So if your Memorial Day weekend is going anything like mine here in San Antonio, then you are having a rainy time of it. And not just a rainy day, but random anytime-it-feels-like-it rain. Which means you can’t plan a barb-b-que meal. Well, you can always cook your food inside because an oven is a wonderful invention. I also decided to review a product I have been wanting to try for a long time. Here is my Gardein Fishless Filet, Sweet Potato Chips and Homemade Tartar Sauce.

Once you go vegetarian and give up all meaty things, the next thing to go is fish – or at least it was for me. It didn’t take me long after giving up meat to give up fish – maybe a year – because I was never really a fish-eating person anyway. Except for fried fish. You can enjoy anything if it’s fried. But after giving fish up over 12 years ago now, I haven’t really craved it. There are certain smells that take you back and make you crave a flavor or meal – fish smells? Not so much. Which is why I have been nervous to pay for a bag of the Gardein Fishless Filet. Because paying for vegan or even just vegetarian non-meat products is dang expensive! Now I am a lover of Gardein’s Mandarin Crispy Chick’n – without the sauce – and usually buy it without a coupon because I love it. The flavor of the crispy chick’n is just amazing and I love making it up and adding to the side of a quick sauteed broccoli with soy sauce. It is always in my freezer.

I also love that Gardein is trying to help us vegans keep our integrity by giving us foods that are reminiscent of our pasts, but letting us still be who we are. Who cares that we want to eat a product that smells close to the living thing? Right? We aren’t eating it and that is the important thing, but like the smell of chocolate, the smell of the Fishless Fish takes me back to when I was vacationing in Ireland and eating fish and chips. So when I saw the coupon for $1 off a Gardein product I bit the bullet and bought it. And yes – the Fishless Filet is awesome. Like, I wanted to make more, awesome! It smelled like fish while it was baking! And even better? The low calories! Love that! And even better than that? It isn’t fried! You bake it, and it is crispy and tender. Even got my moms agreement that it tasted like fish!

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But if you are going to have a fish and chips dish you need the chips and tartar sauce. So for my chips I bought one big-honking sweet potato. I scrubbed the outside and then cut the sucker in half to handle better and using my mandolin sliced my potatoes in even slices. Then I let the slices sit in a bowl of water for 20 minutes to get the starches out. Normally when I make sweet potato fries they are mushy, which I don’t mind, but I wanted to try the water bowl trick. I baked the fish filet and chips together at 425 degrees for 15 minutes on each side. The chips are just getting crisp and have just the slightest softness in the middle. Good!

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For the tartar sauce you will want to make it a couple hours before you eat because all the flavors will need to incorporate together. Mix everything in a bowl, put a lid on then refrigerate at least two hours. This tastes a little dill-y to me, but I am not a dill lover so next time I am going to use a 1/4 teaspoon instead of a half teaspoon. Now, I haven’t had tartar sauce in over 12 years, since the last time I had real fried fish, so I had my mom help get the flavors going, but she didn’t think it was exaclty right. I used plain yogurt instead of mayo – but, it tasted good with the fish.

Vegan and GF Tartar Sauce,

1 Cntr So Delicious Coconut Milk Plain Yogurt
1 1/2 Tbsp Vlassic Sweet Relish
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Garlic Salt
1/2 Tsp Splenda Sugar
1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
1/2 Tsp Dried Dill

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Put lid on and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Sweet Potato Planks / Chips,

1 Large Sweet Potato

1. Scrub potato to get dirt off.
2. Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, slice potato evenly.
3. Put slices in bowl and fill with water. Let sit 20 minutes.
4. Turn oven to 425 degrees.
6. Pat water off slices. Spray baking sheets with non-stick spray. Place slices on baking sheet then spray potatoes with non-stick spray.
7. Bake about 30 minutes, flipping all slices halfway through time. Season right when you take them out.
8. Enjoy!

I was not provided with any products, coupons, or compensation. All opinions are my own.