Been Having Fun With the Air Fryer
My plan was to blog every single day in 2018, but then I had technical issues with my internet around the holidays, and there is no way I was about to blog on my phone when I enjoy doing it so much on my MacBook. So I'm back, up an running, but I'm not beating myself up over my first blog post of 2018 being 21 days in. You know why? Because focusing on your shortcomings can be paralyzing and cause your progress to stall or even fizz out completely. So whether it is a health or fitness goal of yours or a work or career goal (or anything that you are trying to achieve), if you have any set-backs I want you to look to what you will do instead of dwelling on what you didn't accomplish. Keep pushing forward! And now on to some air fryer talk.
For a Christmas gift this year from my mother, I received an air fryer. So I wanted to show you all some of the food I've made using it, and talk about my experience using one. I know a lot of you have tweeted me and messaged me on Instagram saying you have been on the fence about making the purchase. For me, I've really enjoyed this appliance and almost everything I have made has turned out really perfect.
The first thing that I air fried was homemade French fries. I cut organic potatoes and soaked them, then tossed them in a very small amount of oil, seasoned them, and they turned out awesome!
The next thing I air fried was crabless rangoons. I made homemade vegan wonton wrappers, then made a filling using tofutti cream cheese, gardein fishless product, onion, sugar, ginger, and some other seasonings. They came out absolutely amazing, as you can see!
I made "chicken" and cheese chimichangas in the air fryer. First I made homemade flour tortillas in a fry pan on the stove then stuffed with a chickenless product and vegan cheese following toppings after they were air fried to perfection. The toppings were vegan sour cream, salsa and olives. I really liked how these tasted and the texture in the air fryer was nice. I like how I didn't have to grease any pans to cook these, which eliminates the need for additional oil, which is great for health. That's my favorite part about air frying so far; saving those cals so I can eat more food! haha!
I also made vegan arancini (Italian rice balls) and they came out so amazing and so perfect!
Out of everything I've air fried, vegetables and prepared meals, this was the only dish that didn't turn out quite the way I would have liked, and I know it would have been much better in a pan with oil. These are potato latkes (or potato pancakes) topped with vegan sour cream and apple sauce. The first batch stuck to the fryer basket so badly. Then the second batch I had to heavily oil in order for them to not stick so much, and they still were hard to remove from the air fryer. Also, using so much oil defeats the purpose of an air fryer and makes using it a bigger hassle than easily pan-frying these. So for latkes, I do not recommend the air fryer; just my opinion and experience.
I have been making lots of vegetables in the air fryer and here is something that really stands out; buffalo cauliflower. I cleaned a fresh head of cauliflower and broke off the florets, lightly oiled them, lightly coated them in panko breadcrumbs, air fried, then served them alongside raw carrots, celery, radishes, and a "blue cheese" dip that I made using vegan ingredients including tempeh. It came out amazing and was probably my favorite dish to make in the air fryer so far.
Pretty much my experience using an air fryer has been wonderful, with just one minor snag with the latkes. The fryer is easy to clean and I like that I'm saving calories from oil that would have been used in frying, and can use those calories to enjoy sauces and dips to serve with the "fried" foods that I'm making. The best part is that everything I have made that was fried with air, tasted exactly like food deep fried in oil, and I don't get heartburn like I can get sometimes when eating food deep fried in oil.
Do you have an air fryer? If so, what has your experience been so far and what meals have you made with it? And for now, the Dirty Vegan is signing off, I hope your day is golden like these vegan rangoons I made!
