Tag: potato

Breakfast, Egg Dishes, Recipes

Sweet Potato and Kale Egg Bake

Sarah

Since this week has been all about breakfast so far, why not continue the trend? For Friday, this meal is a little less sweet than the waffles and oatmeal I shared before, but less sweet does not equal less tasty. No, no, no. Sweet Potato and Kale Egg Bake is a hearty, cheesy, veggie-filled breakfast that you do NOT want to miss!

Sweet Potato and Kale Egg Bake | The Pajama Chef

This easy egg casserole can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It is just so good! I filled the classic bread-egg-milk bake with healthy kale, tangy red onions, and two kinds of potatoes! I personally thought the shredded sweet potatoes added a ton of flavor, while the roasted white potatoes  [I used Russet, but use whatever you have on hand] were a great base for all the yummy veggies. Oh! And what egg bake doesn’t get better topped with a big handful of sharp cheddar cheese? This one is no exception.

Sweet Potato and Kale Egg Bake | The Pajama Chef

We enjoyed this egg bake for dinner one night, then saved the leftovers for breakfast over the next few days. It heats up beautifully and is a great start to your day! Enjoy! 🙂

Sweet Potato and Kale Egg Bake [a TPC original]
click to print

Ingredients:

  • 2 large Russet potatoes, cubed
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1/2 a large red onion, diced
  • 1/2 a bunch kale, rinsed, dried, and chopped into bite size pieces
  • 6 eggs, beaten
  • 2 cups skim milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 8 ounces day-old bread, cubed
  • 1 large sweet potato, shredded
  • heaping 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and set aside.

Place cubed Russet potatoes on a large baking sheet. Season with freshly ground black pepper, then drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Roast in oven for 30 minutes, tossing halfway through.

In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until soft, about 4-5 minutes. Then add kale and toss to coat with oil, then cover for 2-3 minutes and cook until wilted.

In a large bowl, gently stir together eggs, milk, seasonings, bread cubes, and sweet potato. Pour mixture into prepared pan, then add roasted potatoes. Top with onion and kale mixture, pressing into the eggs. Cover with shredded cheese and more pepper as desired.

Bake, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through.

Time: 75 minutes [10 minutes active].

Yield: 8-10 servings.

Recipes, Sides, Vegetables

SRC: Pesto Potato Salad

Sarah

Another Secret Recipe Club Monday! If you’ve missed past SRC posts, the premise is this: you’re assigned a different member’s blog every month. You visit their blog, choose any recipe you want, then make it and share it on your blog. Everyone else posts about their secret blog the same day. It’s fabulously fun to try out new blogs. If you have a blog, definitely check it out and consider joining! I highly recommend it.

For the month of August, I was assigned Cooking Rookie, who blogs over at Cook Book of Trial and Error. This blog is full of enticing recipes and beautiful photography so definitely check it out if you have a chance. I had a hard time deciding what recipe to try, but when I saw this scrumptious Pesto Potato Salad, I was sold. My herbs on the balcony are growing out of control, and this seemed like a delightful way to use some of them up. And let me tell you… it was as delicious as it was delightful!

Cooking Rookie’s original pesto was composed of cilantro, walnut, and lemon… but I decided to use some of my abundant pineapple sage instead of cilantro. I kept everything else the same, though… including the unique addition of plain yogurt to make this pesto potato salad both creamy and fresh. I usually make my potato salad with mayo, but might have to rethink that, because plain yogurt definitely produces a refreshing tang like mayo while being a little healthier. This isn’t to say in my normal potato salad I’ll replace the mayo entirely, but I can see a little half-and-half combo going on.

I was happy that I doubled the original recipe [which is reflected below], because Ben and I devoured this stuff in about 0.2 seconds. not quite a Phelps-inspired 1/100ths of a second but pretty darn close! [Yes, we’ve been watching the Olympics non-stop here… have you?] This Pesto Potato Salad is light, lemony fresh, and creamy. It was a fabulous choice for the August edition of the Secret Recipe Club, if I do say so myself, and I will be forever grateful to Cooking Rookie for the inspiration! I’ll definitely have to try the cilantro version one day. 🙂

Pesto Potato Salad [adapted from Cook Book of Trial and Error]
click to print

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds new potatoes, chopped in quarters/eighths
  • 1 1/2 cups loosely chopped sage
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  • zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 6 ounces plain yogurt
  • freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and then add potatoes. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork.

Meanwhile, place sage, walnuts, lemon zest and juice [or 1/2 a lemon if you’re lazy like me], and garlic in a food processor. Pulse until everything is well combined, then add yogurt, as well as freshly ground black pepper to taste.

After potatoes are prepared, place in a bowl. Toss pesto with potatoes and serve warm or cold.

Time: 30 minutes.

Yield: 4-6 servings.

Enjoy your day by checking out other great SRC recipes! 🙂 I know I will be!



Main Dishes, Recipes, Soups

Spicy Sausage, Chicken, and Bean Stew

Sarah

Sometimes Ben has gets to eat tofu. [Dinner tonight!! Yum.] I am very fortunate that he is such a willing eater. Ben will try just about anything once. But of course, being the good wife that I am, I don’t want to take [too much] advantage of his easygoing nature. And in order to reward him, sometimes I make man meals. You know what I’m talking about… the kind of dinners most ladies would never request but will eat once in awhile to make a special someone happy. Those sort of meals. Mhmmm. Not exactly a special Valentine’s dinner, but definitely a “love your guy” kind of dinner.

One of the latest in our world is this hearty, meaty, thick stew. Spicy Sausage, Chicken, and Bean Stew has tons of meatyness thanks to hot Italian sausage and flavorful chicken thighs [use boneless, skinless chicken thighs to make it easier and to cut down on the fat], but still plenty of healthy stuff like celery, carrots, tomatoes, and potatoes to make me happy, as well as a plethora of herbs to add depth of flavor. Though I made this dish with Ben in mind, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it too. Don’t worry about the spicy factor either–this is one dish that did not “spice me out!” If you want a spicier stew, I would up the cayenne pepper or add a little hot sauce. This stew makes a ton so be prepared for a few days of leftovers. It also freezes well!

Spicy Sausage, Chicken, and Bean Stew [adapted from Rachael Ray’s just in time!]
click to print

Ingredients:

  • 12 ounces ground hot Italian sausage
  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 celery ribs, diced
  • 3 medium white potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-2 inch pieces
  • 2 medium carrots, scrubbed and shredded
  • 1/2 large red onion, diced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 15 ounces chicken broth
  • 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
  • 15 ounces cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon dried sage
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • pinch cayenne pepper

Directions:

Heat a large stockpot over medium heat, add Italian sausage and begin to cook, crumbling into large pieces. When fat starts to render, after about 2 minutes, add chicken and stir to incorporate. Season to taste with black pepper. Cook the chicken on each side for about 2-3 minutes until it starts to brown. When chicken is fully cooked, add celery, potatoes, carrots, onion and bay leaf. Cook for another 7-8 minutes to soften the veggies. Then pour in the wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Lastly, stir in broth, tomatoes, beans, thyme, sage, parsley, and cayenne pepper. Cover and bring to a boil, then cook for 10-15 minutes, remove bay leaf and serve.

Time: 40 minutes.

Yield: 8 servings.

Chorizo, Main Dishes, Recipes

Chorizo and Potato Tacos

Sarah

So, I used to have this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad fear of chorizo. I would drool over yummy, flavorful looking Mexican dishes online or in cookbooks, only to read the recipe list and see that fateful word: “chorizo.” I would sigh and move on, sure that chorizo wasn’t for me. I mean, for one, it was spicy and for two, a sausage taco? Umm, no thanks. So I just bypassed all chorizo recipes and moved on with my life. But one day things changed.

I honestly don’t know what came over me–but in an instant at the grocery store I thought, well, maybe I should just try this chorizo thing. Then I can truthfully say I don’t like it and really move on with life.

When I came home from campus the very next day, I pulled out my trusty Rick Bayless cookbook, Mexican Everyday, found an innocent looking recipe, and got to work. With the exception of yelling for help when it came time to cut the casing off of the chorizo, preparation of these Chorizo and Potato Tacos was a cinch! Twenty minutes later, plate on the table and fork in hand, I closed my eyes, said a prayer, and dug in, expecting the worst.

Well, the worst never came. Instead I had a mouthful of flavorful meat with just a little bit of kick, sauteed fresh vegetables, and creamy potatoes. This isn’t so bad, I thought to myself, looking over at Ben chowing down happily. The spiciness that I had so feared was dulled by some cilantro stirred in at the end and was refreshingly contrasted by the cool, crumbly, mild Queso Fresco that topped the warm filling. In a flash, our plates were cleared and leftovers were nonexistent. Whoa. Talk about a surprise.

I have no idea what my fuss over choirzo was about, but it’s in the past now. Seriously, it’s not scary at all. I certainly will be on a quest to find more ways to enjoy chorizo in the future, and I’ve love your help on that.

If you enjoy chorizo, what’s your favorite way to serve it? If you don’t enjoy it or haven’t had it before, tell me why!

Chorizo and Potato Tacos

  • Servings: 2-3
  • Print

from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless

Ingredients:

  • 7 1/2 ounces fresh Mexican chorizo sausage, casing removed
  • 1 tablespoon oil, if necessary
  • 3/4 cup sliced yellow onion
  • ~1/2 cup chopped green Carmen [or Bell] peppers
  • 3 cups new potatoes, grated through your grater’s largest holes
  • 1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro, chopped
  • sliced tomatoes, for serving
  • Queso Fresco, for serving
  • your choice of tortillas, flour or corn, for serving

Directions:

Place chorizo in a large skillet over medium heat and cook for about four minutes. Stir frequently and break up into clumps, until some of the fat starts to render and sausage is half-cooked. Increase heat to medium-high and add oil if sausage isn’t rendering any.

Add onions and peppers and cook, stirring constantly until softened, about three minutes.

Place potatoes in the pan over mixture and cook covered until soft, approximately five minutes. Stir every so often and reduce heat if mixture starts to brown long before potatoes are soft.

Transfer mixture to a serving bowl and gently fold in cilantro. Serve with warmed tortillas, tomatoes, and Queso Fresco.

Appetizers, Recipes

Baked Potato Skins

Sarah
munchie attack!

If there is one food that reminds me of college, potato skins would have to be it.  From the beginning of freshman year, especially after I joined Kappa Delta Sorority [yeah yeah!] I quickly learned that all the cool kids at college hit up Applebee’s for half priced appetizers for late night snack attacks and socializing. My attendance at half apps was very good when I didn’t have schoolwork to do [darn you classes for getting in the way of socializing!]. Baked potato skins were my favorite appetizer to order…

celebrating my 20th birthday!

There was just something about the combination of cheesy potatoes, crispy bacon, and smooth sour cream that got me every. single. time… except for those forays into the world of spinach artichoke dip or nachos. Oh, the nachos… Well, the good news for my wallet and my waist line is that now I can recreate the taste of college at home, in the form of these delicious baked potato skins. Just as crispy and flavorful as I remember, this appetizer takes me back to the good ‘ole days… hard to believe it’s been almost four years!

Baked Potato Skins

Ingredients:

  • 3 large baking potatoes
  • 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onion
  • 2 pieces bacon, cooked and chopped
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • sour cream
  • salt
  • pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub potatoes and pat dry. Pierce holes in each potato and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake for 60-75 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool for at least 15 minutes [important!].

After potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice in half lengthwise. Use a steak knife to cut potato flesh away from the skin, leaving a thick layer of flesh next to skin so the skins do not fall apart. Use a spoon to scoop away about 65-70% of the potato. Save potato for mashed potatoes or a snack or breakfast…  🙂

Turn on the broiler in the oven. Place a cooling rack in a baking dish [or use a roaster with a rack].

Brush melted butter over the outside of the potato skin, season with salt and pepper and place on top of the rack. Broil for about 3-4 minutes or until outside skin is starting to get crispy. Remove from oven and use tongs to flip skins so that the flesh is visible. Brush inside with melted butter, and season with salt and pepper. Return to broiler for another 3-4 minutes, remove and then top with cheese and bacon pieces. Return [again!] to broiler for another 2-3 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and melted, watching carefully so it does not burn.

Serve with sour cream and green onions, and allow to cool for a minute or two before enjoying so you don’t burn your mouth like I did! 🙂

Click here for the printable version: Baked Potato Skins

Question of the Day: What one food takes you back to college?