Tots are one of those words that Millenials can’t take seriously anymore thanks to Napolean Dynamite. If you haven’t seen that movie, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. Unfortunately I have seen it several times, but thankfully zero times in the last 11 years. In the movie, Napolean sneaks tots from the cafeteria via his nasty linty pocket into his classroom. He refuses to share them with his pleading friend because he is a tool. I shared my tots with my husband, and it was my good deed for the day. If you want to share your tots, then I suggest doubling the recipe, because I was pretty pissed once I agreed to give him 3 out of 9 tots. That’s a 33% tot allotment, and I think I should get paid for that. $27 sounds about right.
These tots are of the crispier variety because instead of finely grating the plantain such as you would a traditional tater tot, I decided to spiralize them then chop them into teeny shoe-string pieces. That helps the oil penetrate the tot easier and more quickly ensuring you do not get soggy tot middles. Nobody likes soggy tot middles. These are pan-fried but that doesn’t mean you need a ton of oil. I do not like recipes that call for a cup or more of my precious oil. If it’s a choice between paying rent and eating pan-fried Paleo tots, I’d rather not sleep in the rain. In fact, I usually don’t make Paleo recipes because I find them to be a bit too expensive, especially cookbook ones. When Sarah and I decided to get picky about the types of recipes in The Healing Kitchen, we knew they had to be budget-friendly with easy-to-find ingredients. So practically every recipe in that book includes only ingredients you’ll find at the perimeter of an average grocery store along with some pantry staples like olives, herbs, olive/coconut oil, and vinegar.
Speaking of The Healing Kitchen, we are working on our book tour dates right now! We should know which cities we’re hitting up and when by early November! We’ll likely do a release party in December and then a book tour in January once things settle down after the holidays. I’m so looking forward to meeting some of you awesome people in person, especially those of you who’ve emailed back & forth with me, commented on Facebook/Instagram posts, or share your photos of my recipes. I feel like I know so many of you already! It will be a blast so stay tuned on that news!
Crispy kid-friendly tots made with a spiralizer & healthy olive oil!
Peel plantains and slice them in half widthwise, which will make spiralizing them easier. Spiralize each plantain half. Depending on which model spiralizer you own, use the blade that you would use to make zucchini noodles. Transfer all the plantain noodles (they will be rather short) to a cutting board. Finely chop the noodles into small pieces (see photo) and place in a bowl. Stir in olive oil, sea salt and onion powder. With wet hands, form 1-inch long tater tots using a heaping tablespoon of the mixture until all the mixture is used up. You should get 8 to 10 tots. Cover the bottom of a large skillet with a thin layer of olive oil. Turn stove on to medium heat and heat oil until hot enough to make a droplet of water sizzle (be careful!) Carefully place each tot in the oil and fry on all sides for 2 minutes per side. You may only need to fry the top and bottom of each plantain depending on the thickness, or you may want to briefly fry the sides for the crispiest tots. Remove with a spoon to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with additional sea salt. Serve immediately.
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Crispy Plantain Tots
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