optional seasonings, like chipotle powder or my favorite, lemon pepper seasoning

Slice sweet potato into very thin slices, 1/8 of an inch or less (I highly recommend a mandolin for this). Toss slices and all other ingredients together in a bowl until well coated.
Pour a drop or two of olive oil on a microwave safe plate and use a paper towel to spread it around. Place potato slices in a single layer on plate (you'll have to do a few batches). Microwave for 4 minutes, then carefully turn slices over and cook for another 2 minutes. Move to a cool plate and they will crisp up in seconds as they cool. Presto, perfect potato chips!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Dairy and Soy Free Nacho Cheese and Sour Cream

  So these two things are obviously great for making nachos, like the ones we had tonight with taco-seasoned ground turkey, black beans, salsa, and corn tortilla chips. But they also have other applications; the cheese sauce goes great over broccoli and other vegetables and the sour cream makes a fabulous base for dressings, especially ranch (use in place of Vegenaise Mayo). Also if you follow the same sour cream recipe but use less water, it makes a great substitute for ricotta in lasagnas!

I know, I know. It needs olives.
Dairy Free Nacho Cheese 

2 Tbl Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Spread
1 cup Daiya pepperjack shreds
1/4 cup unsweetened plain almond or other non-dairy milk (more if necessary)
pinch each of ground mustard, turmeric, and onion powder
1/2 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste
dash of cayenne (optional)

In a medium saucepan, heat Earth Balance until completely melted. Add Daiya cheese shreds and 1/4 cup almond milk. Stir occasionally until cheese is melted and smooth. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. If cheese sauce is too thick, add milk 1 Tbl at a time.

Dairy Free Sour Cream

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raw cashews (can use all sunflower seeds if avoiding nuts, or all cashews for a more traditional flavor)
about 1 cup of water *see directions
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp sea salt

*Place sunflower seeds and cashews into a measuring cup. Add water to just cover the seeds/nuts by about 1/4 of an inch.
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and thick. (If using a Blendtec, use the sauces/dips button).


Monday, May 7, 2012

Crispy Quinoa Tots - Vegan, Wheat/Gluten Free

 It's Meatless Monday! I was all set to make quinoa burgers following a version of this recipe from Including Cake, but I just really wasn't feeling it since we had turkey burgers last night. Plus once I saw how nicely the ...uh... dough? allowed itself to be molded, I just HAD to try to make tots. I'm so glad I did!
 While there's nothing necessarily un-allergy friendly about most tater tots, these are much healthier and were so yummy, and I actually had fun making them. They came out perfectly, crisp on the outside but soft and yummy on the inside. Jack and Ben both really enjoyed these, and I think they would very easily freeze to be cooked later. Also, I fried these in our Presto Cool Daddy fryer and peanut oil, but you could probably bake these or pan fry them in olive, peanut, or corn oil. Feel free to leave out the seasonings (except salt!) for a more traditional 'potato-tot' flavor, but the flavor of these was very subtle.

*For those with potato allergies, you can substitute corn starch, arrowroot, tapioca flour, or other starches for the potato starch to make these tots completely potato free.

Crispy Quinoa Tots

2 cups cooked quinoa
1/2 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 rounded Tbs flax meal
dash of Tabasco Chipotle Sauce (optional)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp sea salt
4 Tbs potato starch*
3 Tbl corn or olive oil if pan frying


If using a fryer, preheat to 375. (If pan frying, heat oil in a large skillet on medium high heat when you are about 3/4 of the way done shaping your tots so the oil doesn't burn but is hot by the time you are ready.)
In a medium/large bowl, mash chickpeas with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. If you cooked the quinoa immediately before starting this process as I did and it's still hot, leave it all to sit until mostly cool. Shape 1/2 Tbs at a time into cylinder shape by rolling them into balls and then pinching the top and bottom slightly and pressing in the sides a little. No need to get fancy unless you are a perfectionist or trying to impress someone ;)
If using fryer, fry in two batches for about 4 minutes each, until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel lined plate. If pan frying, add 1/4 of the tots at a time and roll them in the oil so they brown evenly on all sides. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.