This week on the show, we make Instant Pot Spanish paella, try Utz Ripples Fried Dill Pickle Potato Chips, and sip on Fever Tree Sparkling Pink Grapefruit.
We also got a letter from my mom and read it on the pod, and it was the absolute sweetest thing.
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Table of Contents
News: Vegan snacking cheese wedges
This week's news item comes from VegNews who reports that the company GOOD PLANeT Foods has released Laughing Cow-style snacking cheese wedges.
Y'all, I can't wait to try this cheese! Laughing Cow was one of my faves as a kid, and I am officially on the hunt for these GOOD PLANeT wedges. It doesn't look like they're available in Atlanta yet, but I'm on the lookout!
We made Spanish paella!
Paella was a special dinner request from the kid. A character in one of his video games ate paella, which sparked his interest. I love seeing him branching out on the food he's asking me to make!
For the sake of time, I decided that I wanted to make this paella in the Instant Pot, so my recipe hunt began.
I couldn't find a vegan Instant Pot paella recipe, so I used a one-pot recipe and converted it to the Instant Pot. I'm not going to link to the recipe that I used, because it honestly wasn't great.
My big takeaway was that Spanish paella isn't my jam. I grew up in South Florida, and the paella we ate was less Spanish and more Cuban. It uses a whole different kind of rice, and I'm going to chase that experience with my next paella adventure.
Spanish paella uses bomba rice -- you can also use arborio rice -- which is fat, short-grain rice. The paella I grew up eating uses long grain rice, which has a whole different texture when cooked.
Hopefully, I'll have something good to share with y'all after some testing, though!
We ate Utz Ripples Fried Dill Pickle Potato Chips!
These chips -- like the pint of KIND Frozen Cherry Cashew -- were another beach find that we are finally talking about now.
Dave and I have been on a bit of a chip journey, which was kicked off when we learned that Sweet Chili Doritos are vegan. That journey really intensified over the past year, and Utz Ripples Fried Dill Pickle Potato Chips were another stop on that adventure.
Like the name implies, these are ruffled chips that are seasoned with dill and vinegar. They've also got a light sweetness to them.
We got these chips on our first day at the beach and busted into the bag that very day at lunch.
As usual, our opinions on these differed a bit.
Dave absolutely loved them. He felt like the flavor was just the right amount of vinegary for him. In fact, he loved them so much that he ate himself ill on them.
I thought that they were fine. For me, they were a little bit bland. I prefer a vinegar chip that's in your face about it. This was more a whisper of vinegar.
If you like a bit of tart but feel like salt and vinegar chips are too much, you'll probably love these. For vinegar-chasers like me, you'll probably prefer something like a Lay's Dill Pickle Chip.
We drank Fever Tree Sparkling Pink Grapefruit!
Speaking of things we didn't agree on, let's talk about Fever Tree's pink grapefruit soda, y'all.
This is something my sister recommended to me, because she knows that I love grapefruit. I'd had a few bottles before, but this was Dave's first time trying it.
If you're familiar with Fever Tree, you probably know about their tonic water, which is top notch. This grapefruit soda gave me serious tonic water vibes, which I loved.
What surprised me is that it doesn't contain quinine! It does have sodium bicarbonate, which I'm guessing is what gives it that rounded flavor.
Dave hated this drink. He had one sip, then said I could have the rest of the bottle. He thought it was medicinal and terrible.
I love this soda on its own, but it's especially nice in a glass rimmed with lime juice and Tajin seasoning. Tajin is a tart, chili seasoning that's lovely on fruit, and it makes the Fever Tree Sparkling Pink Grapefruit feel like a fancy mocktail.
Fever Tree is a bit pricey to be an all the time drink around here, but I will definitely get it for special occasions!
Where to listen
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