Eat Simply, Eat Well

Healthy recipes & tips to help you live the good life. by Ann Plough

Rosemary Hasselback Potatoes

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If you want to impress your dinner guests (or just yourself) without slaving all afternoon in the kitchen, consider adding these handsome potatoes to your dinner menu.

Hasselback potatoes aren’t a new concept, but they are a good one. Basically, you take any good baking potato, slice it thinly across the top, stopping just before you cut through the potato, about 1/4″ / 2 cm from the bottom. You sprinkle on a little salt, a little pepper, a few herbs, and drizzle olive oil, and let the oven do the rest of the work for you. As the potatoes bake, the spaces between the slices expands and the the potato begins to fan out just a little. Bake for the length of time you would a standard baked potato, and then finish under the broiler so the top gets nice and crispy and golden. These could actually be the star of your dinner, if you wish – serving them with traditional baked potato toppings, with a smoked salmon dip; a little kicked-up ketchup, or, of course, alongside a roast chicken…or less traditionally, next to a roasted celeriac. They are really good.

They also reheat really well, so although this recipe makes four, you can easily increase that quantity and then reheat them in the oven the next day to maintain the crispness, or make them a day ahead and reheat them to serve.

Potatoes often get a bad rap in nutrition world, but they are actually a great option, particularly if they are served with the skin on, as they are in this recipe. Too often, they are slathered with butter in cream or deep fried within an inch of their life making them something that’s a far cry from healthy food.

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Cooked properly, however, potatoes are a delicious, healthy whole food. They have:

  • low-calorie: roughly 160 calories per potato (approximately 1 cup)
  • a very good source of vitamin B6 (for building cells; cardiovascular protection; brain cell and nervous system activity; and for breaking down glycogen – aiding in athletic performance)
  • a good source of dietary fiber, potassium, copper, vitamin C, manganese, phosphorus, niacin and pantothenic acid
  • phytonutrients with antioxident capacity, e.g. carotenoids and flavonoids
  • potential to help lower blood pressure (because of presence of kukoamines)

Source: whfoods.com

Eat up! Potatoes are good for your health.

Notes:

  • most of the potato’s fiber is in the skin, so make sure you consume the entire potato
  • it’s worth repeating: french fries and potatoes chips are not real food: they are in fact really bad for your health. If you want to enjoy the health benefits of potatoes, eat them baked, roasted, boiled, lightly pan fried, or steamed, but avoid the processed foods that will only make you sick.
  • Any good baking potato can be used for this recipe, including sweet potatoes!

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Rosemary Hasselback Potatoes

  • 4 large baking potatoes
  • 1 large sprig rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped (about 2 teaspoons)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • olive oil

Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F.

Wash and scrub your potatoes to remove all dirt from the skin. Lay a potato on its side, and make thin cuts from one end to the other, cutting down into the potato almost to the bottom, but being careful not to cut all the way through. Place the potato on the baking tray and repeat with remaining potatoes.

Combine the rosemary and sea salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle a half teaspoon of the mixture over each potato, using your fingers to push it into the cuts a little. Drizzle a thin layer of olive oil over each potato. Place the potatoes into a hot oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the potatoes from oven, and using a basting brush, dip into the oil in the bottom of the pan and brush it over the tops of the potatoes. Return the pan to the oven, increase the heat to 215°C/425°F and continue to bake another 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are golden brown, tender in the center and crispy on top.

Serves 4.

Buckwheat Kefir Pancakes with Lingonberry Maple Syrup & Pears

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Here is something we know to be true: rainy weekend mornings and a big pile of pancakes go very well together. You wake up a bit past your normal weekday hour, roll out of bed, check out the window and see endless, dripping gray skies, feeling thankful that it’s Saturday (or Sunday) and maybe, just maybe, you don’t actually need to go anywhere…

The pancakes of my childhood were made with either a pancake mix or white flour mixture, cooked up on a long hot griddle set over the stove top, and served with whatever kind of maple syrup we had on hand: occasionally genuine maple syrup and more often Aunt Jemima’s imitation maple syrup or it’s equivalent. Sometimes there would be fried eggs along side, and bacon…a classic American breakfast that will be familiar to many of you who grew up there, and those of you who have visited.

These pancakes offer up a healthier option to the great American breakfast. First, no bacon (sorry! but you won’t miss it.) No fried eggs either – those are in the pancakes rather than alongside them, so you’ll still get the protein and Omega 3s. What makes these pancakes special are the buckwheat flour and kefir used to make them. (Note: if you don’t have kefir, use a plain yogurt instead; see notes below for more details). The combination makes for a sweet, but tangy, slightly nutty flavor that pairs beautifully with the Lingonberry Maple Syrup in the recipe below, but I also used the leftover pancakes a couple of days later, reheated them in the oven, and went the savory route by topping them with hummus (this or that)and serving sautéed zucchini and kale on the side, and that was delicious too. Let your imagination go crazy here!

The amazing buckwheat is a must-try. It is:

  • gluten-free! Despite the wheat in it’s name, buckwheat is actually a seed and contains no gluten at all.
  • rich in flavonoids, a phytonutrient that protects against disease
  • increases blood sugar control and lowers risk of diabetes
  • good for your cardiovascular health, particularly in preventing heart disease in post-menopausal women
  • high in fiber (4.5 g per cup of buckwheat), which helps prevent gallstones and protects against breast cancer
  • very good source of manganese
  • good source of copper, dietary fiber, magnesium and phosphorus
  • full of high quality protein containing all eight of the essential amino acids including lysine

Source: whfoods.com

The best part about these pancakes is that they are actually really quick to make. So much so, that even though they are perfect for  the weekend, why not make a big pile on a weekday morning as well? Get your bowl, pan and whisk out, and make these beauties first chance you get, no matter what day of the week it is. You’ll be smiling until noon.

Notes:

  • No lingonberries? No problem. Sub in cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries – any of these would make a find substitute.
  • If you don’t have kefir, use either plain yogurt or buttermilk – it’ll work like a charm
  • If you don’t have buckwheat flour and gluten isn’t a concern, you could use whole wheat flour or whole spelt flour instead. If you’d prefer to keep these gluten free, oat flour would work as a substitute also. You’ll still be getting whole grains, so many of the health benefits listed above still apply.
  • These reheat really well in the toaster (for a few) or the oven (for a lot) – so you can always make them in advance if you want to serve a crowd. Same goes for the syrup.

 

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Buckwheat Kefir Pancakes with Lingonberry Maple Syrup & Pears

  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup / 2 dl kefir
  • 1 cup/ 2.5 dl /140 g buckwheat flour
  • 2 tablespoons pure Maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda + 2 teaspoons lukewarm water combined in a small bowl
  • 2- 3 tablespoons butter, ghee or coconut oil for frying

Preheat the oven to 50°C/125°F and place a tray or large plate inside.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the eggs and then whisk in the kefir, buckwheat flour, maple syrup, vanilla extract and salt until smooth. Add the baking soda – water mixture all at once, and whisk quickly to mix it into the batter. Allow the batter to bubble and rise for 5 minutes.

Set a large frying pan (I prefer cast iron) or griddle over medium heat. Let it sit for a few minutes to get hot, and then lightly brush the surface of the pan with butter, ghee or coconut oil. Pour the batter, 2 tablespoons at a time, onto the pan. Cook until the edges are slightly firm and small bubbles form then pop on the top of the pancake. Flip; fry briefly to brown the bottoms, and then transfer to the warm oven. Repeat until all the batter is used up.

Makes roughly 25 small pancakes.

 

 

Lingonberry Maple Syrup

  • 1 cup/2.5 dl/250g fresh or frozen lingonberries (or other berries; see notes, above)
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Combine the lingonberries and maple syrup in a small pot over medium-heat. Bring the mixture to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

To serve:

  • Buckwheat Pancakes
  • Lingonberry Maple Syrup
  • Plain yogurt or Greek yogurt
  • 2 Pears, cored & diced

Serves 4-6.

Roasted Tomato, Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Tart

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RoastedTomato_GoatCheese_CaramelizedOnion_a_20150914We’re having one last hurrah with Summer tomatoes around here. One last round of fresh, local tomatoes before they disappear behind the winds and beneath the leaves of Autumn leaving nothing but imported tomatoes left on the store shelves.

In general, there’s a settling-in feeling to this time of year: school has begun, people are back to work, leaves are beginning to change color and the temperature is dropping as we move into a beautiful and peaceful season – my favorite time of year. It’s a time when I look forward to warm comfort food to ward off the chill, which means we typically have some kind of savory pie or tart once a week during the Fall season. Between mushroom foraging treks and busy weekdays and the satisfying ease of packing everything for dinner into a single dish, savory tarts and pies are a wonderful way to make a simple, satisfying dinner, and typically reheat perfectly.

We had a friend coming over for dinner and a pile of tomatoes begging to be used before they slumped off into nothing – they were so perfectly ripe they were almost bursting – and I had been dreaming of tomato tart. Tasting Table had posted a recipe for Cilantro-Lime Sofrito that I couldn’t get out of my head. I started to make it, and then somehow decided that if I left out the cilantro and lime, I could use it to amp up my tomato tart. But then I wanted a little something else, still, to tie everything together, and goat cheese and thyme seemed like the logical additions. So suddenly there we were, with this wonderful pie, and the house smelling of sweet, sweet, caramelized onions. I will still get back to making Annie Pettry‘s version – it sounds to good not to. But in the meantime, I’m eating this.

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Caramelizing onions is like a little act of magic: firm yellow onions with a flavor and smell so piercing it’ll literally make you cry – transform, with a little heat and a little more time, into an unctuous, meltingly sweet almost jam-like substance that has the essence of the fresh onion’s sharpness, but is so much more sophisticated and satisfying, that you may want to double the batch so you can use it elsewhere (I wish I’d had that foresight earlier).  Low and slow is the key here: you can’t rush this process so it’s best to start by getting the onions in the pan, then put the tomatoes in the oven, assemble your crust, and wait a little. I cooked my onions for 40 minutes as they were going to be cooked again in the pie. If you are planning to use the onions on their own elsewhere, cook them an additional 20 minutes before adding the garlic.

It may seem like a lot of work for, but it’s all worth it. Serve it up with a light, bright and refreshing salad, and it’s the perfect meal for any occasion.

Notes:

  • 5 onions?!? Seriously? Yup. Not a typo. You’ll be loving it.
  • This tart requires a couple of steps before assembling, but they are done simultaneously so that dinner will still be on your table in a little over an hour. Or…
  • You can make the caramelized onions and roast the tomatoes one day ahead and assemble the next and bake – either way works really well. Do not store the pie unbaked: the crust will get very soggy.
  • This pie reheats really well. If you wish, make it the day before you’d like to serve it, and simply reheat it in the oven at 180°C/375°C for 15-20 minutes or until heated through.

 

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Roasted Tomato, Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Tart

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F

Step 1 – Make the Crust:

  • 1 1/4 cup/ 3 dl / 140g whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons cold water

Pour all of the ingredients into a medium-sized mixing bowl and stir until it comes together. Knead the ball of dough with your hands until it’s smooth. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of a 10″/ 27 cm tart pan.

Step 2 – Caramelize the Onions:

  • 2 tablespoons butter, ghee or olive oil
  • 5 yellow onions, diced small
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt

In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter or oil and add in the onions and salt. Stir the onions and cook until the mixture begins to bubble, 2-3 minutes; then drop the heat to medium low. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are very soft and almost begin to melt and liquify – roughly 30 minutes. Add the garlic continue to cook for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Step 3 – Roast the tomatoes:

  • 2 pounds / 800 g small to medium-sized fresh, ripe tomatoes
  • salt and olive oil

Rinse the tomatoes. Cut each tomato in half top to bottom, and arrange cut side up on a parchment-lined oven pan. Sprinkly lightly with salt and drizzle with olive oil. Place the pan into the hot oven and bake until the tomatoes begin to blacken and slump – about 30 minutes. Remove from oven.

Step 3 – Assemble & Bake:

To finish the pie you’ll need:

  • 1 log of fresh goat cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup milk (cow, oat, rice…)
  • leaves from 4 fresh thyme sprigs

Transfer the onion mixture to the crust-lined tart pan and spread it out evenly across the bottom. Cut the goat log into 20 thin slices. Starting in the middle, arrange the slices evenly to cover the onion mixture completely. Layer the roasted tomato halves over the top of the goat cheese to completely cover. Sprinkle the thyme leaves evenly over the top of the tomatoes. Beat the egg and milk together. Pour the mixture evenly over the top of the tomatoes.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown, lightly puffed, and firm in the middle.

Serves 4-6.

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