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Garlic and Herb Oven Fries

When it comes to potatoes, I can take them or leave them.  Really.  I do love a good, creamy, buttery mashed potato from time to time but it’s not something I crave.  However, when it comes to French fries, that’s a whole other story.  I can eat French fries any day, any time, every day, every meal.  I’m obsessed.  Shoestring fries, curly fries, wedge fries, sweet potato fries, with or without Old Bay, plain or with cheese, whatever!  I love them.  So, considering they are truly one of my most favorite foods on this Earth (along with Reese’s peanut butter cups and s’mores), it’s a wonder that I’ve never attempted to actually make them myself.  I figured, now is as good a time as any.  The result was these Garlic and Herb Oven Fries.

Plain baking potatoes are cut into matchsticks and baked in the oven with nothing but a little canola oil.  After baking, they are tossed with melted butter, garlic and fresh parsley.  Easy peasy.  The longest part of this process is cutting the potatoes into fries.  Be patient.  I put the matchstick potatoes in a bowl of water to keep them fresh as I cut the rest.  I also recommend spraying the pan with non-stick spray because despite the canola oil, many of my fries still stuck.  And while these fries aren’t crispy the way restaurant fries are (duh, because they aren’t fried), I still devoured these.  Like I said, I love fries.  Even bad fries.  Not that these were bad.  If you are going to make fries at home, this is a good way to go.  But if it’s faster or you prefer to order fries in, do it.  I won’t judge.  I know what it means to have a fry fix.

The ingredients:

Preheat a roasting pan and oven to 450°F.  Peel potatoes and cut potatoes into 1/4-inch matchsticks and toss with canola oil.

Arrange potato sticks in pan (in a single layer if possible) and bake at 450°F for 5 minutes.  Turn oven to broil and broil for 20 minutes or until browned, turning once.

Melt ­butter in a skillet and add minced garlic, sautéing for 30 seconds.

Add fries to butter-garlic mixture and cook for 1 minute.

Toss with chopped parsley, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating:  Like It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

Heirloom Tomato Gratin

When I was a kid, I wouldn’t eat (or entertain the idea of eating) fresh tomatoes. I was okay with tomato sauce but would gag when I would see my dad eat a sliced tomato with salt, pepper, and nothing but a fork. I didn’t even want a tomato to touch my food. I remember when I started liking tomatoes – I was at lunch eating a veggie burger, forgot to ask for no tomato and didn’t even think to look under the bun before chowing down. My first instinct was Eww, tomato! But as I rushed to swallow it down, I realized it actually added a juicy, brightness to my burger. And from that day on, I have been eating fresh tomatoes. I’m not at a point where I will bite into a tomato like an apple or shove an entire cherry tomato in my mouth but I’m happy that I’ve come a very long way from that childhood gag reflex.

Heirloom Tomato Gratin is a dish that, when I was younger, I could have never envisioned myself making, let alone eating. I’ve seen a basket of heirloom tomatoes in my store the past few times I’ve been in there and decided now was the time to make this summery dish. Heirloom tomatoes are sliced and layered with softly cooked sweet onions and topped with a textured mixture of bread crumbs, salty parmesan cheese, and fresh thyme. I used whole-wheat panko crumbs but try regular panko or simple bread crumbs. I cut the recipe in half and followed the measurements per the recipe but found I need only about half of the bread crumb/cheese mixture. So use your judgment and stop when you think you have enough. Once baked, the tomatoes are sweet and accented nicely by the orange-scented onions, salt and pepper. A perfect light summer meal.

The ingredients:

Preheat oven to 425°F. Rub the inside of a baking dish with garlic, then coat with oil (I used chopped garlic so I left it in the dish).

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, approximately 12 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the orange zest, orange juice and honey.

Spoon half of the onion mixture in the bottom of the prepared dish and spread to cover the bottom. Arrange the tomatoes over the onions, layering slightly. Season with salt and pepper and repeat another layer.

Combine the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, thyme and remaining olive oil in a bowl and sprinkle over the tomatoes.

Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

  • Whole-wheat panko crumbs

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Woman’s Day Magazine

Easy Granola

Spur of the moment trips are always the best.  I was at work on Thursday when I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and take Friday off.  When I talked to my friend who lives close by, she said she was headed to Chicago over the weekend for a meeting.  “Take me with you!” I exclaimed.  Next thing I know, I booked a flight and jetted off to my favorite city for an impromptu weekend trip.  After I’d packed and was killing time before heading to the airport, I decided to make a quick snack that would not only be great for the flight but could easily be tossed in our bags as we roamed the Second City.  

Easy Granola is nutty, slightly sweet, slightly salty and well, easy!  Oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, and coconut are mixed together with syrup and a little canola oil and baked until golden brown.  Dried fruit added at the end provides a sweet, tart, and chewy delicious touch.  I used a combination of almonds and pecans since I had them on hand so feel free to use any combination of nuts like walnuts, macadamia, cashews, etc.  I also used less coconut since I only had sweetened coconut on hand and didn’t want this too sweet.  I used dried cherries but any dried fruit – cranberries, blueberries, apricots – would be delicious.  And lastly, I substituted blue agave syrup for the maple syrup since I had that on hand also.  This is such a versatile recipe that any combination of nuts, fruit and syrup with make this a delicious snack.  Keep this stored in an airtight container to eat as a snack or toss in with yogurt or over ice cream.  This kept us going all weekend!

The ingredients:

Combine all of the ingredients, except dried fruit, in a pan or bowl and toss until well combined.  (I didn’t read the directions correctly and added the dried fruit here.  It worked out okay but try to add the fruit at the end.)

Spread mixture onto a large baking sheet and bake in a 350° F oven for 25 minutes.

Toss the mixture once during baking so the edges don’t burn.

Add in the dried fruit and allow mixture to cool before storing in an airtight container.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Pecans and almonds
  • Blue agave syrup
  • Sunflower seeds

Overall Rating:  Like It

Source:  Real Simple Magazine

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