Yummy Yammy Salad

Chicago is hot in the summer. Cost-saving efforts cause us to leave the A/C off until it is deathly blazing. Needless to say, on one particularly hot day for dinner I wanted to make sweet potatoes (mostly because they were the only potato type in the vicinity of our kitchen), but I could not fathom turning on a stove or oven or any other heat-producing appliance. Enter the 20th century marvel: the microwave oven. I cubed the lone potato we had in our possession, plopped it into a microwave-safe Pyrex bowl with about a half-inch of water and covered it with a large plate, and nuked the taters until they were fork-soft.

Upon removing from the miracle wave appliance, I carefully drained the hot water from the dish and tossed in with the dressing. Loosely cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes for prime flavor maximation.

If you have the means, this dish may be improved with the addition of fresh chopped basil. Nom nom nom!

The Edibles:

• 3 T. balsamic vinegar
• 1 T. honey Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 medium-sized sweet potato, cubed and cooked
• sea salt and pepper, to taste

The Making:

1. Whisk together first 4 ingredients. Pour over cooked sweet potato cubes. Stir gently to cover cubes with balsamic dressing.
2. Try a bite. Add salt and pepper if desired.

Potato Salad with Peas and Carrots

Moving along with my potato-fancying, I decided to whip together a quick veggified potato salad tonight. This salad is packed full of flavor. From the dijon mustard and coriander, to the broth and cheese, it all melds together to make a creamy summery side dish. If you're not as hasty as I was to get this to the table, you can add one or two diced hard-boiled eggs and celery to make this a real-deal potato salad almost like mom used to make.

The Stuff:

• medium saucepan
• medium mixing bowl
• fork (for mixing!)

The Edibles:

• 3 baseball-sized russet potatoes
• 3-4 T. miracle whip or mayonnaise
• 1 T. honey dijon mustard
• 1 T. beef broth (or vegetable broth, if you're making it veggie style)
• 1 T. bacon crumbles (again, omit if you're making it veggie style)
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1/4 c. frozen peas
• 1 T. Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 T. dried dill
• 1/2 T. dried parsley
• 1/2 T. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

The Making:

1. Boil potatoes until cooked, testing with a fork for done-ness. Drain and immediately immerse in a bowl of ice water.
2. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and serve immediately, or refrigerate in a sealed container.

Jacket Potatoes

Jacket potatoes were my favorite restaurant entrée when I visited London. Not only are they delicious, but they were often the most economical choice on the menu. Quite simply, they're a loaded baked potato, but instead of the American tradition of chili or bacon and cheese, I chose to recreate an option I commonly went for when I was Britt acting as a Brit: tuna with corn and a sprinkle of cheese. It's like a tuna melt, only with a bit of Irish potato-ness to really warm your heart and your belly.

The Edibles:

• non-stick olive oil cooking spray
• tuna salad, about 2 cans-worth (either your own favorite recipe or I provided mine below)
• several pats of butter (1-2 T.)
• about 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
• optional: balsamic vinaigrette dressing

The Making:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cook potatoes in microwave until soft (mine took about 4 minutes). Allow to cool for several minutes before handling.
3. Place potatoes on a piece of aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray. Crumble the sides of the foil around the potato. This will keep the potato together and make it easier to remove from the pan once cooked.
4. Cut down the longer length of potato, not all the way through. Cut several times across and push longer sides together to open. Use a fork to break apart potato flesh. Add a pat of butter to the flesh and spread around the inside.
5. Disperse tuna salad evenly amongst the opened potatoes. Spray potatoes generously with olive oil cooking spray. Top tuna mixture with as much shredded cheese as you like.
6. Bake in the oven 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and browning. Drizzle with a bit of balsamic vinaigrette if desired.

Tuna Salad (The Edibles... just mix together):

• 2 cans albacore tuna, drained and flaked
• 2-3 T. miracle whip or mayonaise
• 2 T. honey dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp. dried dill
• 1/2 tsp. dried chives
• 1 tsp. dried garlic powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. coriander
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 c. frozen corn

Jay's Special Seasoned Fries

My thrifty and health conscious sides both love these fries. Even though these might require a bit more work than stopping by a McDonalds or opening up a bag of pre-fried, frozen, bake-able fries, these are way tastier, cost less, and you actually know they're made of real ingredients. High five to that!

Jay and I seem to go through food craze phases. At one point I think we had these fries 6 times in a total of 12 days. Granted, we varied the slicing style of the potatoes, and the seasoning may have been slightly different, but generally we couldn't deny that we were a bit smitten with our spuds. Our frequent consumption of these babies has made us experts in their execution... at least we seem to think we're experts. Generally, I will be the designated slicer, while he's the head spicer; together we make one dynamic duo.

We've also perfected the greasing and baking aspects of making these fries. For easy clean-up, we like to line our baking pan with aluminum foil. To prevent your fries from sticking to it, generously spray it with olive oil spray. I prefer the spray over regular olive oil because I feel like it provides more assurance that it has indeed fully covered the entire surface. If I've sliced the fries wedge shaped, I've found that placing the fries skin-side-down really helps the potato flesh (non-skin sides) cook to perfection.

And the key to making yourself a plate of crunchy fries with soft centers? Low and slow. These zesty fries have to be romanced.

The Stuff:

• baking pan
  
• aluminum foil
  
• olive oil cooking spray

The Edibles:

• potatoes (any kind will do, but I'm partial to Yukon Golds and sweet potatoes)
• garlic powder
• paprika
• onion salt
• dried chives
• pepper
• salt (if desired)
• additional options: oregano, coriander, cumin, chili powder, red pepper flakes, nutmeg... feel free to experiment!

The Making:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking pan with a sheet of aluminum foil. Generously cover with with olive oil non-stick cooking spray.
2. Slice potatoes to your hearts contents. Rounds, wedges, thick, thin, the options are endless! Line potatoes on foiled, sprayed pan and lightly spray with more of the olive oil spray.
3. Now for the zesting! Sprinkle the spices over the potatoes. With most spices I am pretty heavy-handed, but I cautiously add those with salt incorporated, as more salt can aways be added later.
4. Place in the oven and bake 30-45 minutes, or until the tops of the fries are brown and crispy. If desired, you can flip them halfway through, although I never do!