Review: Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Kettle Chips and The Daily Crave Veggie Chips

Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Kettle Chips are delicious and bursting with a tangy, cheesy flavor.

The Daily Crave's Veggie Chips are crispy and have a melt-in-your-mouth quality that a lot of veggie chips have. 

My Vegan Cuts Snack Box for February contained a lot of wonderful goodies -- as shown below:

The Vegan Cuts Snack Box is a subscription service that costs $19.95 a month. 

Today, I'm reviewing two chip products from my February Snack Box: Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Kettle Chips and The Daily Crave Veggie Chips. Both products have wonderful flavors and textures. 

Here's the breakdown on each:

The Daily Crave Veggie Chips taste like the generic veggie chips from Whole Foods, so it might be hard for this brand to distinguish itself on the market. That said, it's nice to know the product has no artificial ingredients, flavors, or colorings. It's also non-GMO and free of hydrogenated fats. I have never heard of this brand prior to my snack box arriving, so I'll keep an eye for it when I go to Whole Foods.

Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Kettle Chips have been highly anticipated by plant-based foodies on social media. These chips definitely live up to the hype. The chips are sturdy and crunchy, as you would expect a kettle chip to be. Each bite brings on a burst of tangy, cheesy goodness, so it's very difficult to have the suggested serving size of 13 chips. I plan to savor this bag as long as possible before my order of more chips from Rabbit Food Grocery arrives (I also ordered Earth Balance's new Sour Cream and Onion flavor Kettle Chips, and I have no doubt it will be amazing). 

So, if you're lucky enough to spot Earth Balance's kettle chips at the store, stock up on these babies because I'm sure they'll sell out quickly.

Review: Vegan Shelf-Stable Bacons

photo comes from my Instagram feed

Vegan bacon products can add a salty, smoky crunch to hors d'oeuvres, such as this date appetizer. Medjool dates stuffed with Tofutti cream cheese. I mixed 2T of cream cheese with one thinly sliced green onion, 2T of chopped water chestnuts (for texture), and a pinch of salt and pepper. I topped the dates with a few pieces of Phoney Baloney's Coconut Bacon.

WayFare'S Bacony Bits add a great crunch and a slightly smoky flavor to each bite of this pasta salad. To make the pasta salad, cook 1 cup of pasta. In a separate bowl, mix 1/2 cup each of shredded carrots, sliced black olives, peas, sauteed mushrooms, and chopped tomatoes (you can add more or less of these ingredients to your liking). For the sauce, I mixed 1/2 cup of vegan mayo with 3 tablespoons of yellow mustard, 1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, and 1 salt and pepper to taste. I had 2 tablespoons of Tofutti cream cheese left, so I mixed that in as well for extra creaminess. Feel free to add other spices and hot sauce. 

Today I’m reviewing Phoney Baloney’s Coconut Bacon and WayFare’s Pig Out Whole Grain Bacony Bits.

Here are some features of both products:

• Coconut Bacon: This gluten-free product consists of 1-inch and smaller flakes of salty, smoky goodness. Upon first bite, you taste salt, and then the flake begins to dissolve somewhat in your mouth. You taste/smell the natural hickory smoke concentrate, and you get a slight kick from the spices, which include pepper. You don't taste coconut at all. The company says their product is best consumed within six months of production and is best served as a topping because “the Coconut Bacon does not hold up well in extreme heat or moisture.” The tamari used in the coconut bacon is non-GMO. The product can be purchased on the company’s website, as well as a number of other online and brick-and-mortar retailers. See the list of sellers here.

• Bacony Bits: This soy-free product is labeled as non-GMO. It’s extremely crunchy – almost like Grape Nuts cereal (if you’re familiar with that product). Upon first bite, you definitely know you’re eating bacon bits. It tastes similar to the bacon-bit products you might have tried from large commercial manufacturers. The bits are salty, but not as salty as the coconut bacon, and there’s a great smoky aftertaste that comes from the hickory smoke powder. Reviewers have said that it’s easy to snack on the product straight from the bag, and I can see why – its crunchy texture is addicting and the smoky aftertaste is satisfying. This product can be purchased from online retailers, including: veganessentials.com, vegancuts.com, and rabbitfoodgrocery.com.

I find that both products have room in the vegan-bacon market. Those who need a soy-free product can utilize the bacon bits, while those who can’t consume gluten can enjoy the coconut bacon. Phoney Baloney’s Coconut Bacon adds a nice, slight crunch and salty-smoky flavor in tomato sandwiches and as a topping on hors d'oeuvres. WayFare’s Bacony Bits keep its crunchy texture longer than coconut bacon, so it’s great atop appetizers and as a topping on pasta salad, salad greens, and anything else you where you want to add a salty, smoky, and crunchy element.

If you don’t have any diet restrictions, I urge you to try both products. You won’t be disappointed.

Review and Recipe: The Vegg and Vegan Omelette

A photo collage from my Instagram account, @stay_at_home_vegan

The old Vegg packaging (seasoning packet) has been replaced by a canister (not pictured).

The Vegg is a vegan product that mimics the flavor and texture of a semi-cooked egg yolk. It's completely plant-based and has an egg aroma thanks to one of its ingredients -- Black Salt. The Vegg currently is sold in canisters, but I still am working through the old packaging, which was a seasoning-like packet (I bought a bunch of the product when it first came out).

You need to blend The Vegg with water in a high-speed blender (doing it by hand doesn't produce the correct texture). I use my Vitamix, but any blender or hand mixer would work. You can't cook the liquid directly; it won't take form. You need to add it to tofu, potatoes, bread, etc., and from there, The Vegg will bind and cook with the other food item.

This morning I was craving an omelette. I usually make tofu eggs, but that produces a scrambled-egg consistency. I remembered I had some naan bread, and I figured I'd dip the bread in The Vegg, and then use that for my egg flavor and shape of a folded-over egg.

After dipping the naan in Vegg, I pan-fried it in a little oil for about 8-10 minutes on each side over low heat. While that cooked, I prepared my filling. I cooked some asparagus, onions, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes. By the time the veggies were done cooking (and I had a chance to wash most of the dishes), the naan was ready. I assembled my omelette and dug in. While the naan still tasted like a nice piece of toasted bread, it did have an egg-essence to it. Naan is rather thick, so next time I might try a large tortilla and see how that goes.

The omelette was satisfying, savory, and delicious. I had a little extra nut-cream sauce to which I added garlic and other spices, and that provided some extra punches of flavor to the filling.

Product Review: Neat Meat Replacement Is Neato-Keano Swell (also #gluten-free, #soy-free)

The three flavors of Neat, a meat replacement and shelf-stable product. From left, Mexican, Italian, and Original

One of my favorite new vegetarian products that emerged on the market in 2013 is a shelf-stable, meat-replacement product called Neat. Neat was born in the kitchen of a Pennsylvania family, and the name came about when daughter Morgan said, “This isn’t meat; it’s neat!”

Another great thing about the company is that Neat is packaged by VisionCorps at its food facility in Lancaster County, Pa. VisionCorps provides support programs and employment opportunities to people who are blind or vision impaired.

Home cooks can prepare the Mexican, Italian, or Original mix with 2 tablespoons of water and 2 eggs or 2 egg substitutes (Yay, vegan option!). Parmesan or a vegan Parmesan is needed to make Italian neatballs. Once all the ingredients are combined, the thick mixture is then cooked in a pan with a little oil. 

I'm breaking up the Mexican Neat mix into crumbles as it cooks.

I’ve prepared and tasted all three mixes, and the finished products are slightly moist and just ever-so crumbly in your mouth.

Here’s a roundup of the three flavors:

• Mexican: As I prepared the mix, the smells brought back memories of Old-Ortega taco night as a kid. The strong aroma of chili powder and onion powder automatically makes you inhale deeply to take in that awesome taco-seasoning smell. This is definitely my favorite of the three, and I plan to use the mix when I make a tamale casserole (I’ll post the recipe and photos tomorrow).

• Original: This mix has the most delicious smells as you mix it and cook it in a pan. The package only lists “spices” in the ingredient list, but whatever the “spices” are, it’s a good combination fo’ sure. You can make ground neat, which will resemble the crumbles you get when making the Mexican mix. You also can make burgers – four patties per package.

• Italian: This mix definitely makes you think of Italian food as you prepare it. I made neatballs (eight balls per package) and used Parmela’sParmesan Style Aged Nut Cheese where the recipe called for 1/3 c. of Parmesan cheese. I added the cooked neatballs to some noodles and then poured on my homemade pesto sauce. My family enjoyed this dish tremendously, and the neatballs held their own well.

Neat can be purchased at VeganEssentials, Amazon, Vitacost, and on the Neat website.