Super Bowl of Popchips

With the biggest day of excessive chip gorging in the past (aka the Super Bowl), comes the saltiest hangover of the year.  Before you reach for that leftover bag of soggy Doritos crumbs, consider something a bit healthier. 

Something made from all natural ingredients, that contains no trans fats, is not fried, not baked and comes in flavours like salt & pepper, barbeque, sea salt & vinegar, cheddar and sour cream & onion.

No, this isn’t some kind of sick snack joke where I tell you it’s a seaweed salad called chips…. It’s a real delicious, real flavourful, real ingredient-based chip called Popchips! 

Rainbow of Popchips

To understand the Popchip, just consider what it isn’t.  It isn’t fried cos that makes it unhealthy.  It isn’t baked, cos that’s gross tasting. Instead, Popchips are this amazing hybrid pressurized pop thing that happens when people who love snacks want to enjoy something a little less guiltily. 

I'm never one for cutting corners when it really comes to chips, but for Popchips there is a strong exception.  Since most of us eat with our eyes, the first big Popchips point is awarded for branding and packaging. Modern matte design with a thick vintage textured bag, you can tell just by holding the Popchips container that you're in for a real treat. 

Like any real treat, the best part of the Popchips happens when you eat it. Boasting an impressive range of classic flavours like Sea Salt & Vinegar and Sour Cream & Onion, there are also some delicious twists like Salt & Pepper and Cheddar. 

But what really makes Popchips...well, pop... is their highly addictive crunchy texture.  Picture the crackly goodness of shrimp chips (with but without the fishy taste) fused with crunchy Cheetos and some kind of unicorn magic.  No really, there is something magical about how crunchy these things get.  You won't ever ever want to stop eating them.  And given their healthy DNA, you won't even have to. 

After sampling the above 6 varieties of Popchips, I found texture to be the real shining star of this chip narrative.   While all  flavours were delicious (BBQ and Cheddar being at the top of my list), and the perfectly bite-sized portions (read: never cuts the roof of your mouth during extreme chip-a-thons), the unique Popchips crunch is what really makes this chip worth going healthy for.  

And so, as I sit here with my Super Bowl belly hanging over my track pants, I take great pleasure knowing that I can feel really good about eating Popchips all the time. 

Popchips Love

Ya, that makes Popchips love. 

Dill Pickle + Chips: Together Again

Dill Pickle chips are such a natural evolution of snacking I can hardly imagine what life was like before them.

Nothing goes better with a pile of smoked meat, dense rye bread and grainy mustard, than a thick, briny dill pickle.  Oh, did I say nothing? I meant nothing EXCEPT for McClure’s Pickles line of Potato Chips.

Photo Courtesy of S. St-Amant

Based out of Detroit and Brooklyn, McClure’s are expert picklers with a gourmet selection of pickles, relishes, a spicy Bloody Mary mix and best of all—chips.  I recently noticed McClure’s at my local farmer’s market and jumped on this bag of Spicy Pickle Crinkle Cut.

While Salt & Vinegar is the typical choice when combating extreme salt cravings, Dill Pickle offers a slightly subdue, creamier and overall more complex flavour profile.  When I'm really looking for a good acidic bite, Dill Pickle is always the clear winner for me.  And now that I've tasted the superior pickle affect of McClures, I can feel Salt & Vinegar forever slipping from my craving repertoire.

Spicy Pickle Goodness

Given that McClure's is solely in the pickle business, it's not shocking that these are the crème de la crème of Dill Pickle chips.  Each thick crinkle cut slice of potato is flawlessly imprinted with a  garlic dill-drenched brine that finishes in a creamy wave of spice.  Imagine homemade pickles but better because it's chips!

The only thing that could have enlightened my McClure's experience would have been a side of Schwarz's.  At least I'll know better for next time.

Sandwich 101

Today at lunch Stu St-Amant  took it way back to those nostalgic days of swamp water and spider dogs with this classic Chip Sandwich.
 

Photograph and Sandwich art by Suart St-Amant

1 Coldcut Trio from Subway: lots of veggies and a generous smattering of Mayo

0 Miss Vickie's Jalapeno Chips: while thinner chips have a tendency to become soggy in a sandwich situation, Miss.Vickie's kettle-style are thick enough to actually enhance texture. And, Stu's apt flavour selection makes this combo ideal.

1 Eat: nom nom nom nom



* Note: Regular Ruffles are the true classic chip sandwich option, but it's 2011, progress is OK. 

Lions and Tigers and Lay's? Oh My!

Check out this 1960's Lay's commercial featuring the legendary Cowardly Lion, Bert Lahr.

Great flashback, but maybe Lay's should consider rejuvenating their marketing campaign.

Early Late July Treat

Late July Organic Snacks Mild Green Mojo & Seas Salt by the Seashore

I know that the whole point of eating chips is to enjoy something delicious.  Typically I don't like to see my chips turned healthy.  It's a fried potato hopefully coated in salt and maybe even some cheese.  

So, when I was handed a bag of Late July Organic Snacks, I was pretty skeptical.

To my absolute surprise, these healthy chips were good.  Actually, they were really good--I could have eaten the whole bag good.

Of the two flavours I tried, Sea Salt by the Seashore was a little underwhelming  and maybe even dry, but the Mild Green Mojo were shockingly flavourful and I would definitely buy a bag in the future.

Late July are an organic snack company from the founders of Cape Cod Potato Chips, Inc. Representing a perfect chip crunch and appropriately salty taste, these snacks also boast many more great attributes:

Organic, Certified Gluten Free, 100% Whole Grains, Non-GMO, No Trans Fats, No Artificial Flavours/Colours/Preservatives... and just in case you were doubting the goodness here, 10% of profits are donated to the ACA Send a Child to Camp Fund.

Dude, Duh!

If you're feeling like a greasy heavy chip like a thick Ruffle or Zesty Doritos, this is not your choice.  But, if you want a lighter, fairly salted, chip-like treat, Late July Organic Snacks are waiting for you year-round.