Baked Basil Fries

Hello, again! I'm so glad to be back on RITK and do I have a treat for you! I visited a teacher friend the other week and she made these for me. We've made them about every other night since.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we have.

The Recipe

1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C Parmesan cheese, shredded or grated
1 T dried basil
1/2 tsp garlic salt (or garlic powder and salt for flavor)
5 medium red potatoes, sliced into french fries

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a bowl. You can add more cheese if desired. We usually make it nice and thick. I haven't tried fresh basil yet but am tempted to as I'm growing some in my kitchen window. Let us know how it turns out if you go this route.

If you have a mandolin then use it on the potatoes. We don't, so I do it the hard way and cut the potatoes into french fries about a quarter inch thick.

Toss the fries in the mixture to coat them. You may have shreds of cheese hanging off the fries. That's okay. It's super delish once baked!

Spread the fries on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip the fries then bake for another 10-15 minutes or until slightly brown and crisp.

I tried to get a picture of the finished product, but they were eaten too quickly!

You won't eat potatoes any other way once you've tried these.

Roasted Veggies ala Rebecca

I am blessed to have amazing friends.  But my best friend in the world is Rebecca.  We met in 8th grade at the lunch table.  I was mad at another friend and decided to sit by my brother's best friend.  Rebecca was dating said friend's friend (thank GOD her taste in dates has improved) and liked that I was shorter than she was (but not by much!).  A friendship was born.  It has been over 20 years and we have been there for each other through everything...good times and bad.  She is still my best friend and nothing in the world could change that.  And despite the fact that she isn't a blogger she still agreed to guest blog for me.  Gotta love her.  And the recipe ain't half bad either. ;)

So the other day, I called Amy up and asked her for recipe ideas. This is the standard in our relationship. She cooks, I try to cook. Many many times have I called her up, stood in my kitchen and said, “I have chicken, eggs, flour, Bisquick, some cheese, vanilla, some (hey babe, what are those things?) oh, some bananas, but they don’t really look like bananas but Dan says they are…” You get the idea. I call her, give her a list of crap I have in my house and somehow, I get dinner out of it. She’s all “put the chicken in the bananas and blah blah blah” and I get a good dinner. The funny thing is, I’m actually a decent cook, I just lack her talent, imagination, and inspiration. Not to mention that my kitchen is the size of an anthill, so I hate being in there. But I digress.

In some bizarre twist of fate, by the end of this whole adventure, she asked me to write a guest blog for her.

Anyway, I called her for ideas because I had to bring something dairy-free to a potluck and I don’t know how to cook without butter and cheese.. at least cream. BY the end of the conversation, I knew I was going to do something with all the veggies from our CSA that week (Amy and I share a Share and I had the whole thing this week). I give to you Roasted Vegetables!

I tend to think of myself as someone who needs a recipe to follow. That’s not how this one worked out, it’s more a set of directions.

Supplies:
Cutting board
Good sharp knife
At least three bowls
Roasting pan or baking pan with a lip
Veggies
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Garlic powder (opt)

Oven to 425-450

Gather all of your vegetables. Everything you have in the house. I had zuccini, carrots, potatoes, green garlic, onions, kohlrabi, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, and beets.
Chop everything up to about the same size. I made the carrots, potatoes, and beets a bit smaller than everything else because I knew that they take longer to cook.

I used three bowls, one for the cauliflower and kohlrabi (significantly different roasting time than everything else), one for the beets (didn’t want everything to turn purple), one for everything else.

Pour some olive oil over everything, enough to coat everything. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Put everything (except beets, cauliflower and kohlrabi) in the roasting pan, and the beets in something else (another pan). Keep cauliflower/kohlrabi out for now.

Put it in the oven. Check on it after about 30 minutes, stir it up and add the cauliflower and kohlrabi. It’s done when you can easily slide a fork into the carrots and potatoes. Gently stir in the beets when you put it in whatever serving dish you use (they do turn anything they touch purple, but mmmmm they’re good).

If you’re me, make them again as soon as you get more vegetables and maybe even get a “Wow Mom, this is good” muttered at you by your oldest child.

Photo Credit: Allison Kuznia from GoofyMama

TBFKAOP Presents: Oven Roasted Broccoli

Have you ever watched your toddler throw an all out fit because you aren’t having broccoli for dinner? No? Then you obviously haven’t made oven roasted broccoli. And there’s really no reason NOT to make it – it’s healthy green, it’s easy, and it’s incredibly delicious.

Let me back up a second … I’m sure right now you’re all going, “Um, OK. I like broccoli. But who ARE you and what are you doing on RITK?” Well, I’m Jenn from TBFKAOP, a friend of Amy’s, and a lover of all things vegetable. Or most things vegetable. As a vegetarian, you sorta have to be that way.

Back to the broccoli – I first saw this recipe on The Amateur Gourmet. It's an adaptation of a recipe from The Barefoot Contessa. On The Amateur Gourmet’s blog, he mentions that his friend said this broccoli recipe would make kids beg for broccoli. He was right. Or, if your kid is only two, it would make your kid throw herself in the floor screaming, “WHERE ARE THE TREES!?! I need trees for dinner!” It might also make your husband (who until this recipe only consumed broccoli in the raw form and is not a vegetarian or vegetable lover) do something similar.

My recipe is similar to that on the blog, with a few adaptations for areas where I’m lazy and/or messy. Here’s what you’ll need:

Two bunches of broccoli

Olive Oil

4 garlic cloves

Salt and Pepper

1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan

Half a lemon

And, you know, an oven, a bowl and a cookie sheet.

First thing’s first – pre-heat your oven to 425deg. The Amateur Gourmet says (via Jacques Pepin) that you don’t need to wash your broccoli. That sorta freaks me out, so I wash mine and dry thoroughly. Then cut into florets. Here’s the adaptation for me being mess – I put the florets in a bowl, THEN drizzle on the olive oil. Eyeball it – should be just enough to coat the broccoli thoroughly. Then add in a bit of salt and pepper, the 4 garlic cloves, and toss well.

Once you’re satisfied with your tossing abilities, spread the broccoli on the pan and stick it in the oven for about 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and squirt the lemon over the broccoli. Then spread the Parmesan over the whole thing.

Then eat it. Eat LOTS of it. And probably add it to your meal plan for the next week because you’re going to want to be seeing it again very soon.

It's time to Rumble! Mexican Style Mole Sauce (mo-lay)

I love Mole (pronounced mo-lay). I love the complexity and layers of flavors.  I love the comfort food feel and the spice without too much heat.  What I HATE is the time it takes to make a traditional mole sauce.  Traditionally it involves about a million spices that the cook needs to roast, crush, make into a paste and then cook forever.  Like all day and then some.  Way too much work for me.

But yesterday I was craving mole bad.  I figured there had to be an easier way to make it...right?  And I didn't have any of the traditional pablano peppers or onions.  I searched the internet for different recipes and stumbled upon a recipe that gave me the answer!  They used jarred salsa and a blender! Now why didn't I think of that?

So I broke out my blender and rumbled through my pantry to find the ingredients that I knew would make a good mole sauce and off I went.  Below is the full recipe.  Please don't be scared by the large list of ingredients.  These are spices that are pretty common and chances are you already having them sitting in your pantry waiting to be used.  Also, you can totally play with this recipe and leave something out and add something else in.  If you don't have mace or allspice, use a dash of nutmeg instead.  The only spices that are essential to make this recipe work are cumin, chili powder or paprika and cocoa powder.  The rest just make it taste yummier.  And yes...that is a word.

So now that you've made the mole what in the world do you do with it?  This is the BEST part!  You can use it for just about anything!  Traditionally it is slow cooked with pork or poultry but there is no reason you can't use this with beef or even tofu or seitan.  You can use it for an enchilada sauce (inside and out) or mix it with some sour cream/cream cheese and make a fabulous Mexican chip dip.

But whatever you do, make it.  Soon.  You will thank me for it.  Enjoy!

Upcoming posts:
~Solar Oven Cooking (tomorrow)
~Lemi Shine Review & Giveaway
~Rhubarb Festival (next week)
~Nielsen-Massey MexicanVanilla Review (coming soon)

Spinach Lasagna (Guest Blogger)

This is Amy:
I invited a few people to guest blog and my good friend Amanda agreed to share a few of her family's favorite recipes. Her blog is the EcoFriendly Family and her link is on my sidebar. Make sure to check it out because she always has killer giveaways. She's also much better with a camera than I am so her recipes even come with pretty pictures! Enjoy.

This is Amanda:
When I met my husband, he told me that he'd have to make his spinach lasagna for me. I think I wanted to be sick (my mother had only eve given me the awful stuff drenched in vinegar), but smiled and nodded because I was smitten. The day came and he made it. I tried it and was IN LOVE! It's truly fantastic and super easy to make :) For your pleasure, my husband's spinach lasagna :)

Overnight Oatmeal (AKA Sweet & Creamy Steel Cut Oats)

A few weeks ago I wanted to attempt this overnight oatmeal I had heard so much about. I couldn't find the recipe my friends had talked about but I found a different one and started working on that...and just as I had dumped a LOT of ingredients in the crock pot someone found the recipe I was supposed to be using. Opps. The recipe I was working on was about 3 times the amount I needed.

It was too late to take out the brown sugar and spices to I decided to try my own version of Overnight Oatmeal. I added to the ingredients I already had to make a base, measured out a more reasonable amount of oats and let the crock pot do the work. The results were super yummy but I needed to try it a few more times just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Now that it's been taste tested and approved by multiple sources I can now post it here. Enjoy!

Meatless Mondays are back! (Walnut Wheat Crumbles)

Another goodie from my friend Robin. I haven't made them in awhile...partially because I'm lazy and partially because we have so much 'real' hamburger from our Meat CSA. But these are a great source of protein and came in really handy when I couldn't eat meat while pregnant with Kate. Enjoy!

Thai Peanut Noodles

When it's too hot to cook and I need something quick, this is the go to meal. Good served hot, great at room temp and almost better served cold the next day. This dish also pairs really well with the cucumber salad I posted yesterday. Enjoy!

Cucumber Salad

My little guy loves this recipe. We got a similar side dish at our favorite Thia place (Taste of Thailand here in Saint Paul) and he ate ALL of it before any of us could get any. When we picked up our CSA today and there was a cucumber in it I knew I was coming home to make this recipe for him. This time he's old enough that he actually got to help. Enjoy!

Meatless Monday! (Homemade Seitan & Maple Balsamic Dressing)

Today's recipes are courtesy of my good friend Robin. She is vegetarian and pretty darn close to vegan. She is also a wonderful cook so we swap recipes all the time and love to try each others cooking.

But first a word about Seitan. Seitan (pronounced Say-shawn or Say-tan depending on what you prefer) is a flavored wheat gluten. Seitan is a seasoned gluten wheat loaf. I had tried some store bought stuff and hated it. It tasted like rubber. Then I tried the stuff Robin made and was sold. It's so good! So this week I'm posting her recipe for Maple Balsamic Grilled Seitan. I've also included the links to where she found the recipes for this and the Homemade Seitan. Enjoy!

It's Meatless Monday again! (Red Lentil Curry Stew)

Meatless Mondays FAQ

My friend Robin got a recipe for Eastern Red Lentil Soup from Vegetarian Times and it was really good. So I used that recipe as an inspiration for this yummy and satisfying stew. It even filled up my meat loving husband. He even asks for it now and one of his coworkers and me make a HUGE batch for a wedding shower she threw. Everyone loved it and here goes the recipe. Enjoy!

Amazing Artichoke Dip

I get asked for this recipe a lot. It's easy but no one believes me because it is so good!

Funny story about this recipe, this is the recipe that made me realize I was a pretty good cook. I say that because it was the first recipe that my Aunt Jackie asked me for and she is one of the best cooks I've ever met! I figured if she asked me for a recipe maybe I had something going on.

Barley Lentil Stew

I have a new love of lentils. They are cheap, versatile, easy to prepare and are really good for you. This is one of my husband's favorite lentil recipes. Enjoy!

Meatless Mondays

We eat pretty healthy here. Sure we have our vices, like say the Chicken Wing Dip that everyone else in the world seems to love as much as we do, but for the most part we do pretty well. But I read about this idea in Eating Well Magazine (http://www.eatingwell.com) and thought I'd give it a try. Check out http://www.meatlessmonday.com for recipe ideas.

It's a soup day (Black Bean Soup)

It snowed tonight and more snow is supposed to fall tomorrow so I can't think of anything better to make then soup. I've got the black beans soaking overnight to make my Black Bean Soup. This is one of my favorite soups to make and I've brought it to a number of families when they are welcoming a new baby home. It's simple, easy and tastes much more complicated then it is. Enjoy!