potato chips

The question: can a mass-market potato chip capture the much-beloved earthy, caramelized sweetness of roasted garlic without verging on cloying, burnt, or worse? As I ripped into a bag of Lay's latest offering — Wavy Lay's Roasted Garlic and Sea Salt Chips — I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but as soon as a crisp chip crunched between my teeth I knew we had a winner on our hands. Just to be sure I wasn't biased — I'm an unabashed garlic fan, often doubling up on the fragrant allium in recipes — I set out a bowl to share with my office mates to see if they'd agree.  

Find out the results.

In addition to Pi Day, March 14 also happens to be National Potato Chip Day. While it's easy and satisfying to eat them right out of the bag, it's even more fun to come up with creative ways to add some crunch factor to your food. There's no doubt about it that potato chips are dangerously addictive on their own, but incorporated into other dishes, like sandwiches or even baked goods, they reach an entirely new level of awesome. So grab your favorite bag of chips and get creative!

• Add them to your burgers or sandwiches as a contrast to all of the soft textures. Bobby Flay refers to these burgers as "crunchified."
• Crumble them up and toss them in salads for an unexpected and unusual flavor combination.
• Use them in your next Spanish tortilla in place of sliced potatoes.
• Sprinkle them on top of ice cream for a sweet and salty treat.
• Swap out pretzel sticks for chocolate-dipped potato chips.
• Bake with them! Potato chip cookies are all the rage these days.

What do you love to add potato chips to?

From left to right: Lay's Chicken & Waffles, Sriracha, and Cheesy Garlic Bread chips

We hold a lot of taste tests in our office, sampling everything from exceptional bottles of red wine to gingerbread Peeps, but yesterday's sampling of Lay's newfangled fan-generated flavors was easily our most eagerly anticipated taste test to date. In the span of a short morning, not one but 10 of my office mates stopped by my desk to inspect the wares, ready to see if the novel — and quite frankly, a bit out there — flavors like Chicken & Waffles, Sriracha, and Cheesy Garlic Bread could translate well as crisp and crunchy chips.

Lay's Chicken & Waffles Flavored Potato Chips

Easily the most wacky flavor of the bunch, these Southern-brunch-staple-inspired chips drew the largest crowd of tasters, likely due to their undeniable novelty factor. Here's the thing: while we'd love to say these were an unmitigated success, it quickly became clear why Chicken & Waffles had yet to be immortalized in salty snack form. More waffle than chicken — many tasters complained of an overpowering fake-maple-syrup flavor — most would relegate these to a late-night drunk munchies snack only. That said, they won over a few with their intriguing blend of sweet, salty, and savory (think maple and chicken bouillon). All in all, they're worth trying at least once simply to say that you did it.

Tasters' average rating:

Keep reading to find out how the Sriracha and Cheesy Garlic Bread flavors fared.

When you're craving something salty, nothing satisfies like a handful of crispy chips. Potato chips, corn chips, and ones made with rice — you name it, I'll crunch on it. Whether you're dipping chips into hummus at a party, or devouring a bag in front of the TV (never a good idea, but it can happen), it pays to know the caloric price of your fave chips — healthy and not so healthy. Here's a comparison so you can munch away with some nutritional knowledge under your belt.

To see the rest of the list keep reading.

A new report from Harvard researchers has found the top foods that are making us fat, and the findings are not at all surprising.

The extensive study used data for over 120,000 healthy men and women from previous studies to track their diet every four years from 1986 to 2006 to see how their lifestyle and what they ate affected their weight. The researchers found that within each period the average weight gain was a little over three pounds — which added up to a 17-pound total weight gain over the 20-year period.

What caused that weight gain? Topping the list of culprits are meat, sweetened drinks, fried foods, and any form of potatoes. The biggest cause of weight gain was eating french fries; every extra serving of fries eaten in a day was linked to a gain of more than three pounds, while eating an extra serving of potato chips led to 1.69 pounds. Other diet busters included refined grains (like white rice and white bread) and butter.

But the news wasn't all bad; the study also identified the foods that helped prevent weight gain. Read on for the list of foods that cause and prevent weight gain.

Happy Monday! If you need an excuse to indulge at the beginning of the week, consider this: it's National Potato Chip Day! Obviously, there is no other way to celebrate than to break open a bag of your favorites.

On my end, I'll be busting out Kettle Chips Zesty Ranch Krinkle Cut Potato Chips. They're perhaps the best chips I've ever had. What takes your top pick for potato chip?

• Cocoa prices are on the rise. — The Feast
• Potato chip fun facts. — Endless Simmer
• Rachael Ray takes on the stuffy world of foodies. — Daily Beast
• Update your kitchen with a little wallpaper. — The Kitchn
• More videos with details on Grant Achatz's upcoming eateries. — Eater
• Speaking of Achatz, here's an interesting Q&A where he discusses what he learned at the French Laundry. — FoodGal
• Marco Canora likes chips in his sandwiches. — Grub Street NY
• Is food too cheap? — Huffington Post Food
• Seven easy and healthy risotto recipes. — Chow