meatless monday: margarita potatoes

We had some friends over for a Mexican fiesta themed dinner this past week. I made these potatoes as a simple (and easy to prepare ahead of time!) side dish. Josh thinks they taste exactly like margaritas (salty, limey, and a little kick) so they've been deemed my margarita potatoes. I'll admit, it's kinda catchy.

The night before, I prepared the sauce, and I washed, chopped, and parboiled the potatoes. All I had to do the night of was throw the potatoes in the oven to heat and crisp them up. While the potatoes were still hot, I tossed them with the sauce. The potatoes soaked up the crema and all the cilantro/lime/jalapeno flavors. Deliciousness.

Margarita Potatoes
6 side dishes

2 pounds small dutch potatoes
1 jar crema
1 bunch cilantro
1 jalapeno
2 limes
2 T salt
2 T olive oil

Slice jalapeno in half and cut out ribbing and seeds. Place jalapeno, crema, cilantro leaves, juice of 2 limes, and salt in a food processor (or blender). Pulse until creamy and mixed through. Place in covered bowl in the fridge.

Wash and quarter potatoes and place in boiling water until fork tender (about 15-20 minutes). Drain potatoes and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Place potatoes in fridge.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place potatoes on baking sheet and toss with olive oil. Bake until heated through and slighty crispy (about 30-35 minutes). Immediately toss with crema sauce (I used about 3/4 of the sauce and served the remaining 1/4 of the sauce on the side).

Note: if you wanted to do this all in one night. Simply drain the potatoes from the boiling water and immediately toss them with olive oil and place them in the oven.

meatless monday: spaghetti with zucchini cream

Josh ordered a pasta dish in Capri that he still talks about all the time. The owner raved about his spaghetti with zucchini "cream". There was no milk or cream in the recipe, just pureed zucchini and parmesan cheese. I kept stealing bites from his plate, scrunching up my nose, and exclaiming "there just absolutely has to be cream in the dish." But the owner swore up and down that the recipe didn't include any.

I attempted a recreation of this dish, but with a few cheats - I used a dried whole wheat spaghetti instead of making fresh pasta. Whole wheat tends to have more of an al dente bite which matches well with this sauce. And I threw in a few tablespoons of mascarpone cheese since I had some laying around in the fridge.

The pasta came out pretty darn close to the Capri version. Now I'm seriously graving lemon granitas and beautiful Italian beaches.

Spaghetti with Zucchini Cream
makes 2 servings

3 zucchinis
1 T olive oil
6 ounces whole wheat spaghetti
3 T mascarpone
1/4 cup parmesan
Salt, pepper

Chop zucchini and cook on medium heat with olive oil until softened, about 5 minutes. Mix in mascarpone and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Blend with an immersion blender until mostly smooth with a few pieces of zucchini for texture. Stir in parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour over spaghetti.

meatless monday: cauliflower and persimmon couscous

This weekend was nuts. We hit up 5 different holiday parties (my company's, josh's company's, a plaid party, a friend's going away party, and a party that brought together dozens and dozens of college friends I haven't seen in years).

Lesson learned from the weekend: do not wear incredibly uncomfortable heels if you do not anticipate being able to sit down at a party.

We had so much fun celebrating the holidays with everyone but are ready to settle down for a couple of days. With all of the freakishly cold winds hitting Southern California, I thought some curried flavors would be warming and comforting.


Cauliflower and Persimmon Cous Cous
serves 2 for dinner

1 cup prepared whole wheat couscous
3 tablespoons olive oil, separated
1 head of cauliflower
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 dry roasted and salted pistachios
2 persimmons
1/4 cup chopped watercress leaves
1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut cauliflower florets from the head and chop into bite size pieces. Toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil, curry powder, cumin, salt, and pepper and roast in oven until slightly softened, but still retain a bite (about 15-20 minutes).

Cover the cranberries with 1/2 cup of boiling water. Let sit for approximately 10 minutes.

Chop persimmons and saute in 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat until softened, approximately 4-5minutes.

Mix together pistachios, roasted cauliflower, chopped persimmons, drained cranberries, couscous and chopped watercress. Top with juice of half a lemon.

meatless monday: french onion soup and pomegranate avocado salad

Oh, how I love Thanksgiving. The potatoes. The cranberry sauce. The stuffing. I dream about stuffing. 

I got my full (and then some) this past weekend. I practically rolled away from the dinner table. I need a few soup and salad evenings for the next week to get myself on track.

We made this the night after Thanksgiving. We spent most of Thursday on our feet in the kitchen, so we weren't in the mood for a big night of cooking. 

We took a box of Trader Joe's frozen french onion soup and defrosted it on the stove. Then we spooned it into some soup crocks and topped it with stuffing. (It was the perfect use of Thanksgiving leftovers!) And then we sprinkled on a healthy helping of shredded mozzarella cheese because it wouldn't truly be french onion soup without cheese.

For a healthy, fresh side we mixed together a mache, avocado, and pomegranate salad. Bitter greens with creamy avocado and tangy pomegranate - this could be my new go to salad.

French Onion Soup

serves 2

1 box frozen TJs French Onion Soup

1/2 cup leftover stuffing (or 2 sliches brioche or challah would work)

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Pepper

Turn oven on broil. Defrost soup over medium heat in a soup pot. When completely defrosted, spoon the soup into two oven-safe bowls. Top each bowl with 1/4 cup of stuffing, 1/4 cup shredded cheese, and freshly ground pepper. Place bowls under the broiler for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and golden. 

Mache, Avocado, Pomegranate Salad

serves 2

2 cups mache

1/2 avocado

1 cup pea shoots

1/4 cup pomegranate

1/4 cup dry roasted pistachios

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon high quality vinegar

Salt, Pepper

Mix together all salad ingredients. Top with olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper and toss so that all ingredients are covered with the dressing.

meatless monday: potato soup with poached eggs

Chicago was fabulous. We met up with friends, traipsed through Millenium Park, and had an utterly gluttonous weekend. (I'll post pictures tomorrow.)

We returned to quite the rain storm in LA. Josh and I looked at each other on the plane and decided it was going to be a soup sort of evening. A quick stop off at the grocery store and an hour later, we were eating creamy, luxurious potato soup. With a poached egg on top. And garlic bread on the side.

Sigh. Josh finished it all or else I'd be getting up right now for another helping.

You cut into the egg so the yoke spreads over the top of the soup. And then you take some garlic bread and make sure to get a bit of soup and yoke on each bite. And then you're transported to this place of velvety textures and warm, buttery onions and garlic and potatoes.

This is going to be a winter staple.

Potato and Onion Soup with a Poached Egg and Garlic Toast
(serves two dinner sized portions)

3 white bulb green onions
1 medium brown onion
4 garlic cloves
1 shallot
2 T butter
2 T salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 russet potatoes
4 cups vegetable stock
2 T heavy creamy

2 poached eggs (read here for a tutorial)

8 slices of sourdough baguette
4 garlic cloves
Chopped basil and parsley

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice onions, garlic, and shallot and saute in butter for 5 minutes at medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and the pepper and stir. Continue to saute for 10 minutes.

Rub garlic cloves on the baguette slices and sprinkle with fresh herbs. Place in oven for 5 minutes or until golden brown.

Peel and chop potatoes. I cute mine into about 16 pieces each. Bring the vegetable stock to a boil and add potatoes and onion/shallot/garlic mixture. Cook until potatoes are fork tender. About 10-15 minutes.

Blend the soup until creamy. Add tablespoon of salt and the heavy cream.

Ladle the soup into individual bowls. Place each poached egg on a spoon and gently lay on top of soup. Serve with garlic bread.