Emily Veg Crisps Crunchy French Beans, Sugar Snap Peas and Black Edamame

You may have noticed that I don't often write about vegetable crisps. That'll be because I don't often sample vegetable crisps. I'd rather eat something made of potato.

But I went into Waitrose at lunchtime the other day and right inside the door where I (or anyone else) couldn't help but notice them, was a display of Emily Veg Crisps. And how could I resist this fabulously pretty packet? It reminds me of my Emma Bridgewater Sweet Pea jug.

The reluctant taste testers were dubious at best at the thought of crunchy french beans, and I couldn't help but remember the ghastly dried peas my great aunt used to serve when I was a child. My grand parents and aunt lived in the middle of the New Forest and never had access to good quality vegetables unless they grew them in the garden. My mother explained that any locally grown veg was sent up to London, and then brought back down to the country again to be sold in the local shop. By which time they weren't very nice. My aunt, a bad cook at best, served dried peas pretty much straight from the cardboard box they came in and they were hard as bullets.

However... However, we were quite surprised. The contents of the packet do look amazingly like frozen beans and peas so it feels a little odd when they initially taste almost like a potato crisp (it's the salt I expect) and then like a crispy crunchy vegetable. I thought the edamame beans were as hard as a boiled sweet; hence the thoughts on dried peas.

Senior taste tester grumbled that he doesn't care for green things and anyway they weren't proper crisps. I knew he would. But after trying extremely dubiously, forced into it by Tall taste tester who told him they were "not bad", he changed his tune and asked where I bought them. So I think we can count that as a success.

I wasn't very taken with them, and neither were Tall Elegant taste tester or Noble Friend, but I am fairly certain Tall taste tester ate a fair number. He complained there weren't enough sugar snap peas. He also moaned that the edamame had all fallen to the bottom of the packet which he stigmatised as a design flaw. I explained that there's not a lot you can do about the Muesli Effect (otherwise known as the Brazil Nut effect) which basically means that the small bits always fall to the bottom of the packet while the big bits stay at the top but I don't think he was interested.

Discover Bolder, Tastier, Crunchier says the packet. And believing that snacking should be fun, nutritious and tasty, Emily makes quality crisps with a crackle and crunch from her own favourite veg. Vegan, Halal and Kosher Pareve, these crispy beans and peas seem to be suitable for everyone, this 80g packet is 1 of my 5 a day, and only 95 calories per serving. Which sounds super healthy doesn't it? Except the packet contains 3.5 servings and that works out at 332.5 calories.

The average apple contains 95 calories and that I suppose is also 1 of your 5 a day.

The reluctant taste testers tried a packet of Crunchy Apple Crisps from Emily Crisps; back in May of last year. We quite like them. And here's the Emily Crisps website.