Smashed vegan baked potatoes.

Potatoes.  I have a love affair with them.  Smashed.  Mashed.  Roasted.  I’m not picky, I’m just being honest here. I do love smashed potatoes for the mere reason that there is more surface to be crunchified (yes, making up words again) and I’m all over crunchy food. These are the perfect side dish for breakfast to dinner.  Kids love them. Adults love them. You just can’t go wrong. Also, these are perfect for the holidays – because you can pre-boil and then just broil when needed for a few minutes.  Easy is good! Let’s get to it!  These also would serve as a fun side dish for Thanksgiving if you don’t want to do the whole mashed potato thing…

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs of small potatoes (can be red, white or purple)
Water for boiling
Salt and pepper
Fresh thyme
Olive Oil

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add some salt (1 tablespoon or so) and add your washed potatoes.  Cook until fork or knife tender and is able to be pierced.  Remove and drain.  Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on the bottom of a broiler pan.  Add your whole potatoes and then grab a glass.  See pic below.

Then start smashing your potatoes with the bottom of the glass.  Don’t smash completely but enough to break them apart but still keep them intact.

Season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and bake until golden which is about 8 – 10 minutes.  Then repeat on the other side.  You can also just broil the potatoes until golden and crispy and flip to repeat.  This is a quicker method.  Top with fresh herbs and any additional salt and pepper. Serve.

On the fitness front…

Mentally it’s very difficult for me to follow a plan that’s written out for me regarding training.  Why? I always think I should do more than is outline.  Yes, totally stupid but it’s the way I am.  I see a 3 mile run and think I should at least do 4.  An 8 miler… hmmmm let’s just do 10.  So for the week I’ve done:

Sunday:  10 slower miles
Monday:  cross training
Tuesday: 4 miles, 2 mile walk (both on treadmill) then a 6 mile walk with my friend because life is currently really challenging and I needed to unload, decompress and share with her.  I needed a long walk. Plus I also did weight lifting and core.

I’ll keep you posted on how I do the rest of the week.  Hope you’re having a great day!

— Knead to Cook