Roasted Mustard Potatoes

I love making this dish!!!  The smell of the mustard when it’s in the oven is divine…

ROASTED MUSTARD POTATOES

2 lbs red-skinned baby potatoes, cut in quarters or halved

6 tbs mustard – dijon, grain or spicy mustards will all work great here

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 tsp Italian seasonings

2 tbs olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Canola oil spray

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the mustard, garlic, Italian seasonings, olive oil, salt and pepper. 
3. Place cut potatoes in the same bowl with the mustard mixture and toss to fully coat all the potatoes.
4. Move the mustard-coated potatoes into a  baking sheet sprayed with canola oil spray.
5. Roast in oven for 40-45 minutes until potatoes are tender when speared with a fork.

Herbed Roasted Potatoes

This is one of the easiest and nicest side dishes you can create.  I make it in a toaster oven while I prepare the main dish.

 

HERBED ROASTED POTATOES

2 lbs of red skin or other waxy potatoes, washed and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 tbs garlic salt

2 tbs Italian seasonings 

2 tbs white pepper

2 tbs parsley – dried or fresh

2 tbs kosher salt

2 tbs lemon zest

2 tbs paprika (optional)

4 tbs Liquid soy margarine – I eye-ball this usually… enough to coat the potatoes.

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. 
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix together all the herbs and spices – garlic salt, Italian seasonings, white pepper, parsley, kosher salt, lemon zest and paprika, if using.
3. Drizzle a small amount of the liquid margarine and “butter” the baking dish or roasting pan you’ll be using to roast these potatoes.  This way you’ll ensure the potatoes will not stick to the bottom. 
4. Place cubed potatoes in the roasting pan or dish in a single layer.  Drizzle liquid margarine on top of potatoes and sprinkle the herb mixture.  Using your clean hands, massage the potatoes with the margarine and the herb mixture until the potato cubes are all slathered with margarine and herbs.
5. Roast in oven for about 30-35 minutes – until potatoes are golden brown and soft when you pierce them with a knife.  Move them around the half-time mark if you want.  I sometimes forget and they usually turn out OK.

2008 – Year of the Potato

I love potatoes.  If I had to eat only one food, I think potatoes would be it.  They’re soooo versatile – you can fry, boil, roast, broil, bake, stew, mash, smash, and basically do anything to them and potatoes will reward you with a delicious and nutritious treat every time. 

Potatoes are so important in the world’s culinary and nutritional environments the United Nations named 2008 the year of the Potato, based on the role the potato can play in providing food security, eradicating poverty and achieving development goals – WOW!!

There’s one more reason why I love potatoes – my grandfather in Cuba was a well-known potato grower.  He was known by everyone in his town in the southern part of the Havana province simply as “Neno, el papero” – papero being roughly translated to “potatoer”.  My grandfather’s potatoes were consumed locally in Cuba, but mainly exported to the US.  When my good friend Angie learned about this, she lovingly nicknamed me – the Cuban Potato Queen.  To tell you the truth, this has stuck a bit and I even have artwork made by a good friend and artist as homage to this nickname.

I never got to meet my grandfather Neno.  He left his physical body a few years before my mom and dad met here in Puerto Rico…  So in honor of my grandfather’s potato heritage, I have decided to create in my blog a POTATO FESTIVAL.  A collection of potato dishes made to highlight all the goodness and versatility of this discreet tuber.  Some are side dishes, some are main dishes… we might even find some appetizers and desserts in this collection… however, I will assure you, they will all be incredibly delicious.

Hope you like them as much as I will like preparing them…

Herb Roasted Potatoes

Mustard Roasted Potatoes

Potato and Fried Eggplant Pastelón

Creamy Potatoes

Sweet Potato Pastelón

Néctar de Agave

 

Aprendí sobre la existencia del néctar de agave cuando fui al seminario culinario Conscious Gourmet este pasado Abril.  Estoy segura que le había pasado por el frente en el health food millones de veces, pero usualmente utilizo miel o azúcar negra para endulzar y sinceramente, no había sentido la necesidad de utilizar nada más…

 En el seminario discutimos como las azúcares refinadas tienen el potencial de afectar diversas condiciones de salud como:

 Cándida

 Depresión

 Crohn’s Disease y Colitis

 Ulceras

 Hipertensión

 Piedras en la Vesícula

 Piedras en los Riñones

 Y hasta el Cáncer…

Así que basándome en esa información, ¿por qué no utilizar y consumir un endulzante mucho más natural y mucho menos procesado?

El néctar de agave esta hecho de la misma planta del cual se hace el tequila.  Cool, ¿no?  Y como es un endulzante hecho de plantas, también es vegano.  Otro dato interesante del néctar de agave es que tiene un índice glicémico súper bajito, lo que significa que no activa la producción de insulina ni activa el sistema de almacenamiento de grasas en el cuerpo.  Y esto lo aprendí de mi hermana que es endocrinóloga y diabética desde los 15 años.

Para darles una idea del índice glicémico de diferentes alimentos:

Hojuelas de maíz (corn flakes)             119

 Pan Blanco                                                  112

 Arroz                                                             83

 Miel                                                              83

 Manzana                                                    54

 Chícharos                                                  32

 Néctar de Agave                                    27

El néctar de agave es muy buena alternativa para aquellas personas que son diabéticas, que están velando su consumo de carbohidratos, sus niveles de glucosa o velando su peso.  Mi amiga Kathleen perdió 45 libras el año pasado y ella le atribuye parte de su éxito a utilizar el néctar de agave como uno de los endulzantes que ahora usa regularmente.

Y no subestimes su poder endulzante… El néctar de agave es tan dulce como la azúcar refinada, pero no está procesado ni contiene ningún químico.  De hecho, debes utilizar de ¼ a 1/3 parte menos cantidad de néctar de agave que lo que usarías de miel o azúcar.  Yo lo utilizo de la misma manera que uso la miel – para endulzar bebidas, postres, cereales caliente, batidas de frutas, yogurt, etc.  Hasta lo uso para darle un toquecito dulce a mis crepas de espinacas…

Busca el néctar de agave la próxima vez que vayas a tu health food favorito.  Y si no lo consigues, mi amigo Guillén lo vende a través de la internet también, directamente desde México.  Trátalo, no te va a decepcionar… lo sé.

Vanilla Maple Carrots

Believe it or not… this is one of the recipes that started it all.  I found this recipe in the November 2007 issue of Martha Stewart Living, did it and was sooooo easy and tasty that I shared it with my friend Kathleen.  She made it, liked it and posted it on her blog Kathleen’s Vegetarian Kitchen.  The rest… is blogosphere history.

 So far, I have made this about 3 times at the Yoga Center I attend and I always get requests to make it again.  I know my pictures are not yet to Martha’s standards, but with practice, I hope to get there one day…  at least the flavors are already there.

 Again, the times I have done this, I have done 5 lbs. of carrots at a time.  So I will follow the original recipe’s quantities to adapt to the regular household amounts.

VANILLA MAPLE CARROTS

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices

1 cup water

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

3 tbsp pure maple syrup

1-2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Combine carrots and water in a large skillet or saucepan. Season the water with salt and scrape the insides of the vanilla pod and mix in with the water. Throw in the vanilla pod left as well.
2. Bring to a simmer and cook carrots until they’re tender, about 10-13 minutes. Martha’s recipe says the water evaporates, mine never does evaporate a lot. So….
3. Drain all the water from the carrots.
4. Add syrup, honey, pepper and toss to combine. Be careful not to break up any carrots.

 This makes a great side dish on any night, but would also work particularly well for Thanksgiving or for any potluck dinner.