Who loves potatoes?
Me. I love potatoes and I could eat them every single day and not having them the same way. Whether its sweet potatoes or mashed potatoes, fries or home fries, I am here for POTATOES. So when I found these vegan mici (Romanian word for “little ones” or “small ones”) I knew it was the perfect way to over-indulge in potatoes.
Just a little, anyway.
And since I’m (still) editing like my life depends on it, I’m going to make this a quick-ish post.
This was kind of a hodge-podge meal, as you can see with just a few mushrooms because there were only a few leftover as it was almost grocery day. Again.
The ingredient list for this vegan pub meal is pretty simple: vegan mici, potatoes (lots of potatoes) and crimini mushrooms. I didn’t add onions or garlic the way I used to, okay well I did but only for the dipping sauce because you can’t have potatoes without a proper dipping sauce.
Right?
For the mici, I recommend using a grill or griddle if you have one, if not the air fryer or oven will do nicely. You only need to cook it 2 or 3 minutes on each side to get nice grill marks and that delicious grill taste, minus the CO2.
For the mushrooms, the best thing to do is to get them started on top of the stove on a very hot skillet, medium-high or high heat so you can get a good sear on the outside. After that, I like to pop them in the oven to finish cooking. They take less time to cook and they don’t get so water-logged. For seasoning, I used salt, pepper, garlic, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper. Toss it in the spices and then the skillet.
Easy peasy.
For the fries, toss them in your favorite herbs & spices, and cook in the air fryer for 10 to 15 minutes or the oven for 20 to 30 minutes. If you cook oil free vegan good, I recommend brushing the air fryer with a small bit of oil to prevent sticking, same goes for parchment paper in the oven.
For the smashed potatoes, make sure you use small potatoes that won’t need to cook forever to get a little tender. Boil the potatoes in VERY salted water for 10 to 15 minutes, or until fork tender. Let them cool until you can handle them without burning yourself, then use a potato masher to flatten them a bit.
Now, toss with your favorite seasonings and let them join the mushrooms and/or fries on the oven.
The smashed potatoes will be like baked potatoes, only better. And they take WAY less time to cook than baked potatoes. Super crispy on the outside and soft & potato-y on the inside. If you really want to go crazy, add vegan butter and dill with garlic to toss and enjoy!
Pretty easy, right?
Now for the sauce. You can use vegan barbecue sauce if you want, but I used ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, hot sauce and mustard, along with sautéed garlic and shallots for a wonderful and flavorful dipping sauce.
And that’s it.
Talk about your easy vegan meals. It takes about 40 minutes, but honestly the oven does most of the work, and if you want to shave a few minutes off the cook time, skip the garlic and shallots and use dried garlic & onion powder instead.
Wash down the meal with a nice cold beer and enjoy!
What’s your favorite vegan bar food?
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