One Potato, New Potato...

     My husband loves sweet potatoes but I just don't care for them, especially their thready, fiber-y texture.  He suggests them frequently...very frequently.  He also loves squash which I disliked until I tried spaghetti squash (after much coaxing from my dear husband).  So since the squash worked out so well I decided to give sweet potatoes a try - but with great reservation.  

     At a past (long past - takes me a while to try new things) Weight Watcher meeting another member had mentioned sweet potato chips (and I had loved those fried sweet potato chips at a Mexican restaurant) so I decided to give them a shot.  Well, several shots, as it turned out.  The first few times I used my cheese slicer to cut the thin slices, my go-to-technique for thin potato and cucumber rounds.  I soon discovered that sweet potatoes are much harder - literally!  The baking temperature and time is tricky - one minute they look beautiful then next minute they're burned.  But one thing I did learn from that very first try is that they taste great!  To me they are much better tasting than store-bought baked dried potato chips plus they have the added nutritional bonus of beta-carotene and vitamin A.  They had me at better tasting...

Sweet potato chips, seriously addicting!

Baked Sweet Potato Chips  

Ingredients: 

• Sweet potatoes, scrubbed (I used 2 medium, about 13 raw ounces)
• Cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons olive oil (optional)
• A large, heavy baking sheet
• A large wire cooling rack
• Salt and pepper

 Putting It Together:

     Scrub the sweet potatoes well but do not peel.  Using a knife or mandoline type slicer, cut the sweet potatoes into thin slices; not paper thin but about a sixteenth of an inch thick.  I had a very crowded baking sheet with two average sweet potatoes; for more chips use two racks and sheets.

Such a time saver!

     Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Dump the slices into a large bowl, drizzle them with 2 teaspoons of olive oil (or spray them with olive oil cooking spray) and sprinkle on 1/4 teaspoon salt and a couple grinds of black pepper.  Toss with your fingers to distribute spices.  Sprinkle on another 1/4 teaspoon salt and toss again.

Using a wire rack is key to baking the chips.

     Lay the slices in a single layer (trying to minimize overlapping as much as possible) on a wire rack (1 large or two small placed side by side) placed atop a large, heavy baking sheet.  Spritz with olive oil cooking spray.  Sprinkle on additional salt if needed.  The wire rack makes a huge difference in baking and in the final product - I wish I had thought of it a few tries back!  On the rack the chips don't stick, there's no need to attempt turning them over, they cook more evenly and the clean up is much easier, too.  After putting in the sheet(s) turn down the oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake for 10-18 minutes, rotating pan halfway through.  After 10 minutes of cooking time, check them every few minutes - they brown very quickly after a certain point.  Remove from oven when crisped to your satisfaction.  The darker brown ones may not look as pretty but they still taste great.  

Lots of shrinkage!  13 ounces of raw potato became approximately 3-1/2 ounces of baked chips.

     A total of 13 ounces of raw sweet potato with 2 ounces of olive oil was valued at 9 Points Plus on Weight Watcher's Recipe Builder.  Using only cooking spray with the 13 ounces made the total go down to 7 PP.  Dividing the recipe into 3 one-ounce (a bit more, actually) servings would make each serving either 2 or 3 PP.  For someone who didn't like sweet potatoes of any kind, I now find them addicting and delicious!

Sweet potato chips make burger night even better.

   

Steak, Potatoes and a Green Salad - the Saturday Night Special...

     I have not been on my kale kick for very long and a kale salad was my very first post.  I was so excited about finding a new-to-me vegetable, one I could see just by looking at it's beautiful dark green leaves that it was going to be good for me (AKA a "healthy" choice).  That excitement and the desire to share my "discovery" with other Weight Watchers is what started my little blog.  When I eat a kale salad I feel a sense of well-being (no kidding!) and I picture little green Pac Man nutrients racing through my body - crazy, I know!  And since I have to work at chewing a kale salad that makes me feel that I am eating a real vegetable, not just "salad."

     This time around I wanted to use vegetables in the kale salad and no fruit, something that was hearty and substantial with the sirloin I was going to grill.  I choose red peppers (bought that bag of 6 at Costco!), carrot, cucumber and onion, things I would typically use in a "regular" green salad.  Steak (a lean, marinated piece of sirloin), salad (hearty kale and veggies in a no-oil dressing), and potatoes (skin-on oven fries) - a classic combination for a Saturday summer night's dinner!      

The Saturday Night Special: steak, potatoes and a green salad.

Kale-Veggie Salad

Ingredients:  

• Bunch of kale (Lacinato or curly), rinsed with ribs removed
• A carrot
• A cucumber
• A red sweet pepper
• Half a small sweet onion
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar

Putting It Together:

     In a small bowl, stir together red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, 2 tablespoons water and 1 teaspoon salt until sugar/salt dissolve.  Cut onion half into large 1/2-1inch sized pieces and add to vinegar mixture; set aside.   

Onion pieces are mellowing in the vinegar/dressing mixture.

    While the onions mellow out, prepare the rest of the vegetables.  Rinse the kale leaves and pull out the ribs.  Stack up the leaves and cut into thins strips; place in a large serving bowl.  

Those ribs are tough and woody and I can't imagine even eating them cooked!

     Pour the vinegar mixture over the cut kale, holding back the onion pieces; toss the cut kale, sprinkle over a teaspoon of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt; set aside.  Cut the carrot, cucumber and pepper and add to the reserved onion pieces.  Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt, toss together vegetables.

A rainbow such as this just has to be good for you!

     Add the vegetables to the kale-vinegar mixture and toss well to combine.  Cover and refrigerate several hours before serving; this resting time is necessary to soften the kale and remove some of its bitterness.  Pull out the salad once or twice to toss and redistribute the dressing.   

A hearty salad with a tangy vinegar sweet-sour bite.

     Weight Watcher's Recipe Builder came up with a total of 9 Points Plus for this kale salad recipe.  All the salad ingredients are "free" so why the Points?  Think serving size - a Weight Watcher vegetable serving is one half cup and "free" foods are to be eaten in moderation.  The volume of the kale does deflate as it marinates but I would estimate the recipe easily makes 9-1/2 cup servings and that gives each serving a value of 1 Point Plus.  I choose to count my serving(s) as "free" and you, dear eater, may chose for yourself.
     I usually give myself a noon deadline on preparing this salad so I know it has several hours to mellow before dinner.  The steak prep is dependent upon the cut of steak I am using.  I prefer to give a flank steak or London broil the whole afternoon (or morning and afternoon) but the boneless top sirloin I used in this post was not a tough cut of meat in comparison, so I was shooting for 4-5 hours of marination time.      
     The flavor of this simple marinade is all-American beef-on-the-grill yummy.  It's common pantry-frig ingredients just bring out the best in beef flavor and is a snap to put together.  Before I was "gifted" with a Cuisinart, I just chopped and mixed by hand so don't let the lack of a food processor stop you - it just makes prep faster.

Simply Steak Marinade

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup vinegar (red wine or apple cider are my favorites)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon crushed dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 medium sweet onion, rough chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• Small handful of flat leaf parsley leaves

Putting It Together:

     Into the bowl of a food processor, add first 8 ingredients and pulse until blended but left with some texture.  If preparing by hand, finely chop onion and garlic, roughly chop parley and combine with the remaining ingredients in marinating container.

Marinades enhance the flavor of and tenderize leaner cuts of beef, a win-win for WWs!

     After pulsing to combine, add the ketchup and flat leaf (Italian) parsley.  Pulse a few times to combine.  I've found the onion and garlic chop better without the thick ketchup in the first go-around but you may not have that issue.  The parley is added last so that it isn't obliterated.

Just a couple of pulses and it's ready to fulfill it's flavor destiny!

     Trim your steak of fat and any "silver skin".  I find it so much easier to see and remove the extraneous fat before the meat is cooked and I appreciate knocking off a Point or two on my serving(s) by trimming.  If you are not concerned about fat, well, you're a fortunate so-and-so!  Pour the marinade over the steak in a non-reactive container, turn over, making certain to surround the meat.  Cover and refrigerate for 4 or more hours, depending on the cut of the meat.  

Turn the meat over and dunk it around to cover it completely with the marinade.

     Remove the meat from the marinade 20-30 minutes before putting it on the grill.  The meat will warm up a bit before it hits the smokin' hot grill (less stickage) and have a chance to dry off a bit (also helps with browning and stickage).  I like to put meat to be grilled on a wire rack and scrape off the marinade - you can also pat it with a paper towel.

I trimmed off slabs of fat and ended up with 2 pieces...but also less Points.

     Before grilling, spray both sides with cooking spray and add a sprinkle of salt to each side.  Always oil your grill grates, too.  Cooking time depends on the size of the steak and the rareness preference.  But always let your meat rest before slicing or eating (whatever type, from burgers to chicken) or you'll see the juices on your plate and not in your food and you'll be left eating a dry piece of steak, chicken, pork or burger, wondering what you did wrong.  This is a lesson that has made me a much better griller.

Beef!  It's what's for dinner.

     The last component of the Saturday Night Special are the potatoes, oven fries in this case.  The earlier prepping of the salad and steak make the prep time for the fries seem like, well, small potatoes.  I usually start the potatoes when I take the marinated steak out of the frig.  While it's coming to room temp there's time to prep the fries, the grill, etc.
The recipe's technique is from Middle-Eastern Style Potatoes (in an earlier post), just with bigger potatoes!  In the past, whenever I made oven fries they would either be soft but not have much color, so I'd leave them in longer or use a hotter oven, and then they would brown but be dry inside.  So if the brown-steam-oven technique works for cubed I was hoping it would work for fries - and it did, beautifully.

Oven Fries

Ingredients:

• Scrubbed potatoes (my 2 russets equaled 20 ounces raw)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Seasoning mix: 1/4 teaspoon each onion and garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper plus a dash of cayenne
• Olive oil cooking spray

Putting It Together:  

     Scrub and cut potatoes into fries (too thin and they'll be too fragile to manipulate without breaking); pat dry.  Heat oil in a non-stick skillet that has a tightly fitting lid.  Add potatoes, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and let brown over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes.  Turn over fries and let them brown on other sides for 4-5 more minutes.

I found some beautiful new bakers with thin, flaky skins - so delicious!

     Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a heavy baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.  After the potatoes have browned for the total 8-10 minutes, add a couple tablespoons of water to the pan and quickly cover.  Turn the heat down to low and let the fries steam for about 4-5 minutes.  Remove lid, let any remaining water evaporate, season with salt and pepper or a mix of seasoning for more zip.  Turn fries gently to coat and carefully pour onto prepared baking sheet.  
     If you need more time to pull your meal together, bake the potatoes at 375 for 20 or more minutes, checking on them to make certain they don't over-brown or dry out.  If you need less time, opt for 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes.  Just don't forget to monitor their progress.  I often start out at 400 and turn the oven down when I put them in.  My convection does a great job but does cook faster.  I don't turn the fries - I'd rather not risk breaking them!   

Just a few more minutes to perfection!

     As a diner and Weight Watcher I love this recipe for it's flavor and low Points Plus value. As a cook I love this recipe for it's ease of preparation and it's downtime that allows me time out at the grill - what a winning combination.  Weight Watchers Recipe Builder's total came out as 13 points Plus (using 20 ounces of raw potato).  This came out to be five servings of approximately 3 ounces each, 3 Plus Points per serving. 

The Saturday - or any day - Night Special!

     This hearty meal was very satisfying and not a Points budget buster.  Three ounces of trimmed, cooked sirloin weighs in at 3 Points (untrimmed would have been 5 Points Plus!) and I'm not spending any Points for the marinade (see my Chipotle Pork Post!).  The salad is a Point per serving (for some of us) and the oven fries are 3 Plus Points per serving.  I had 5 ounces of steak (5 PP), a cup of salad (2 PP - really?), and 6 ounces of fries (6 PP) for a total of 13 Plus Points (or 11 PP without counting the salad).  A less ravenous person eating a single serving of each would have used only 7 Plus Points.  Regardless of Point values, this is a dinner full of flavor that anyone would enjoy, any day of the week!          
 

More Green for Me: Kale Ginger-Berry Salad

     If you've read one of my earliest posts, "A New Dark Leafy Green for Me...", you already know of my new love of kale, especially when paired with fruit and citrus.  I just never tire of that orange-apple-cumin kale slaw.  The change of season has also changed the availability of some key ingredients for my beloved kale slaw.  Oranges are not a summer fruit and those available are not very tasty.  The same can be said for the apples - just pretty ho hum until the new fall crop comes in.  It was time to try something new.  

     The citrus is an important element since the acidic juice helps to soften the somewhat tough kale leaves.  I chose to substitute a lemon for the orange since I usually have some in the frig (they're so versatile) and used strawberries for the apple, since I had those on hand, too.  Those two flavors are great together - I usually add lemon zest to a simple yellow cake recipe when I make strawberry shortcake.  Last weekend I passed on the cake part and served fresh strawberries that had been macerated in lemon juice, lemon zest and Splenda and they were scrumptious!  

     I now needed to find a flavor that added a punch like the cumin did in the original version - cumin was just too earthy for the summery marriage of lemon and strawberry.  Then, on my kitchen counter, I saw the container of candied fresh ginger I had bought for cookie-making and there was my answer!  This new version which I call Kale Ginger-Berry Salad is beautiful to look at, has a slightly sweet citrus tang, juicy bites of summer strawberry and a heat/warmth from the fresh grated and the candied gingers.  It's perfect for summer and I hope you'll try it for yourself!

Another dark leafy green for me, Kale Ginger-Berry Salad.

Kale Ginger-Berry Salad

Ingredients:

• Fresh strawberries, rinsed and halved
• A bunch of kale; rinsed, de-ribbed and cut into thin strips
• A lemon, zested and juiced (about 1 teaspoon of zest and 2-3 tablespoons of juice)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger or ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Half an ounce of candied fresh ginger, chopped finely

Keep ginger root in your freezer, peel then grate frozen, as needed.

Look for candied fresh ginger in your store's produce, baking or bulk foods sections.

Putting It Together:

     Rinse the individual leaves of kale; fold each leaf over onto itself (like a Valentine), grip the two sides and rip away from the woody spine and set aside.  Stack the de-ribbed pieces on a cutting board and cut into thin strips; place in a large serving bowl (I estimated 5 cups of cut, packed kale).  Sprinkle over 1/4 teaspoon salt, the fresh lemon zest and half of the freshly squeezed lemon juice.  Using your hands, toss and massage the kale strips and set aside.

Time to massage in the salt and lemon.

     Rinse and de-hull the strawberries; halve or thickly slice the berries and set aside.  I had about 1-1/2 cups of halved/sliced berries.  In a small bowl combine the remaining half of the lemon juice, grated fresh ginger, coriander, Dijon mustard, pinch of salt, a few grinds of pepper and the honey; whisk to combine.  Add the sliced strawberries and chopped candied fresh ginger to the massaged kale, pour over dressing and gently toss to combine.  Check and correct the flavor if necessary - may need more sweet or sour or heat.  Refrigerate salad for a minimum of three hours to allow kale to continue to soften, flavors to mellow, strawberries to macerate. 

The candied ginger really adds some zing to this salad.  The kale is already beginning to darken and soften.

     Weight Watcher's Recipe Builder totaled 10 Points Plus for this recipe when made as described above.  That would make each of 5 servings 2 Points Plus.  The fresh grated and candied ginger do add a punch of heat which I love, but if you are new to using ginger I suggest starting with less, tasting and adding more if needed.      

My husband and I agree, the Kale Ginger-Berry salad is our new favorite!

Cold Summer Supper: Tuna Pasta Salad

     It has been a very rainy July so far and I really needed a break from grilling in the rain!  I decided to make an old favorite, a cold tuna pasta salad.  In the past I cooked about 6 ounces of pasta for the salad and baked fresh-fruit muffins for extra carbohydrates for my husband, but this summer I needed to cut out some of those carbs.  
     Again, my husband gave me his target range which I combined with my Points Plus value range and came up with 3 ounces of uncooked pasta shells (which with my brand was 63 total carbohydrates).  That is not much pasta so I needed to bulk the dish up with more vegetables than my usual celery, onion, sweet pickle and a bit of bell pepper.  If a little bell pepper is good, more should be even better - and it was!  

     The shots of colorful veggies throughout the dish are visually appealing and the crunch is very satisfying - a winning combination.  Some delicious fresh fruit replaced the muffins and added a sweet and juicy compliment.  We Weight Watchers are able to enjoy fresh fruit for "free" but fresh fruit comes with a low price tag for everyone; an ounce of fresh melon, watermelon, pineapple or strawberries is only 2 carbs - so indulge and enjoy summer's colorful bounty!

Crisp vegetables, tender pasta shells and canned tuna in a tangy dressing.

Tuna Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 3 ounces uncooked medium shell pasta (cook until al dente and hold in ice water)
• A 12-ounce can of chunk-style water packed tuna, well drained
• 6 tablespoons Light Miracle Whip (my preference)
• 1 generous teaspoon Sriracha
• Bread and Butter Pickle Chips, chopped (6 chips)
• A small red onion, sliced into thin crescents
• Half a red pepper, sliced into thin crescents
• Half a green pepper, sliced into thin crescents
• Half an orange or yellow pepper, sliced into thin crescents
• 2 ribs of celery, cut on the diagonal into thin slices

For eye-appeal cut your raw veggies into approximately the same size and shape, whether sliced or diced.

Putting It Together:

     Put your pasta water on (a covered pot heats faster than uncovered) - don't forget to salt it.  Measure out your pasta and have it at hand.  F.Y.I: This recipe could easily handle twice as much pasta.  Do not overcook the pasta since it softens a bit as it mellows in the frig - overcooked pasta will get even mealier in the refrigerator!  Rinse the cooked pasta and hold it in a bowl or pot of ice water until you're ready to assemble the salad.   

     Rinse, trim and cut your vegetables in a similar size and shape for better eye appeal; place in a large serving bowl.  After all, it is said that we eat with our eyes first.  I've found that raw onion can be a bit too harsh (even red Vidalia), so to mellow the flavor, place the cut raw pieces in a bowl of ice water for a few minutes.  Just drain the onion pieces onto a paper towel before adding them to the other veg.  

A healthy balance of ingredients, all ready to combine. 

     Cut and add the pickle chips (I love the sweet-sour tang with the heat from the sriracha), the well-drained pasta, the drained tuna (averages about 8 ounces after drained), the light Miracle Whip (or your choice of mayo, yogurt, etc.), sriracha and a little salt and black pepper to the bowl.  Stir gently to combine, check your seasoning and heat, adjust if necessary.  I like to spoon the pasta salad onto old-school crispy iceberg lettuce - reminds me of tuna salad sandwiches!    

A summer's bounty of Power Foods!

     Weight Watcher's Recipe Builder estimated a value of 21 Plus Points for the entire recipe (made as written above).  The recipe made 5 cups of pasta salad, each 1-cup serving equaling 4 Plus Points.  With the lettuce base and side of fresh fruit with this Pasta Tuna Salad, there's no worry about fulfilling daily fruit/veggie Power Food guidelines!      

 

Still Crazy for Cumin: Moorish-Style Pork

     A couple summers ago my sister shared a recipe with me, Pork in the Style of the Moors, and this dish soon became a favorite.  I do not know her source of the recipe but it's provenance is southern Spain, a mixture of Moorish spices and Christian pork.  It is quick and easy to put together and is loaded with one of my favorite spices - cumin!  

     This summer I realized I hadn't been making Pork in the Style of the Moors (seriously, that's how my husband and I refer to it - what a mouthful!) as frequently and wondered why it had fallen out of favor.  Flavor was the answer, I realized.  I had been making 2 pork tenderloins at a time and switched to using a single one and the spices were now too heavy tasting.  I altered the recipe, halving some of the spices and cutting back on the marinating time, and this Moorish-Style Pork is back in the summer grilling rotation!  

     I have also taken some other liberties with this recipe - firstly, shortening the name!  Secondly, the original recipe called for toasting then grinding whole cumin seeds which I did the first time (and no disrespect to serious cooks) but this just didn't make a huge flavor difference to me.  I use a very dark and earthy cumin (and more pricey) and I go through it quickly.  I also skipped the saffron called for in the recipe but what you don't know you will not miss!  

     Lastly (I think...), I did not cut the pork tenderloin into small cubes and skewer the meat.  Well, I did that technique the first several times but realized the timing on the grill was too short and fussy for me (and I hate overdone pork) so I chose to cut the tenderloin into large chunks (5 or 6) before marinating.  Without the skewers I'm also able to move the largest chunks to the hot spots or move the thinner "tail" to a cooler spot which makes for more even cooking results.  For pork cooking guidelines please check out my Chipotle Pork post.  Middle Eastern-Style Potatoes or Cauli-Couscous are great carb sides with this pork entree and the Pepper Salad is a perfect veggie side, I think.

Moorish-Style Pork

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot paprika  
• 1 teaspoon crushed dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon pressed or minced garlic cloves, about 4-6 cloves
• 1 tablespoon chopped Italian (flat leaf) parsley
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• A pork tenderloin trimmed of fat and silver skin, cut into 4-6 large chunks

Oil, garlic, lemon juice and pressed garlic are added to the combined dried spices.

Putting It Together:

     Mix together dried spices in a non-reactive bowl.  Add olive oil, pressed garlic cloves, fresh lemon juice and chopped parley and stir together well.  Dump in the pieces of pork tenderloin and using your hands, rub the mixture into and all around the meat.  Cover the bowl and let rest in the refrigerator a minimum of three hours or overnight.   

Cover and let meat marinate for three hours to overnight in the refrigerator.

     Half an hour before grilling time, remove the meat from the refrigerator.  Cold meat and a hot grill can lead to some serious sticking!  I like to lay marinated meat on a cooling rack so that I can push off the extra marinade and/or pieces of the marinade that may burn and add a bitter flavor to the meat.  Then spritz both sides with olive oil cooking spray and using a very light hand, sprinkle with salt and pepper and it's ready for the grill.

Push off extra marinade, spritz with cooking spray, a very light touch of salt & pepper and it's grill time!

    Trimmed pork tenderloin is a Weight Watcher friendly protein choice.  A 2-ounce serving of trimmed and cooked tenderloin is 2 Points, a 3-ounce serving is 3 Points.  The above marinade adds negligible extra Points if the pound of pork is divided into 4 or more servings. 

Moorish-Style Pork, Cauli-Couscous and grilled peppers and onion.

Middle Eastern-Style Potatoes

     My mom made the best fried potatoes and I, for many years, lamented that I never learned her secret.  I would end up burning them on the outside while trying to get them soft on the inside.  Until, that is, I learned Melissa d'Arabian's technique while watching one of the earlier shows of her series, "$10 Dinners."  For you non-Food Network viewers, Melissa won "The Next Food Network Star" a few seasons back.  She was the contestant I was rooting for, a mom and home cook, with lots of tips and budget stretchers.  Her recipe for crispy potatoes http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/perfect-crispy-potatoes-recipe/index.html combined frying to brown and steaming to finish the cooking, plus a little oven time for a final crisping.  This technique works like a charm every time.
     I had made Melissa's crispy potatoes and was thrilled with how delicious and easy they were.  Then fate stepped in and my husband and I tried a new local Middle Eastern restaurant, Fadi's, one evening.  In their cafeteria style buffet line was a tray of cubed, browned potatoes but with a delicious twist; an addition of garlic, lemon juice and cilantro.  We were hooked!  After a try or two at home (following Melissa's technique but without all that oil) mine were even better than Fadi's and are now a favorite dinner side.  Whether you try them "plain" as fried potatoes for breakfast tacos or an old-school dinner accompaniment, or with my Middle Eastern flavor additions, I think you'll love the result!    

Middle Eastern-Style Potatoes

Middle Eastern-Style Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of thin-skinned potatoes, I use Yukon Golds (I prefer not to peel them)
• 2 teaspoons olive or cooking oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 small garlic clove, pressed or minced finely
• 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• Cooking spray

Putting It Together: 

     Scrub potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes, pat dry with paper towel.  Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large non-stick skillet (which has a tight fitting lid) over medium-high heat; add potatoes and sprinkle over 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt.  Let the potatoes brown for a couple of minutes before stirring and rearranging, repeat this process until they've browned a bit on most sides.

Give the potatoes a couple minutes on each side to brown them; they'll finish browning in the oven.

     When you are satisfied with the color (usually takes 5-10 minutes) add 2-3 tablespoons of water to the skillet and quickly put on the lid.  Turn the heat down to low and let the potatoes steam for about 5 minutes.  Meanwhile preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a heavy baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

The steam bath gives the potato cubes that creamy interior.

     After 5 minutes check the potatoes for doneness, they should be softened but not completely cooked and the water completely evaporated.  Pour the potatoes out onto the sprayed baking sheet (single layer is best) and bake in the preheated oven for 10-25 minutes.  Cooking time varies since the potatoes are nearly done before they go into the oven; it becomes a matter of taste and just how brown and crispy you prefer your potatoes.
     While the potatoes are in the oven, place the teaspoon of butter and pressed or minced garlic clove in the warm potato skillet.  Cook on low for a couple of minutes to mellow the raw garlic flavor.  For a milder flavor use a smashed clove, allow it to steep in the butter on low and remove it before adding back the cooked potatoes.  Wash and ready your lemon and chop the cilantro; set aside.

Tilt your knife to shave away the leaves (whether cilantro or parsley) from the stems.

 

 

Just a few additions make a delicious change to the flavor profile of these potatoes.

At this point they're yummy plain potatoes for breakfast or dinner or ready for those Middle-Eastern flavors!

     When the potatoes have crisped and browned to your liking, pour them back into the skillet (off the heat) containing the butter and garlic.  I appreciate the oven babysitting the potatoes while I'm out at the grill - just don't let them get overdone or they'll be dry and not moist and creamy inside.  Sprinkle over lemon juice, 1/8-1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and chopped cilantro; toss to combine.  Taste and check the seasoning, correct if necessary; serve and enjoy!
             

Middle-Eastern Style Potatoes are a great side with Lemon-Dijon grilled salmon.

     Using a pound of raw potatoes, Recipe Builder estimated a total of 12 Points for the entire recipe as written above.  Dividing the recipe into 4 servings makes each serving 3 Plus Points.  F.Y.I: The Lemon-Dijon marinated salmon was delicious with these lemon-scented potatoes! 



 

Confetti Corn

Confetti Corn, a mixture of corn, peppers, onion and bacon.

     My husband and I both love corn on the cob and it has been a frequent carbohydrate accompaniment to grilled everything!  The only downside to corn on the cob is calculating the amount of carbohydrate in an ear.  After a dinner with corn on the cob my husband would typically end up with a low blood sugar from estimating incorrectly - the guidelines were just too ambiguous.  
     Since we didn't want to give up fresh summer corn but were willing to forgo the cob, I started cooking up vegetable sautes with corn-off-the-cob, onion, peppers, zucchini and summer squash.  By cutting the kernels off the cob and weighing them before cooking I could give my husband a much accurate carb count and bulking up the corn with more veggies was good for both of us.  The corn-vegetable combos were great but our all-time favorite is corn, peppers, onion and bacon because as you all know, bacon makes everything better!  And because this dish is so colorful it has to be called Confetti Corn.

Confetti Corn

Ingredients:

• Two ears of fresh corn on the cob (yellow, white or bi-color), removed from cob 
• A sweet onion,diced 
• A green bell pepper, diced 
• A red bell pepper, diced 
• Two slices of lean bacon, diced finely  
• Salt and pepper, to taste 
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes 
•  1-2 teaspoons ground cumin 
• 1/2-1 teaspoon chili powder

 Putting It Together: 

     Prep and cut all the vegetables.  Add bacon to a cold skillet, turn heat to medium-low and stir and cook until most of the fat has been rendered and bacon is browned.       

     Pour off the fat, turn up the heat to medium and add the diced onion, 1/4 teaspoon salt and the crushed red pepper flakes.  Stir and cook until onion begins to soften.  Add the corn, diced peppers, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, the cumin and chili powder and continue to cook until peppers and corn kernels are just slightly soft.    

       Add 2 tablespoons of water, cover skillet tightly with lid and turn down the heat.  Allow veggies to steam for just a minute or two, check veggies for doneness and adjust the seasoning, if needed.  The peppers will lose their bright colors if steamed or held too long.  Frozen corn is a great alternative.   

My husband is using a corn zipper.

Pretty colorful!

     The Recipe Builder estimated 13 points when using 10 ounces of corn off the cob (2 ears average 7-10 ounces) for the entire recipe or 4 servings, 3 Points each. 

Confetti Corn makes a great side for summer grilling.