Baked Halibut with Grapes and Olive Oil-Smashed Potatoes

This is from Dr. Annie Fenn’s The Brain Health Kitchen Cookbook - Preventing Alzheimer’s Through Food

Building on the resveratrol, the grapes ‘collapse into a syrupy sauce as they roast in the oven with apple cider vinegar’. The purple and red potatoes are especially rich in flavonoids. Small potatoes provide a better skin-to-flesh ratio.  I love roasted grapes as well as roasted radishes, and the syrup was excellent on both of them.

I made numerous adjustments to the recipe, as noted below.  It was delicious, but then my husband informed me that Halibut is a bottom feeder, so not so healthy from a fish point of view.  I’ll try this on cod or haddock.  Gotta check out the fishie info!

I used a microwave baked potato instead of boiling new potatoes. And used only 1/2 as much oil, and much more grapes than the recipe called for.  Also, I didn’t have thyme so I used a combo of fresh basil and mint. 

INGREDIENTS:

1.5 pounds small potatoes - new potatoes or fingerlings - boiled, or a sweet potato microwaved 

2-4 Tbsp EVOO

1.5 teaspoons, or less, kosher salt

4 ounces or more seedless red or black grapes, halved lengthwise, about 1.5 - 2 cups)

(I also added some sliced radishes to the grapes)

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp anise seeds or crushed fennel seeds

4 x 4 oz halibut fillets

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves (good with basil and mint instead)

4 thyme sprigs (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment

2. Put small potatoes in a steamer, bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a gentle simmer.  Cook until very tender, 18-24 minutes.  Drain water. While hot, small potatoes with a potato masher or wooden spoon.  Add 3 Tbsp of the oil and 1/2 tsp of the salt.  Mix until part-chunky.  Cover and keep warm on the stove.

3. Toss the grapes, vinegar, anise seeds, oil and 1/2 tsp of the salt on the prepared baking sheet.  Roast for 18-20 minutes (10 is enough) until the grapes are soft and release their juice.

4. Season the fish with the pepper and remaining 1/2 tsp salt.  Remove the pan with the grapes and turn down the heat to 350.  Nestle the halibut in the sauce, skin side down if there is skin, and sprinkle with the thyme leaves, or other herbs.  Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until the flesh is opaque throughout.

5.  Serve, dividing the smashed potatoes, halibut and grapes with sauce between four shallow bowls.  Garnish with the thyme sprigs and serve hot. 

Humble Potato Leek Soup

From The Heart of the Plate by Mollie Katzen

Simple and tasty - I had mushrooms and scallions that I wanted to use up, so I added those too.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb russet potatoes, peeling optional, into 1 inch chunks

4 cups water

up to 1.25 tsp salt

2 Tbsp olive oil

4 packed cups (~2 lbs) cleaned leek rings, short of 1/4" thick

    (plus ~ 1/2 - 1 cup sliced mushrooms, and one large scallion)

Black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine the potato chunks, water and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium-large saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, until the potatoes are very soft, about 15-20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place another saucepan over medium-low heat for 1 minute.  Add the OO and swirl, then add the leeks and another 1.2 tsp salt and cook.  Stir for a minute or two, then lower the heat and continue to cook, stirring for 5-8 minutes.  Cover and cook over low heat for another 5-8 minutes, or until the leeks are very soft. 

3. Add the potatoes and all their cooking water to the leeks, along with black pepper to taste.  Cover the pot, turn off the heat, and let the soup sit for about 15 minutes to develop the flavor. Somewhere in there, taste to adjust the salt. 

4. You can now reheat the soup and serve as is or puree some of it with an immersion blender and reheat.  Serve hot.  Note - I didn't  care for the way it looked, so I blended all of it, in batches, in my Bullet, then seasoned with salt and pepper.

Okra with potatoes and onions

From Aruna:

https://www.sanjanafeasts.co.uk/blog/2019/09/gujarati-style-okra-potatoes/

I was inspired to cook okra after seeing how nice the pods were at Oasis farm.  I dutifully picked some then left them in the field by accident.  The store bought ones probably aren't as good, but they'll do until the next trip to the farm.  

This is a recipe that Aruna recommended.  Seems like a good recipe but there are no measurements.  Cant really say what I used, but it tasted good in the end.  Maybe it doesn't matter?

Learned that using lemon juice keeps the okra from getting slimy - which is why I usually avoid it.  We'll have it for dinner tomorrow, but it seems good so far.  And it has potatoes - what more do I need to say?!

Substitute for asafetida is garlic or 1/2 garlic powder and 1/2 onion powder.  I used the latter.  There were several garlic cloves already in the recipe.

Slow cooker lentil carrot potato soup

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/276956/slow-cooker-lentil-carrot-potato-soup/

I prefer it without the parsley on top.  Pureeing 4 cups of the soup is essential.  Otherwise, it's watery without much taste.

• INGREDIENTS:
• 4 cups unsalted vegetable stock
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups chopped peeled sweet potato (from 1 sweet potato)
• 2 cups sliced carrots (from 3 carrots)
• 2 cups chopped peeled russet potato (from 1 potato)
• 1 ½ cups dried green lentils
• 1 ½ cups chopped yellow onions (from 1 onion)
• 1 cup chopped celery (from 2 celery stalks)
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic (from 6 garlic cloves)
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 ⅛ teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
•  ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 
  

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• Step 1
  Stir together the stock, water, sweet potato, carrots, russet potato, lentils, onions, celery, garlic, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, salt, and pepper in a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW until the vegetables and lentils are tender, 7 to 8 hours. Remove and discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf.
• Step 2
  Place the oil and 4 cups of the soup in a blender. Remove the center piece of the blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure the blender lid on the blender. Place a clean towel over the opening in the lid (to avoid splatters). Process until smooth. Return the pureed soup to the slow cooker; stir in the vinegar. Ladle the soup into bowls, and sprinkle evenly with the parsley.

Green beans (or peas) and cherry tomatoes with pesto

Seriously adapted from Amy Riolo :  The ultimate Mediterranean Diet Cookbook  2015

I made so many changes in this, that it actually isn't the same recipe.  But I did start out looking at it, was missing key ingredients, but wanted my potatoes!  I'm not sure about the health benefits of pine nuts, and tend to buy them for one recipe, then toss the rest months or years later when they taste stale.  So I substituted walnuts and sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts.  I didn't have any string beans, so I used peas, which I prefer anyway.  Love the idea of a vegetable that supplies protein!

Oh, and I also changed parmigiana-reggiano cheese to nutritional yeast to keep it vegan.

The dish looks much prettier immediately after composing it, but as with most dishes, tastes better the next day.

So here's my very own version:

Ingredients:
1.5 pounds baby yellow potatoes or Yukon gold, washed and cut into 1" chunks
1 pound peas (or green beans cut in half on the diagonal)
1.5 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup walnuts
1 Tbsp sunflower seeds
1 clove garlic
3 cups lightly packed basil leaves
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, unfiltered if possible
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
~1/4 tsp salt
~1/8 freshly ground black pepper


Directions:
1)  Steam potatoes over a pot of boiling water for ~ 8-10 minutes.  Add the green vegetable and continue to steam for ~4 minutes.  Check potato texture to make sure they're ready.  Drain and immediately plunge into an ice bath if possible to cool.

2) Make the pesto by combining the nuts, garlic, basil, and olive oil in a food processor.  Process until a smooth paste forms.  Using a spatula scoop pesto out of the processor and into a bowl.  Add the nutritional yeast.

3)Transfer the steamed vegetables to a large serving bowl and add the cherry tomatoes.  Add the pesto to coat evenly.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Sweet Potato Latkes

Blair Moser’s Sweet Potato Latkes

2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled
2 Idaho potatoes, scrubbed but unpeeled (equal in weight to the sweet potatoes)
Salt for soaking the potatoes, then add salt and pepper to mixture.
4 scallions, finely chopped, including some of the green stems - -- use more, maybe onions.
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Olive oil (or high-heat safflower oil) for frying

1. Grate or finely shred all the potatoes into a bowl of large cold, salted water (using about 1 tablespoon kosher salt) and let stand for 15 minutes.

2. Drain the potatoes in a sieve, then dump them into a clean kitchen towel and wring out as much moisture as possible.

3. In a bowl, mix the potatoes with scallions and garlic. -- add salt and pepper

4. Sprinkle flour over the veggies and toss to combine, then stir in the eggs and mix well.

5. Heat 1/4 cup oil in a heavy skillet (preferably nonstick). Firmly pack a heaping tablespoon of potato mixture and flatten it on the griddle with the back of a spoon. Do not crowd the skillet, but fry each batch until lightly browned, then turn and fry the other side, maybe 3 minutes per side, adding more oil as necessary.

6. Remove the latkes to a cookie sheet lined with paper-towels and keep warm in a 200 degree oven until all have been cooked.

7. Serve at once with sour cream and applesauce.  -- very good with cinnamon sugar - isn't everything?!

Cajun Carrots and Sweet Potato Fries

This is a very simple recipe, as long as you have good knives for cutting the wedges.

Ingredients:

8-10 large carrots, peeled and cut into wedges
2 small sweet potatoes, cut into wedges, peeled or not

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp cayenne
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste


Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 450 with rack in upper 1/3 of oven.  Lightly grease baking sheet.

2) Toss carrots and/or sweet potatoes with oil and spices.

3) Roast for 15 minutes, turn, then cook for additional 10 minutes or so, until golden brown.

Serve immediately.

Oven- Fried Potatoes

This is a very quick recipe for baked "French fries".

Ingredients:

1 lb Yukon gold potatoes
1 lb sweet potatoes
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp paprika
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 450, with rack in upper 1/3 of oven.  Lightly grease baking sheet.

2) Cut each potato lengthwise into 8 wedges.  Toss with oil, paprika and salt and pepper.

3) Roast for 15 minutes.  Turn and continue to roast for 10 more minutes until golden brown.

Serve immediately.

Roasted Spiced Sweet Potatoes

Well, all I'll say is this recipe is supposed to be for 4-6 servings, but it disappeared in an instant with only 3 of us at the table tonight!  Adapted from epicurious.com


Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes
4 red-skinned white potatoes

1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried hot red pepper flakes
1/2 -3/4 tsp kosher salt

3 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2) Coarsely grind coriander, fennel, oregano and red pepper flakes in a spice grinder.  I use an old coffee grinder that is now dedicated to spices.  Stir together spices and salt.

3) Cut potatoes lengthwise into 1" wedges

4) Toss wedges with oil and spices in a large roasting pan and roast in middle of oven 15 minutes.  Turn with a spatula and continue to roast until tender and slightly golden, about 15 minutes more.
Watch closely toward the end so they don't burn.

Sweet Potato Salad

Adapted from the Washington Post. Serves 2
True confessions - I'll eat sweet potatoes in any form, so it doesn't take much to please me, but I did like this recipe.  It is best served the same day it is prepared.

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes
5 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup roasted red bell peppers
1 tsp Dijon-style mustard
1 tsp honey
1 1/2 Tbsp red wine vinegar (have not yet tried with balsamic or malt)
Salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 425. Lightly oil a large baking sheet.

2) Cut potatoes into 1 inch cubes - peeled or not. Toss in 2 Tbsp of the oil and toss on baking sheet.  Bake for 15-18 minutes until browned on the edges.  Toss half way to brown evenly.  Transfer to a medium bowl t cool completely, then add the red onion and toss gently.

3) Use a stick blender or food processor to puree the peppers, mustard, honey and red wine vinegar in a medium bowl until smooth.  With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the remaining 3 Tbsp of oil to form an emulsion.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4) When ready to serve, add half of the vinaigrette to the vegetables and toss gently to combine.  Add more vinaigrette to taste.


Nutrition per serving, using small sweet potatoes and 1/2 the vinaigrette:
222 calories; 3 gm protein, 31 gm carbs, 10 gm fat, 1 gm saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 247 mg sodium, 5 gm dietary fiber.