Romano-Lime Potatoes

Lime on anything is wonderful–including potatoes. Really.

A few weeks back I shared my family’s latest drumstick recipe, Raspberry BBQ Drumsticks. For that meal I made Zucchini Pie paired and Romano-Lime potatoes. It was a simple, economical meal to serve and best of all, the kiddos loved it. The recipe was adapted from a 2003 Taste of Home Quick Cooking cookbook recipe.

This week if you’re looking for a fun alternative to the usual potato dish, give this flavorful recipe a try!

Romano-Lime Potato Wedges
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 large potatoes
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 teaspoon smoky paprika
Sea Salt to taste preference

Combine butter, lime juice, zest, and thyme. Cut potatoes into wedges (about 3 to 4 per potato). Add to butter mixture and coat. On a greased cookie / baking sheet place wedges skin side down. Mix remaining ingredients and sprinkle over potato wedges.

Bake at 400 degrees until tender and cooked through–about 25 minutes.

 

 

Zucchini Pie

This year my children chose to include zucchini for our small backyard garden–and they are learning to prepare and eat it in a multitude of ways!  My daughter enjoyed making today’s recipe’s flaky crust from refrigerated crescent rolls. The combination of cheese and fresh zucchini sauteed in garlic gives Italian flavor to this southern pie. Simple to make and pretty to look at, it is an excellent side dish for any summer meal.

Zucchini Pie

1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls
1 super size zucchini (if you grow them, you know what I’m talking about!) or 3 medium zucchini
1 minced clove of garlic
2 tablespoons of margarine
3 teaspoons minced fresh parsley (can use dried parsley)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup (4 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
2 eggs, beaten

Separate crescent dough into triangles and place in a greased pie pan with points toward the center. Press onto the bottom and sides of pie plate to form crust.

Saute zucchini with garlic and butter. Stir in parsley, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup cheese.

Spoon mixture into crust. Pour eggs over top of zucchini and cover with remaining cheese. Cover pie with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean and the crust is golden brown. Let pie sit for  5 to 10 minutes before cutting.

Zucchini Pancakes

An abundance of zucchini presented a challenge this summer. I needed some new ways to prepare them for my family and zucchini pancakes certainly fit the bill.

1 cup shredded zucchini

3 Tbs.  Bisquick  baking mix

2 Tbs.  shredded mild cheddar

½ tsp. baking powder

½  tsp.  dried basil (optional)

½  tsp. pepper

¼ tsp. salt

1 egg

 

Topping

¼ cup melted butter

Shredded parmesan cheese

Mix all dry pancake ingredients, add egg and stir well. Batter will be slightly thin and pourable.  Pour onto hot skillet/griddle, flip when bottom is done. Total cook time 3-4 minutes. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese. Makes 6-8 pancakes.

Do you have a fave zucchini recipe?

Sweet Potatoes!

Sweet potatoes are a wonderful vegetable to include in menu planning for the delicious taste and low cost. My family adores fried sweet potatoes –and they are the simplest thing in the world to make.

Slice thin for sweet potato chips.

Or cut into strips for traditional fries.

Cook either in a deep fryer (takes just a few minutes) or in the oven (30 minutes). If oven baking, toss potatoes in a bit of olive oil.

Once cooked, toss in Sea Salt for the best chips / fries in the world. If you like a bit of heat, try sprinkling the fries with  chiptole seasoning.

Greek Flatbread Chicken with Rosemary-Lemon Potatoes

If you visit Atlanta there’s a local dive you must not miss–Grecian Gyro located on Virginia Avenue by Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. It’s a hole-in-the-wall with little parking, but that doesn’t stop anyone. We all wait for parking before going in to wait for food! Funny thing is, you really don’t have to know the restaurant’s proper name. Just say, ‘Greek place by the airport’ and everyone knows exactly where you’re talking about.

Grecian Gyro is famous for authentic Greek gyros and souvlakis along with out-of-this-world potato wedges all covered in the most mouth-watering secret-recipe Greek sauce.

Last week while stranded at home during the snow / ice storm that hit the Atlanta area,  my son and I decided to recreate as best we could a Grecian Gyro wrap. I’m Southern, Alabama-Southern, which means I know absolutely nothing about Greek cooking. Maybe this recipe should be called Hillbilly Flatbread Chicken now that I think about it! Whatever you want to call it–it’s good! The sauce, while not Grecian Gyro’s, is a good stand-in and perfect over rosemary-lemon potatoes.

Kellie’s Greek Chicken Flatbread
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
baby-bella mushrooms (any kind will be good)
one red bell pepper, sliced
one green bell pepper, sliced
one large sliced onion
3 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped (more if you want it!)
Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning
one lemon
sea salt
fresh black pepper

Artisan Rosemary & Olive Oil Flatbread – wrap in foil and warm in oven. Love this bread!

Cook chicken in pan heated with olive oil and sprinkled with Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning. (My definition of sprinkle is close to coating so use your preference.) Once done, shred chicken and set aside. Saute garlic, onions, peppers, and mushrooms in olive oil, add in shredded chicken. Add salt, pepper, Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning to taste along with the juice of half the lemon. (Feel free to add more lemon juice!)

Greek Sauce
Sour cream, rosemary, Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning, sea salt, fresh ground pepper

Mix 1/2 cup of sour cream with 2 tablespoons of dried rosemary, a couple of shakes of Cavender’s All Purpose Greek seasoning and sea salt and pepper to taste. Adjust any or all of the seasonings to your taste.

To assemble flatbread, spoon chicken mixture into flatbread and drizzle with sauce.
Serves 6.

Rosemary-Lemon Potatoes
1  potato per person, diced. (I used leftover baked potatoes from the night before.)
1 lemon
dried rosemary
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
extra-virgin olive oil

Dice potatoes and cook in a pan with olive oil. Squeeze juice of 1/2 lemon (more if you like) along with plenty of rosemary. Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Brown potatoes. Serve warm with Greek Sauce.

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Poor Man’s Potatoes

This simple side-dish first made its debut back in 2006 when MMCW was still just a monthly email newsletter.  When I ran across the recipe from Loi Palmer this week, I knew it had to be shared once again.

Poor Man’s Potatoes
Loi Palmer, November 2006 issue of MMCW

1 white potato, 1 sweet potato, 1 large onion, 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 package dry Italian or Ranch salad dressing.

Slice all the potatoes and onion very thinly. Toss with olive oil and dry salad dressing. Bake in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or until crispy and brown.

Do you have a favorite sweet potato recipe?

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Loaded Scalloped Potatoes

Quick and easy, these scalloped potatoes are a marvelous side dish. My personal favorite is pairing the potatoes with either grilled beef or chicken. Since there is no milk or cream, butter bastes the potatoes as they cook for a yummy flavor.

9 x 13 baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray

1 Idaho potato per person

1/2 stick butter or maragine

Real Black Pepper bacon bits (or make your own)

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Optional: chives, chopped onion, cheese

Thinly slice potatoes and place in baking dish. Add as many bacon bits and optional items as you would like.  Add Sea Salt and pepper. Add butter. If you are cooking a large amount, adjust butter as it is the only liquid (once melted during cooking). Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

Orange-Cucumber Salad

While I’m certainly no Julie of Julia and Julie movie fame, I do enjoy cooking my way through a fun cookbook. My latest venture is Weight Watchers From Pantry to Plate picked up for $1.50 in excellent condition at Goodwill a month ago.  Not one to leave well enough alone, I adapted the Cucumber-Orange Salad to give it a bit more crunch.

Orange Cucumber Salad
1 large orange, juiced
1/2 lemon or lime, juiced
1 garlic clove, minced (if you love garlic, feel free to add more!)
1/2 tablespoon canola oil
Sea Salt to taste

Combine in a bowl and stir.

1 orange peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 cucumber peeled and diced into small pieces
1 mini sweet red pepper diced
1 mini yellow pepper diced
1 mini orange pepper diced
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/4 cup diced red onion

Toss with dressing and serve.

This spring salad is marvelous with grilled chicken and fish. In fact, From Pantry to Plate doubles the liquid recipe and uses 1/2 for a marinade and 1/2 for the salad. The burst of citrus with the crunch of veggies makes it a salad that will be making many return appearances this spring and summer.

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• Enter your name, email (it will not be published) and your website or blogsite if you have one (you do not have to have one).
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Lemon Bright Potatoes

A new restaurant opened up this summer near us, The Diner at Sugar Hill.  A favorite side dish of mine is their lemon potatoes. While their potatoes reign supreme, this copy-cat version comes very close.

As workout guru Denise Austin says in her commercials for Idaho potatoes–they are healthy and just 150 calories. Of course that’s plain and we all know plain potatoes just don’t cut it. Lemon potatoes are surprisingly simple and yes, healthy when you consider there is not a pound of butter in the recipe. The lemon adds a brightness and complimentary flavor that makes them unique. Lemon Bright Potatoes go great with chicken, beef, and pork–love them with citrus pork.

Lemon Bright Potatoes

3 to 4 baking potatoes (I allow one potato per person), Extra-virgin olive oil, 1 lemon, Sea Salt, fresh cracked pepper.

Peel potatoes. Cut each potato into four wedges.

Place in baking dish. Toss in olive oil, sea salt, and pepper to taste. Squeeze juice of one lemon over potatoes and toss again.

Reserve lemon halves. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees until soft. If you like them a bit crispy, uncover and bake. Remove from oven and squeeze lemon over potatoes again (there’s always a bit more juice left) and toss before serving.

Thanksgiving: Least Favorite Food, Favorite Dressing, and Leftover

I thought this poll was funny that I saw about holiday food on AOL.

I narrowed it down to traditional Thanksgiving foods.

Least favorite Thanksgiving food in no particular order:
a. dry turkey
b. lumpy mashed potatoes
c. giblet gravy
d. stuffing with weird stuff in it
e. too-fancy cranberry sauce

I’m going to go with “d” with “c” running a close second!

Strange crunchy, unidentifiable items are what stress me most when I eat any casserole-like item. I must be able to identify all items in the dish and I do not want any surprises. Here’s the dressing I love, love, love:

Southern Cornbread Dressing

Sherra’s note: I use a two boxes of Jiffy

cornbread and add two to three tablespoons of sugar to dry mix, then follow box directions and bake. I then put

cooled cornbread in gallon ziploc bag and crumble. I make and bake this a day or two before Thanksgiving and then reheat on Thanksgiving Day. I omit the onion and used minced onion instead. And of course, I omit the celery – it’s green and crunchy!

4 cups crumbled cornbread
3 or 4 pieces bread or biscuit, crumbled
2 cans Swanson chicken broth (13-3/4 ounce)
1 large onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
3 eggs
1 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the cornbread and chicken broth; allow to soak. Add the onions, celery, and eggs, mixing thoroughly. Add the melted butter. Place the mixture in a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Bake in a 350º oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Serves: 8

Recipe from: Shellmont Bed and Breakfast Inn, Atlanta, Georgia

Favorite Leftover:

Potato Cakes

My husband takes leftover mashed potatoes and makes Potato Cakes. Basically these are fried mashed potatoes. Oh what a surprise that we all like these.

There’s no official recipe.

Simply form the cold mashed potatoes into patties (about the size and thickness of a hamburger patty) and dredge in flour. Melt several tablespoons of margarine and put the potato cakes in the hot skillet. Cook on both sides until golden brown.

*****

Happy, happy Thanksgiving!

What’s your least favorite Thanksgiving food? And what’s your favorite leftover?

Sherra Humphreys
http://sherralifelesson.com/

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