Samosa Stuffed Jacket Potatoes

Proof that potatoes do not need to be slathered in loads of butter, cheese, and sour cream to taste good! (Not that I don't enjoy the occasional butter-, cheese-, and sour cream-slathered potato but I usually prefer less artery-clogging food).

These were lovely! I made them as twice-baked potatoes but the original recipe called for making them as potato skin-style appetizers (yes, now I'm thinking I need to plan a Bollywood movie night so I can make these yummy things as part of the menu!)
As I made them, they make a great meal on their own or with a salad (I should have planned better and bought stuff to make a chutney for them...) or make them as potato skins and have them as a starter for a curry dish.


Excuse the crappy photo... hubby left for Texas this morning and took my camera leaving me to take this with my phone. The finished potato was really pretty; this does not do it justice.

I bet you could make these the night before, wrap them up and keep them refrigerated, and then just heat up for lunch the next day.

Makes 2 twice-baked potatoes or 4 potato skin appetizers

Ingredients:
2 Russet potatoes, scrubbed, baked, and cooled
1/8 cup non-dairy milk, veggie broth, or water (I used broth)
A little non-dairy, non-hydrogenated margarine (1/2-1 tsp.)
1 1/2 tbsp. canola oil
1/2 cup carrots, cut into small dice or shredded
1/2 cup onion, cut into small dice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tsp. ground mustard
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup frozen peas (leave them frozen)
Juice of 1/4 lemon
Extra canola oil for brushing the skins
Cilantro and/or green onions as a garnish (completely forgot I was going to add those until now)

Method:
1. If you are making twice-baked potatoes, slice off the top of the potato leaving three sides intact. Scoop out the potato flesh and place it in a bowl. Be careful not to break the skins. Set the skins aside.
If you are making potato skins, slice the potatoes in half and then scoop out the filling. Again, be careful not the break the skins. Set the skins aside.

2. Mash the potato filling with the milk, water, or veggie broth and margarine until it's the consistency of mashed potatoes.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and saute until the onions are lightly browned and both veggies are soft (7-10 minutes).

4. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for another minute. Add the mustard, coriander, cumin, curry powder, turmeric, and salt along with a little splash of water. You can add more water if it looks too dry. Stir well.

5. Add the onion-carrot mixture to the mashed potato filling and mix well. At this point, I poured a little water into the skillet to pick up more of the spice mixture. I added the frozen peas to the skillet/water and gave them a quick stir. Drain the peas and then add them to the potato mixture. Add the lemon juice and stir to incorporate all the ingredients.

6. Brush the outside of the skins with a little extra canola oil and then scoop the potato mixture into each skin. Press gently so you have the entire potato shell filled.

7. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro and sliced green onions if desired.

Note:
If you're going to eat the skins, try to find organic potatoes. Potatoes are on the "dirty dozen" list of items with high concentrations of pesticides.

Reference:
Based on Samosa Stuffed Potatoes from Veganomicon.
I made several changes:
*As mentioned above, I made mine as twice-baked potatoes.
*I added the margarine and curry powder.
*The original called for peanut oil. I just used canola.
*Original recipe called for yellow mustard seeds and coriander seeds and to add these to the skillet prior to adding the onion and carrot. I just used ground mustard and ground coriander and added them with the other spices.
*The original said to add the potato filling into the skillet and heat it through. I skipped this and just added the stuff from the skillet into the potato filling in a bowl. I also decided to throw a little water into the empty skillet and swish the peas around in that to try to get a little more of the spices.

Root Vegetable Enchiladas (with Mole!)

I really need to learn how to make the “e” at the end of mole have an accent mark over the top of it because every time I type mole without it, it looks like I'm talking about eating sauce made of small animals who don't see very well! Um, no... DH loves enchiladas so I’m always looking for new and exciting vegetarian versions of this yummy treat. I really enjoyed these ones with roasted vegetables. The combination of the sweet veggies and the chocolate in the mole sauce along with the peppers was amazing! I know not everyone goes for that sweet-spicy combination but if you’re like me, you have to give these a try!

I do have to work on the cashew cream, though.. I think it needed more water! In my defense, it was my first time using nutritional yeast so maybe that’s the part that needs work! I would have tried a second batch since I really wanted to drizzle some over the top of the mole sauce but I just ran out of time… it’s hard when I’m trying to focus on a brand-new recipe while making chicken enchiladas for DH (just leave a comment if you ever want the chicken enchilada recipe – I have it saved and would be happy to share it. M always raves about it!) Next time, I’ll make the cashew cream first and just store it in the fridge. That should give me extra time to make more if needed.

On to the recipe! : )

Makes 2 very generous servings (4 enchiladas/2 each) You could almost get away with doing 1 enchilada per person and serving it with some seasoned rice, black beans, and/or salad (or some combination of those three sides). When I do enchiladas we have enchiladas and that’s it! They are just so filling!

Oh, before I go on… enchiladas freeze really well! Make a bunch; they are great to have on-hand and just pull out and re-heat when you need a quickie dinner.

Ingredients:
Jalapeno-Cashew Cream
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup water
1/2 jalapeno pepper
1-1/2 tbsp. nutritional yeast (see if you can find it in the bulk aisle - tubs of it are a bit spendy!)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Method: 1. Place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse on the "puree" setting until smooth.

Mole Sauce
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp. garlic, minced (I actually think I just used 5 cloves)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/4 tbsp. chili powder
1 1/2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

Method:
Heat 1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.

2. Add the onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, and cinnamon to the hot oil. Cover and cook until onion is almost tender (about 10 minutes). Stir occasionally during the cooking process.

3. Mix in the chili powder and flour. Stir three minutes.

4. Gradually mix in the broth and increase the heat to medium-high. Boil until reduced (it took mine about 15 or 16 minutes). Stir occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate.

Enchilada Filling
Ingredients:
1/3 to 1/2 cup each sweet potato, red potatoes, and parsnip (peel the parsnip and sweet potato), diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 recipe jalapeno cashew cream (above)
Flour tortillas
1 recipe mole sauce (above)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

1. Toss the vegetables, cumin, onion, olive oil, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. Spread the veggie mixture onto the cookie sheet and roast 45-50 minutes or until they are soft and lightly browned, stirring once or twice during the roasting time. Reduce the oven heat to 350 degrees.


**Make the mole sauce while the vegetables roast.**

2. Remove the vegetables from the oven and let them cool a little. Once cooled, toss them in a large bowl with 1/2 cup of the jalapeno cashew cream. Scoop the vegetable filling into the tortillas and roll each one into an enchilada.

3. Pour a little mole sauce into the bottom of a baking dish. Place each enchilada on top of the mole. Cover the enchiladas with additional mole sauce. If desired, use the remaining cashew cream to drizzle over the mole-covered enchiladas.

4. Bake the enchiladas, uncovered, for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Reference: The jalapeno cashew cream and the enchilada filling recipes are based on "Roasted Root Vegetable Enchiladas" and "Chipotle Cashew Cream" from the Nov/Dec 2008 issue of VegNews magazine.
Changes for the enchilada filling included adding in the red potatoes and using the mole sauce in place of red or green enchilada sauce. I was going to add some corn, too, but completely forgot! Oh well... next time :)
The only change I made to the cashew cream was to use a regular un-roasted jalapeno in place of the chipotle pepper.
The mole sauce recipe is from Recipezaar. I just change it by adding a little extra chocolate and using veggie broth in place of chicken broth.

Harira

This is a North African soup that is traditionally served as part of the evening meal during the month of Ramadan. I had a friend in high school who was from Algeria - she introduced me to all the wonderful flavours of North African/Moroccan cuisine; it is so fantastic!

Anyway, this soup is really healthy and full of those great flavours! It's a good source of protein and a decent source of dietary fiber. Plus, it's completely cholesterol-free!

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1/2 cup onion, chopped (I used red onions)
2 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tbsp. grated fresh ginger root
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup peeled, diced carrots
1/4 cup diced celery
1/2 cup undrained canned tomatoes, chopped (even if you get the diced tomatoes, chop them up a bit so you don't have massive tomato chunks - learn from my mistakes ;)
3/4 cup diced potatoes *see note
Pinch of saffron
1/2 cup lentils *see note
1/2 cup drained cooked chickpeas
1 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tbsp. freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

*Notes:
1) My potatoes really never cooked which was a disappointment (and I diced them pretty small!) I think next time, I'll boil them a little before adding them to the soup - hopefully that will help! I'll just have to be careful not to boil them for so long that they become too mushy. Nothing like ashy soup due to mushy potatoes.
2) I foresaw this problem with the lentils and was able to prevent undercooked lentils (hey, at least I got that right!) You can soak the lentils in hot water for 10-15 minutes prior to adding them. This helps start the cooking process so you won't have hard lentils in your soup! Use a 2:1 ratio of lentils to boiling water for soaking. Drain before adding to the soup. (I let my lentils sit for quite a bit longer than 10 minutes - I just started the soaking process while I was still chopping veggies and let them soak until I added them. Probably about 25-30 minutes total).

Method:
1. In a covered soup pot, simmer the onions in 1/2 cup vegetable broth for 10 minutes. Combine the cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, and cayenne in a small bowl. Add 2 tbsp. of the hot broth to form a paste. Stir this paste back into the pot along with the carrots, celery, and remaining stock. Bring to a boil then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes and potatoes and continue to cook, covered, for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Crumble in the saffron. Stir in the lentils, chickpeas, cilantro, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes until lentils are cooked and everything is heated through.

Reference:
From the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favourites Cookbook.

Lavender-Rosemary Potatoes

I love lavender and rosemary so I have been wanting to try this combination on potatoes for a long time! Finally did it last night since I was making roasted potatoes for DH to go with his tuna melt.

In the future, I think I'd use more lavender and less rosemary - the rosemary really over-shadowed the lavender which was a bit of a bummer. They were still really good, though! Even my picky DH tried one and liked it! :)

My next experiment with this lavender-rosemary flavour combination - butter cookies. :)

**I didn't take a separate photo of these but you can see them in the margherita sandwich post. :)

4 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb. small red potatoes
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. dried culinary lavender
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil (superfood!)
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt (I'm lucky to have a huge bag of Hawaiian sea salt that a friend brought back from her honeymoon... it's amazing stuff!)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 525 degrees.
Quarter the potatoes and place them in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, lavender, and rosemary over the potatoes and toss again.

2. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with fat-free cooking spray. Arrange the potatoes on the sheet in a single layer. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring twice during cooking. Raise heat to broil for the last 2 minutes.

Reference:
I based this on the Lavender-Rosemary Roasted Potatoes recipe from the August/September 2005 issue of Cooking Pleasures magazine.
I can't find the original recipe on their website but here are my changes/what the original called for:
*I used dried rosemary in place of fresh sprigs (I'm starting a herb garden, soon - can't wait!) - original called for using 1/2 cup of sprigs and placing those under the potatoes on the foil. Maybe if I'd done this, the rosemary would not have over-powered my lavender..
*Original said to bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. If I'd had the time, I would have done this but I was in a bit of a rush so I used my other roasted potatoes recipe for the temp/time guidelines.
*If you are lucky enough to have lavender in your garden (I hate you...! Kidding!), you can use fresh lavender sprigs and flowers. Place these under the potatoes, too. If you use the fresh rosemary and dried lavender, place the rosemary sprigs under the potatoes but toss the potatoes with the lavender just like I did.

Anthos Lentil Soup

I found this recipe in Cooking Light and tagged it as a "must-try" :) I love lentils! This has a nice tangy taste from the vinegar and the veggie combination is really yummy (yeay parsnips!) Enjoy :)

I didn't take a picture because it really wasn't very attractive! It did taste really good, though!

Changes I made from the original recipe:
*I made it vegetarian/vegan by switching the chicken broth for vegetable broth.
*I used onion in place of shallots.
*Since I didn't have sherry vinegar (and wasn't about to go hunt some down for 1.5 tbsp...), I used 1 tbsp. of white wine vinegar and 1/2 tbsp. of sherry.

This made enough for about 3 servings (I had two large bowls of it!)
Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil
3/4 cup baking potato, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup sliced carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
3/8 cup chopped parsnip
1/6 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1/2 tbsp. sherry
3 cups vegetable broth
3/8 cup lentils
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
A little sprinkle of sea salt

Method:
1. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the potato, celery, parsnip, and onions to the pan; saute for 7 minutes or until tender.

2. Add the sherry and vinegar to deglaze the pan. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits. Add the veggie broth, lentils, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 45 minutes or until the veggies and lentils are tender. Discard the bay leaf.

3. *I skipped this bit because it would have been just one more thing to clean.. lol so lazy!* Transfer half the lentil mixture to a blender. Remove the center piece from the blender lid to allow the steam to escape; secure blender lid. Place a clean towel over the opening in the blender lid. Blend until smooth, scraping the sides of the blender. Return the lentil mixture to the pan; stir in pepper and salt.

Reference:
I found the original recipe in the January/February 2008 issue of Cooking Light magazine.

Oven-Crisp Potato Wedges

These make a great side dish - a nice alternative to French fries.

I just made these a second time this week and hubby said "you know, those are really really good... but I bet they'd be even better fried!" Ha! He knows I don't like to fry foods (much as I love her, I'm no Paula Deen!) so he will have to put up with them baked. They are really good, though! I honestly don't think frying would make them any better...

Serves 4 (I halved it and just made enough for 2)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes
1 tbsp. olive oil
4 tsp. finely minced garlic
3/4 tsp. coarse salt (sea salt or kosher salt will work well)
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Preheat oven to 525 degrees (since I halved the recipe, I set my oven to 500).

1. Quarter the potatoes and place in a large bowl. Drizzle olive oil over them and toss well to coat. Sprinkle the potatoes with the garlic, salt, paprika, and pepper; toss to coat.

2. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray the foil with fat-free cooking spray. Arrange the potatoes on the sheet. Roast for 20 minutes (I gave mine a little less), turning twice during cooking.

3. Raise the oven temperature to Broil and broil the potatoes until they are crispy - about 1-2 minutes.

Here they are served with spicy chicken and salsa/broccoli:

Garden Stuffed Baked Potatoes

I actually got hubby to eat a completely vegetarian meal for lunch today! And, he enjoyed it! I thought for a second he wouldn't miss the meat but afterwards he said "you know, those would be really good with some bacon bits or something..." oh well! Can't hope for too much ;) We had these with a green salad (with all the toppings!) for lunch.
The original recipe called for 1/4 cup of ranch dressing but we don't use that so I subbed 1/8 cup of blue cheese dressing + 1/8 cup of sour cream.
Serves 2 (can easily be doubled or tripled)

Ingredients:
2 russet potatoes
1 tbsp. margarine
1/6 cup onion, chopped
1 cup frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained (or 1 cup fresh broccoli, chopped)
1/8 cup blue cheese dressing
1/8 cup sour cream
1/2 tbsp. olive or canola oil salt and pepper
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded


Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Pierce the potatoes with a fork and microwave them for 10 minutes on HIGH power. After microwaving, transfer them to a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes in the oven.

2. While the potatoes bake, heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the margarine and onion. Saute until tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Slice off the tops of the potatoes and scoop out the pulp carefully (be sure to leave the skins intact). Mash the pulp in a medium bowl. Add the onion, broccoli, and dressing to the potato pulp and mix well.

4. Brush the outsides of the potato skin shells with oil. Carefully spoon the potato and broccoli mixture into the shells. Bake the potatoes for an additional 10-15 minutes until heated through (the tops will be slightly browned). Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.


I'm really not sure of the source of this recipe - I found it a long time ago and wrote it on a recipe card without citing the source (oops...)

Minestrone Soup with Basil Pesto

This is a recipe from the book "The San Diego Restaurant Cookbook" which was compiled by Ingrid Croce (yes, Jim's widow)... it's such a great book - probably one of my favourites! This recipe is from the restaurant Arrivederci in the Hillcrest area.

The recipe will serve 6

***This recipe could be made vegetarian if you use the vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. In addition, you could make it vegan by leaving out the pesto (or making pesto without the Parm - can you do that?) and the Parmesan cheese topping.***

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
2 cups white wine
2 potatoes, diced (I used red potatoes and left the skins on. The original recipe said to peel them)
1 cup tubettini pasta (I didn't have that, so I just used some penne)
5 cups vegetable stock or water (you could use chicken stock, I used vegetable to keep this recipe vegetarian)
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
freshly grated Parmesan as a garnish

Method:
Prepare pesto:
In a blender or food processor, combine the fresh basil, pine nuts, 2 cloves of garlic, the virgin olive oil, and Parm cheese. Process for 5 minutes.

Prepare the minestrone:
1. Heat extra-virgin olive oil in a saucepan. Stir in onion, 2 cloves of garlic, celery, and carrots. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring often.

2. Add the white wine, potatoes, and pasta. Cook for 2 minutes more. Add the water or stock, and stir well. Add bay leaves, oregano, and dried basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Allow the soup to come to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the pesto and stir very well for a few minutes. Garnish with grated Parmesan just before serving.


Reference:
Croce, Ingrid (2005). The San Diego Restaurant Cookbook: Recipes from America's Finest City. Avalanche Records and Books: San Diego, CA.

Red Potatoes Singin' the Blues

Wow, had this a second time (ie: leftovers from last night) - it gets better with age!! Just be sure to wrap it up well. I would suggest not putting cheese on until the last minute so it doesn't go all weird.. Yum!!!
This is a slightly modified version of Bobby Flay's Grilled Red Potato Salad with Bacon-Blue Cheese Vinaigrette (I got the original recipe from Ashleighl on the Nest - thanks!! :) ) You can make this in advance - just don't add the parsley and cheese until the last minute. I served it with barbecued chicken but it would go well with sandwiches or anything off the grill.
***Breaking News Update!*** (lol, couldn't resist!)
Served these again for our dad's day BBQ... everyone LOVED them! My dad and father-in-law both have to watch their cholesterol intake so they had this salad sans cheese and said it was delicious! So, if you're not a blue cheese fan (or you're vegan), feel free to leave it out. You could even try this with a feta cheese... Needless to say, there were no leftovers the second time I made this!

This is probably enough to feed 4-6 people (depends on how much each person eats! There were only 2 of us and there are lots of leftovers! Yum!)

Blue Cheese Potato Salad
Ingredients:
2 pounds red potatoes, scrubbed
1/8 cup + 1/8 cup (separated) olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 red onion, chopped finely
1/8 cup plus 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar (does not need to be separated)
1/2 tbsp. sugar
1/8 cup coarsely chopped fresh Italian parsley (the flat-leaf stuff)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Method:
1. Boil the potatoes for about 15-20 minutes until they are almost tender. Cut them in half.

2. Heat grill. Toss potatoes in 1/8 cup olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill the potatoes cut-side down for about 3 minutes (I put them on the lower grill level - the grill marks looked great!). Turn them over and grill for another 2-3 minutes. Cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Transfer the potatoes to a large bowl and let them cool off.

3. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a skillet. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add 1/8 cup olive oil, vinegar, and sugar. Cook until sugar is dissolved. Pour the onion mixture over the potatoes, add the parsley and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the potato salad onto plates and sprinkle with blue cheese.

Reference:
Original recipe from FoodNetwork.com