Who doesn’t love a good waffle. They are crunchy on the outside, moist and soft in the inside. We lather them with lots of butter and good Vermont Maple Syrup. I am bias about maple syrup. I believe the best syrup is made in Vermont and I am Georgia girl.  But sometimes you want to expand your mind and come up with something a little different. Well, in this case, a lot different. I so enjoyed sitting in my kitchen and thinking of how I could make a waffle, savory. I looked in my fridge, pantry, and garden, because these are the places that inspire me to make innovative recipes, with what I have on hand.

I am not one to go out regularly and buy a ton of ingredients to make a dish. Use what you have, no waste, my mama always taught me. She could make a thanksgiving dinner from an egg, head of lettuce and loaf of bread. LOL! Hey , she was before her time, she would have blown the competition away on Food Network, Chopped.

Well, she was my hero in some many ways, especially in the kitchen. Okay, with that being said, I found leeks and potatoes in my kitchen and decided to make this potato and leek savory waffle. It was so delicious and it’s vegan, gluten free and I made a raw basil oil to dress it. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did.

 

Waffles

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk + 1 tsp white or apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive
2 tbsp organic maple syrup
1/2 cup gluten free rolled oats
1 3/4 cups gluten free flour blend
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch sea salt

 

The potato and leek mixture

Ingredients:

1 -2 tbsp olive oil, to coat the bottom of a sauté pan

1 large yukon gold potato, cleaned, peeled and diced small

2 leeks, cleaned, cut into very small slices

1/2 cup onions diced small

1/2 cup red bell peppers, diced small

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp  No Salt garlic herb seasonings

1 tsp red crushed peppers

sea salt to taste

Basil Oil

Ingredients
2 cups packed basil leaves
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
pinch of salt

Instructions:

For the Waffle batter:

Combine almond milk and vinegar in a small mixing bowl and let set for a few minutes to activate, it will get bubbly. Then add olive oil , maple syrup and whisk. Set aside.
Add dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk until well combined.
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until well incorporated. Let set for 5-10 minutes, this will allow the, baking powder and vinegar mixture to activate even more. It will give you a very fluffy waffle. Heat up your waffle pan.

For the Potato and Leek mixture:

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium heat. Add in the small diced potatoes. Stir and allow them to cook until they are slightly golden brown and soften. Add the diced onions, red bell peppers and leeks. Stir.  Allow them to cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the diced garlic cloves . Stir and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool  GENTLY fold the mixture into the waffle batter, leave about 1/4 cup of potato and leek mixture out, to use as a garnish, if you desire. IF NOT YOU CAN ADD THE WHOLE MIXTURE INTO THE BATTER.
Once waffle iron is hot and ready to go, generously coat with non-stick spray and pour on about 1/2 cup of batter. Cook according to manufacturer instructions and then remove and place on a baking rack in a 200 degree oven to keep warm. In order to keep them crispy , do not stack and instead keep them in a single layer.

Basil oil

Wash basil leaves. Squeeze out water and dry with paper towel.
Place basil, the oil and salt into a blender or food processor and puree.
Let it settle a little then pour into a glass container. Drizzle over your waffles.
Use immediately or refrigerate. Making this oil a day in advance, will intensify the flavor. Fridge shelf life ~ one week.