Deluxe Baked Potatoes

Hi all! I don’t know if its as hot by all of you as it is by me (its been in the 100’s for the last three days!), but I’m getting tired of it! I need to get some recipes that’ll help me cope with this heat. For now, though, I guess I’ll post the last side dish from the meal I prepared last week. Its very simple and very tasty, but holds some nice tips for making baked potatoes.

Ingredients:

4 baked potatoes

4-6 strips bacon

2-3 green onion sprigs

cheddar cheese, freshly grated

sour cream

butter

olive oil

salt

pepper

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2) Scrub potatoes and remove any rotten bits or eyes.

3) Oil skins and place onto a microwave-safe plate.

4) Puncture potatoes once to allow for steam ventilation.

5) Microwave on high for five minutes.

6) Remove from microwave and place in oven. Bake for 35 minutes, or until soft.

7) In the meantime, cook the bacon, either in the oven or on the stovetop.

8) While bacon is cooking, grate cheese, chop green onions, and portion into serving dishes.

9) When bacon has finished cooking, place on a paper towel on top of a plate. Place another paper towel over the bacon and pat until excess grease is removed or has soaked up. When finished, cut or shred the bacon into small slices.

10) Remove the potatoes from the oven and serve with toppings.

Notes:

I also served this with butter and/or sour cream. A healthier alternative to sour cream is either lower fat sour cream or greek yogurt. I used full-fat sour cream because I had it left over from the banana bread recipe I made a while back.

This makes a good side dish for: Tuscan Lemon Chicken, Marinated Flank Steak, Pork Tenderloin, or other meals that don’t already have a starchy element, like pasta or bread. I served it in accompaniment with the Caprese Salad and the Tuscan Chicken.

Goat Cheese & Sun-dried Tomato Bruschetta

Earlier this month, my mom was looking for a good recipe for summer entertaining.  She found this recipe in the Best Summer Weekends cookbook, and we decided to try it out. It was an overwhelming hit, and we’ve enjoyed it several times since we found it. We served it tonight with marinated flank steak and a root vegetable medley.

Ingredients:

1 baguette, fresh

olive oil

1 clove garlic, halved

fresh basil, chopped.

Marinated Mozzarella Ingredients:

1/2 lb soft goat cheese

3 tbsp oil, from julienned sundried tomatoes (preferred) or olive.

1 sun-dried tomato, or one jar of (see photo)

1 tbsp Herbes de Provence, or mix in equal parts dried basil, oregano, thyme

1 tsp garlic, finely chopped

1/3 tsp hot red pepper flakes

salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1) Preheat your toaster oven or grill to 375 degrees.

2) Combine goat cheese, sun-dried tomato oil, and seasonings in a bowl. Note: this tastes best if it is left to sit in the fridge for over an hour, but its delicious when served immediately as well.

3) Slice the baguette on an angle, cutting 1/4-1/2 in slices.

4) Brush bread slices with olive oil, then run with halved garlic clove. Season with salt and pepper.

5) Pop into the toaster oven/grill for a few minutes, removing before the slices turn brown. Top each piece with about a tablespoon of the cheese mixture and return to the toaster oven.

6) Allow to cook for a few minutes, or just until the cheese begins to melt. Remove and top with basil, serving hot. Can be served before dinner or with it– its amazing any time!

Nutrition Info Note: the yield for the cheese mixture will vary. The one I made above has about 25-30 tbsp, which is what I’d recommend for each piece. I had to separate the bread portion from the cheese portion, so there will be two tables. Sorry for the confusion– I know it isn’t the easiest to figure out this way! 

Goat Cheese Mixture: 1 serving listed, 30 servings total.

Bread Nutrition Info: One Slice (servings: 14)

Roasted Maple Butternut Squash

Warning: this recipe is DELICIOUS. I’m using the recipe from Ina Garten’s cookbook, and would definitely suggest a couple of other additions to make this even tastier.

Ingredients:

1 Large Butternut Squash, peeled and cubed

1 Head Garlic, Unpeeled

2 Tbsp good olive oil

2.5 Tbsp pure maple syrup; recommended grade b.

Up to 1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

2 oz thinly sliced pancetta, chopped

16 whole fresh sage leaves

OPTIONAL:
1 med. onion, chopped

French bread for serving.

Note: I accidentally put the balsamic vinegar in this photo. It is not used for this recipe. My apologies.

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2) Peel and seed the butternut squash. Cut into cubes, roughly one inch.

3) Place the squash and whole, unpeeled garlic cloves on a sheet pan (with raised edges on all four sides) in one layer. See image below.

4) Toss with the olive oil, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. You can also use garlic salt in lieu of normal salt.

5) Bake for 20-30 minutes, turning over once halfway through.

6)Remove from oven and add the pancetta and sage leaves, distributing evenly over the squash. I flipped the squash and the pancetta at this point as well.

7) Bake for another 20-30 minutes until brown and caramelized. Serve and enjoy!

Super Simple Summer ‘Sparagus

After having realized my love for asparagus (and its sudden abundance at the farmer’s markets!), I’ve been playing with a couple different asparagus recipes. This one is very simple and takes almost no time, and can be made with ingredients that tend to lie around the house in the summertime.

Ingredients:

Asparagus stalks, 1-2 large handfuls for each person eating, or one bundle

Olive oil: for the sake of nutrition info, we’ll say one tbsp. Adjustable by serving size.

Parmesan cheese, 1 tbsp

Salt, dash/to taste

Pepper, dash/to taste.

Lemon zest, 1 tsp or to taste.

Directions:

1)    Fill a saucepan 1/3 of the way full with water. Bring to a boil.

2)    Wash and dry asparagus stalks. Cut on an angle into thirds, keeping the heads.

3)    Using a sharp knife, scrape at the peel of a lemon until you have a desirable amount of lemon zest for your serving size.

4)    Once water is boiling, add the asparagus pieces. Turn the heat down to low, and allow to boil uncovered for two minutes.

5)    Take off heat and drain water.

6)    Move asparagus to a serving dish. Drizzle olive oil over the asparagus, then add the parmesan, salt, pepper and lemon zest.

7)    Toss and serve immediately. Super easy, healthy, and delicious!