Sites like Tastespotting are solely responsible for making me hungry, even while I’m eating my lunch. I can often be found eating lunch at my desk while I browse the site, and as I’m eating my plain old turkey sandwich, my mouth is watering for a hundred other things. Like these roasted potato tacos. As soon as I saw them, I was smitten.
I love roasted potatoes – I mean, who doesn’t? – and I thought spicing them up with Mexican seasonings and eating them as tacos was absolutely genius. The potatoes have really great texture that works well in the tacos, and the flavor is wonderful. With some rice on the side, this was a satisfying, budget-friendly meatless meal. It was also a great lunch for me the next day, and I didn’t even lust after something else while I was eating it. :)
Roasted Potato Tacos
adapted from Handle the Heat
4 to 5 red potatoes, coarsely chopped
1 bell pepper, coarsely chopped (I used orange)
1 medium sized onion, coarsely chopped
1 jalapeno, finely diced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Flour tortillas
Sour cream
Shredded pepper-jack cheese
Cilantro
1. Preheat oven to 420 degrees. Combine potatoes, bell pepper, onion, jalapeno, salt, cumin, chili powder, oregano, and oil. Toss until potatoes and other vegetables are well coated in oil and spices.
2. Spread the mixture out on a baking sheet and place on the middle rack in the oven. Cook for 30-40 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and browned.
3. Spread the mixture on tortillas and top with sour cream, shredded cheese, and cilantro.
One year ago: Smoky macaroni and cheese. This was a good one. I need to make this again soon.
These sandwiches ended up on our menu during one of the weeks when I just wasn’t inspired to meal plan. Nothing sounded good to me, so I went into the folder of recipes I’d bookmarked and picked this one almost randomly. But these chicken cheesesteaks were so delicious and turned out to be such a hit with my whole family that I was really sorry I’d waited so long to try them!
There’s nothing super fancy or complicated about this recipe. It’s just a basic chicken cheesesteak with onions, mushrooms, and a couple of different kinds of peppers. I think that’s what I love about these sandwiches, really, because simple, uncomplicated, delicious food is my favorite kind. They come together very quickly, and they’re a perfect weeknight meal. Joe has been requesting them a lot lately, so look for them on our meal plan again soon (probably next week!).
Chicken Cheesesteaks
adapted from Everyday Food
1 pound chicken cutlets
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
8 ounces sliced button mushrooms
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
8 slices provolone cheese
4 soft hoagie rolls, split lengthwise
Banana peppers
Mayonnaise
1. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet. Slice chicken very thinly (it helps if the chicken is still very slightly frozen) and season with salt and pepper. Add to skillet and saute until chicken is cooked through and slightly browned on the outside. Set chicken aside.
2. To the same skillet, add the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add peppers, onion, and mushrooms and saute until crisp-tender. Add garlic and season with salt and pepper; cook and stir for 30 seconds.
3. Place hoagie rolls in a baking sheet. Top each roll with chicken, vegetables, and two slices of cheese; broil until cheese is bubbling, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
4. Top each sandwich with banana peppers and spread with mayonnaise. Serve immediately.
It’s Labor Day weekend, which in my head always feels like the final weekend of summer. Even though fall doesn’t officially begin until the end of the month, the minute the calendar turns to September, I’m thinking about all things pumpkin-, football-, Halloween- and apple-related. Looking over this week’s menu, it’s clear to me that the meals I’ve planned reflect this shift in my thinking. I hope you’re all enjoying your long weekend, saying goodbye to summer and hello to fall!
(And P.S.: If you're looking for something to take to a family cook-out this weekend, check out this list of my Labor Day favorites for some ideas!)
Monday: Labor Day cook-out, so no cooking for me!
Tuesday: Pork chops with horseradish apples, roasted broccoli. Apples, roasted veggies...yep, I'm definitely getting in the fall state of mind.
Wednesday: Spaghetti tacos. I can't wait to try these!
Thursday: Hot dogs, macaroni and cheese (a stove-top recipe I've made a few times and haven't shared yet, but I will soon, I promise!)
Friday: Chicken pillows, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli. I've been meaning to make chicken pillows for a while now and just hadn't gotten around to it yet. But one of my readers (hi, Brittany!) recently e-mailed me to tell me how good they were, so I knew I had to put them on the menu as soon as I could!
Saturday: Roasted cauliflower, leek, and garlic soup, grilled cheese sandwiches. Roasted garlic, roasted cauliflower...I can pretty much guarantee you that I'm going to love this soup.
Sunday: Roasted sweet potatoes with black bean chili, Mexican sour cream rice. I've discovered that sweet potatoes and black beans together is one of my favorite savory flavor combinations, and I love the way they're combined in this recipe.
My sons and I have smoothies as part of our breakfast almost every weekday morning. They’re such a perfect breakfast for us. They’re portable and healthy and I can sneak extra nutrition into them without the boys ever knowing the difference (some things I’ve tried with success, FYI: spinach, shredded zucchini, and cooked cooled carrots). I’m always on the lookout for new recipes, so when I saw this smoothie in an older issue of Rachael’s magazine, I was all over it. Andrew and Will are peanut butter fanatics, so I knew this would be right up their alley.
To me, a smoothie just isn’t a smoothie without yogurt in it. I realize I may be alone in my thinking here, but I always, always put yogurt in my smoothies. So I add a container of low-fat vanilla yogurt to these, and I love the texture and flavor it adds. I also use a combination of almonds and peanuts instead of just almonds. The boys go nuts for these smoothies – Andrew calls them “peanut butter sandwich smoothies,” which is super cute – and I’ve made them countless times now. I toast the nuts the night before and whip up the smoothies quickly before we head out the door in the morning. I’ve also added a banana to them, which is really good.
You probably have all the ingredients on hand for these already, so give them a shot! And be sure to check out Taste and Tell’s Saturdays with Rachael Ray for more great recipes!
Nut and Honey Smoothie
adapted from Every Day with Rachael Ray
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/4 cup honey-roasted peanuts, toasted
1 6-ounce container low-fat vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
4 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups ice cubes
A few splashes of milk
Using a blender, mix the almonds, peanuts, yogurt, peanut butter and honey on high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the ice cubes and blend until slushy, about 15 seconds. Add a few splashes of milk if smoothie is too thick.
These cupcakes have been on my radar for a while now, and when I found myself with half a jar of Nutella in the pantry and no immediate use for it (aside from eating it by the spoonful), I decided it was time to make them. I’m only sorry I waited so long, because these cupcakes are delicious – every bit as good as you’d expect a yellow cupcake swirled with Nutella to be.
The idea is that the Nutella is swirled into the batter before baking, creating a “frosting” for the cupcakes. But I gotta admit that a cupcake without frosting on top of it is a muffin to me, so I spread some additional Nutella on top of mine. It made it taste that much more delicious.
Self-Frosting Nutella Cupcakes
from Baking Bites
10 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
Approximately 1/3 cup Nutella
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
2. Cream together butter and sugar until light, 2 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. Don’t worry if the batter doesn’t look smooth. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder until batter is uniform and no flour remains.
3. Fill each muffin liner with batter about 3/4 full. Top each cake with 1 1/2 teaspoons Nutella. Swirl Nutella in with a toothpick, making sure to fold a bit of batter up over the Nutella.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
One year ago: Fruit and yogurt muffins, still an oft-requested recipe in our house.
