Knead to Cook

Food & fitness obsessed girl.

Baked lemon thyme purple potatoes.

by Filed Under: Potatoes, Snacks, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

Today was one of those crazy busy days.  Thankfully I went to the farmer’s market and picked up some gorgeous goodies.  Purple fingerling potatoes are one of our favorites.  Today I wanted to bake them up with herbs from my garden and they are quite a tasty snack or side dish for dinner!

Ingredients:

Purple potatoes, sweet potatoes or regular white – thinly sliced with skin on
Sea Salt
Olive oil
Thyme, rosemary or whatever herb you like to use.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Spray your cookie sheet with olive oil.  Then lay out, in a single layer of potatoes that you will spray with olive oil.  Top with sea salt and your herb of choice.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the edges turn golden and start curling up.  Set cookie sheet on a rack to cool and then serve and enjoy!

 

— Knead to Cook

Red, White and Blue Potato Salad.

by Filed Under: Potatoes, Side dish Leave a Comment

Brianne from Cupcakes & Kale Chips is my guest blogger for today.  I love the recipe she is sharing with you guys and it’s perfect for any patriotic themed party, Olympic celebration or any summer picnic!  Brianne is a good friend of mine who always makes me smile.  She is whiz kid in the kitchen and you have to check her out.

Thanks girl for guest blogging for me!  oxoxo Robin

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/cupcakesandkalechips

Blog:
http://cupcakesandkalechips.com/2012/06/22/red-white-blue-potato-salad/

Take it from here Brianne…

Potatoes get a bad rap.  Perhaps that’s because most of the time we eat them fried, covered with cheese, or mashed with butter and cream.  But really, the potato is not the bad actor here.  In fact, one medium sized potato (about 5 oz.) with its skin has only 110 calories, zero fat, and no sodium.  And it provides more potassium than a banana, 2 g of fiber, and half your daily value of vitamin C.  So potatoes can definitely be part of a healthy diet.

Just not when they are drowned in mayonnaise.  Like my mom’s potato salad.  She makes it the pretty traditional way, with just mayo (and a lot of it), white vinegar, salt, pepper, and chopped hard-boiled eggs.  Everyone in my family goes nuts over her potato salad.  Anytime she makes it, she pretty much uses an entire 5 lb. bag of potatoes, and sometimes I think my sister could eat the whole bowl.  I am an outcast and practically disowned because I don’t like it.  But I am just not a mayo fan.  And hard-boiled eggs – yuck!  So it isn’t just her potato salad.  Most other kinds I encounter are even worse because they have two of my least favorite things – raw onions and celery.

So when I saw US Potato Board Healthy Summer Potato Salad Recipe Contest for Recipe ReDux members that challenged us to create a healthier version of this summertime staple, I was totally on board.  I wanted to come up with a potato salad that I would love, and would feel good about eating.  I actually thought about my Greek Yogurt Blue Cheese Dressing recipe when I was trying to decide what to make.  So I swapped out the mayo for fat free Greek yogurt to lower the calories and fat, and add lots of calcium and protein.  Then I wanted to amp it up with bacon and blue cheese – two ingredients that have tons of flavor, so only a little is needed to have a big impact.  I used three slices of a lean, center cut bacon, which I cooked until crispy, and drained well.  So the bacon really just served as a seasoning.  And you can even use a reduced fat blue cheese, like I did.  The creaminess and tang from the yogurt, versus the sharp bite of the cheese and smokiness of the bacon really elevated the standard potato salad.  I honestly have never had a potato salad that just hit your palate in so many ways in just one bite.  This will be my go-to recipe from now on.

Unless mom is making the potato salad.  (Love you, mom!)

And it went so well with this nice, lean filet, some collard greens, and a nice Cabernet. A perfect summertime meal.

 
Recipe type: Salad, Side
Author: Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips
Serves: 4-8
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs. small red potatoes, quartered
  • 3 slices center cut bacon
  • 1/2 c Greek yogurt (fat free or low fat)
  • 3 T cider vinegar
  • 1/4 t dry mustard
  • pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 t kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 T chopped scallion
  • 1/2 c crumbled blue cheese (regular or reduced fat)
Directions
  1. Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with cold water.
  2. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender, about 12-15 minutes.
  3. Drain the potatoes, place in a bowl, and cool completely.
  4. Cook the bacon in a pan until crispy, and drain well on a paper towel.
  5. Crumble the bacon and set aside.
  6. In a small bowl, combine the Greek yogurt, cider vinegar, dry mustard, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper, and stir until well-mixed.
  7. Gently fold in the reserved bacon, blue cheese, and scallions.
  8. Pour the Greek yogurt mixture over the potatoes, and toss gently.
Notes

If you are preparing the potato salad in advance, you can add just 2 T of cider vinegar to the Greek yogurt mixture, then add the remaining 1 T just before serving to moisten it.

— Knead to Cook

Double Stuffed Mexican Sweet Potatoes.

by Filed Under: Potatoes, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

Meatless Monday here again.  I had some huge sweet potatoes that I needed to use up from the Farmer’s Market last week.  I wanted to make a great, filling dinner for my carnivore family & this one was satisfying & quite delicious.

Ingredients:

3 large sweet potatoes, washed
3 ears of corn on the cob, husked with silk removed, removed from the cob
3 teaspoons of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
Olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 15 ounce can of low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 jalapeño, finely chopped
1 handful of cilantro leaves, washed and roughly chopped
1/3 cup of non fat plain Chobani
1/4 cup of cheddar/jack shredded cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil and place the sweet potatoes on the sheet.  Bake for 40-50 minutes or until fork tender.  Remove and set aside to cool.

In a dry sauté pan over medium heat, roast the corn kernels for about 10-15 minutes or until roasted.  Toss with cumin & cayenne pepper.  Remove from the pan and set aside.  In that same pan, drizzle a bit of olive oil and sauté the onions until golden.  Mix them with the corn kernel mixture.  Then add the black beans, jalapeño and cilantro leaves.  Stir to combine.


When the potatoes are cooled, scoop out the center of each potato adding that to your stand mixer bowl.  Try to leave enough flesh of the potato in each skin so it holds it shape. Add the Chobani to the potato and blend.  When creamy, add the corn mixture and stir gently.  Fill each potato with the mixture and top with a small amount of shredded cheese.  Broil for 5 minute, keeping a watchful eye, until the potato is heated and the cheese melts. You can make this without the cheese as well.

— Knead to Cook

Kentucky Derby Bourbon Sweet Potatoes.

by Filed Under: Potatoes, Side dish, Vegetarian 9 Comments

In honor of the 38th running of the Kentucky Derby, Hilary from the awesome food blog Baking Bad is hosting a virtual Derby party.  She has asked some friends to pop by and bring a Kentucky Derby-inspired dish and I was so happy to oblige with my sweet potato creation.  🙂

Ingredients:

3 enormous sweet potatoes (or you can use 5-6 large sweet potatoes), peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 c of light brown sugar
1/2 c of butter
3/4 c of bourbon (I used Jim Bean)
1 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of nutmeg, ground

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place all of the peeled, chopped sweet potatoes in a glass 13×9 pan.  In a sauce pan over medium heat, add all of the other ingredients and bring to a boil.  Whisk the ingredients as they cook.  Once boiling, pour the liquid mixture over top of the potatoes.  Bake for 50 minutes or unit the potatoes are fork tender.

— Knead to Cook

Mexican twice baked potatoes with Chobani.

by Filed Under: Potatoes, Side dish, Vegetarian 8 Comments

Get ready for some healthy, protein-packed & delicious side dish!

Ingredients:

4 medium to large sized sweet potatoes, washed and poked with a knife
1 c of corn (frozen, canned or cut off the cobb)
1/4 tsp cumin, garlic powder & cayenne
1-14 oz can of low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tbl butter
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, pureed with hand blender
2 oz of less fat cream cheese
1/3 c non fat Chobani plain yogurt
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of cumin
1 handful of chopped cilantro
1/4 c or less of jack or cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and bake the sweet potatoes for 30-45 minutes or until they’re fork tender.  Once they are, remove and set aside for 5 minutes to cool.  Over medium to high heat in a dry pan, add the corn along with cumin, garlic powder and cayenne and roast the corn until golden brown. Meanwhile, add the black beans to a bowl.  Once the corn is roasted nicely, add it to the black beans.  Stir to combine.In the same pan you roasted the corn, add the butter and once melted, add the onion.  Cook until translucent and then remove from heat.  In the meantime, halve the potatoes and scrape out the flesh, leaving the skin and a bit of flesh remaining (so it stays a bit a firm).  The flesh will be added to your stand mixer with the paddle attachment on.  In your mixer bowl, add the chipotle peppers,  cream cheese, Chobani, salt and cumin.  Beat until mixed well.  Then by hand, mix in the corn/bean mixture, sautéed onions and chopped cilantro.  Then top with your cheese of choice and broil on high for 3 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

— Knead to Cook

Herb marinated pork with maple mashed sweet potatoes.

by Filed Under: Pork, Potatoes, Side dish 1 Comment

It was such an incredibly beautiful day again here in PA and I really was in the mood to fire up the grill & that’s just what I did.  I had some pork in the freezer (and in my sad attempt to clean the freezer out before I purchase more food for it) I thawed it out and created a super delicious marinade.  You have to try it!

Ingredients (Pork):

4-6 pork chops (I used w/o the bone but you can certainly use a bone-in)
Salt and pepper
4 tbl of olive oil
3 tbl of freshly chopped parsley
1 tbl of dried oregano (if you have fresh, use 2 tbl)
1 tsp of garlic powder
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbl of lime juice, fresh
1 tsp of hot sauce (I used Sriracha)

Directions:

Rinse under cold water and pat dry each piece of pork.  Season with salt and pepper and place in a platter with sides (or you can use tupperware) and then set aside.

In my large measuring cup (or a small mixing bowl) add the olive oil, parsley, oregano, garlic powder, garlic, lime juice and hot sauce.  Whisk to combine and then pour over the pork.  Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.  Longer is better 🙂

When you’re ready to cook, preheat your grill to 375 or so.  Add the pork and grill until it’s no longer pink inside and has an internal temperature greater than 145 degrees.  Then place in a clean platter and tent with foil for 5-7 minutes.

Ingredients (Maple mashed sweet potatoes):
6-7 small to medium yams/sweet potatoes, washed and peeled
1/4 tsp of salt
2 tbl butter or substitute
3 tbl finer grade maple syrup
2 tbl ground cinnamon
4 tbl almond milk (vanilla flavored but regular milk would be sufficient)

Directions:

Cook your sweet potatoes in a large pot of boiling/salted water.  Once fork-tender, drain with colander.  I then add the potatoes to my stand mixer bowl, with the paddle attachment on, then add the remaining ingredients.  Start out mixing slowly and then increase the speed.  Blend until creamy or until you have the desired texture you wish.

I top with additional cinnamon before serving.

 

— Knead to Cook

Apple sage stuffed pork over Chobani apple cinnamon mashed sweet potatoes.

by Filed Under: Grilling, Pork, Potatoes, Side dish 2 Comments


Apples & pork are truly one of my favorite food combinations.  I paired the pork up with mashed sweet potatoes (that I purchased from the farmer’s market on Tuesday).  And thanks to Chobani sending me a ton of wonderful yogurt today, I thought I would try adding  the apple cinnamon to the mashed potatoes and so glad I did.  It added another layer of that wonderful apple flavor to the dish.

Pork:

5 boneless pork filets (you can use 4-6 for this recipe), created a pocket with my filet knife being careful not to go all the way through the meat to the other side.
1/4 c of chopped onion
2 tsp of butter or substitute butter product (I used I can’t believe it’s not butter)
1 c of chopped apples
1/2 c of Panko bread crumbs (or regular if that’s all you have in your pantry)
1 tsp of dried sage

Over a medium flame, heat your butter till melted. Add the onion and cook until translucent.  Then add the Panko.  Mix until the butter and onion is absorbed and toasted.  It should look like this:

Then sprinkle with sage.  Once cooled down a bit, stuff your pork (pocket you created with your filet knife) and then close and seal with a toothpick or two.  Repeat until done.  Set aside.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  In a skillet over medium flame, drizzle some olive oil or a pat of butter.  Once hot, add the pork and brown on each side.  This should take 1-2 minutes.  Then remove and place on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until no longer pink.

Sweet Potatoes:

6 medium sized yams, washed and cut into larger size pieces
1 6 oz cup of Chobani Apple Cinnamon yogurt
2 tbl of Cinnamon butter spread (you can use regular butter)
1 tbl of light brown sugar

Directions:
Bring a large Dutch oven with about 4 qts of water to a boil.  Add the potatoes and cook until fork tender.  Before draining, remove about 1 c of the water that the potatoes were cooked in and set aside.  Then drain the potatoes and add them to your stand mixer with the paddle attachment on.  Then add the butter and brown sugar.  Mix until creamy.  Add the Chobani yogurt and continue to blend.  Taste test and adjust the seasonings as needed.  Spoon into a serving bowl and cover until ready to serve.

For plating…
Add the sweet mashed potatoes as a bed and the pork on top.  Sprinkle with parsley and freshly ground pepper.  Enjoy!

 

— Knead to Cook

Italian spicy sausage with roasted Rosemary potatoes.

by Filed Under: Potatoes, Turkey 3 Comments

Tuesday’s is Farmer’s Market day for me, typically.  Sadly, I haven’t been able to get there the past few weeks so I was thrilled to go after my very early run with my friend Alex.  My youngest, requested hot turkey sausage from the lovely Mennonite stand and I couldn’t resist her request.  So tonight’s dinner isn’t fancy by any stretch of the imagination but it was really good.

Rosemary roasted potatoes ~ I sliced small red potatoes and yams into bite sized pieces.  Drizzle with olive oil and toss with rosemary, sea salt and some parsley.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 for about 45 minutes, tossing halfway through.  Adjust the temperature if the potatoes are cooking too quickly.

Take 1-1.5 lbs of hot Italian turkey sausage and grill it until it’s just about cooked through.  Slice into 1 inch, bite sized pieces.  Throw that into a skillet with some olive oil and some sliced peppers & onions.  Cook this for a few minutes, until the peppers soften a bit.

Plate together and enjoy!  I served this with a mixed field greens salad.

— Knead to Cook