Summer potato salad

Last night I made the "summer" version of Barbara Kingsolver's potato salad. I love the idea of potato salad that is not just potatoes, eggs, and mayo (although it certainly has its place).

Here's the link to all of the recipes from her book Animal Vegetable Miracle (which are worth checking out!). And here is the recipe for summer potato salad:

SUMMER
2 lbs red or golden new potatoes, cut in 1 inch chunks
3 tbsp olive oil
coarse salt
2 yellow or red bell peppers, cut in chunks
2 cups green beans (stringed and broken in 1-inch lengths)
1-2 ears sweet corn on cob

(*Note: I used canned corn and didn't use green beans because I don't have any fresh. The great thing about this salad is that you can just throw in whatever you have.)

Toss potatoes with salt and oil and spread on baking sheet. Roast in 450° oven until tender (20-30 minutes). Place ears of corn, lightly oiled, with the potatoes. Add peppers and green beans to roast for last 10 minutes. When done, loosen the vegetables with a spatula, cut corn kernels off cob, and combine in a large, shallow bowl.

2 cups tomatoes cut in wedges
½ cup fresh basil
¼ cup olive oil whipped together with 1 tbsp balsamic or other mellow vinegar
Toss tomatoes, basil and dressing with roasted vegetables, salt to taste.

(*The tomato and basil really make this a good salad. I wish I had fresh basil, but not yet; the dried kind worked well, but I can't wait to try it with fresh.)

(*Also, I served it warmish last night--just freshly made, and I'm eating it cold for lunch today. It's good both ways, but a little better warmer. I also just realized bacon would be really good in it. But then I'd have to remove the "meatless" label...)

guacamole turkey burgers and fries

Every once in a while I just crave a big juicy burger! These turkey burgers satisfy my craving because they are so delicious.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• Ground pepper
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• Lettuce
• Pepper jack cheese
• Guacamole
• Hamburger buns

Directions

1. Divide turkey into 4 patties
2. Place in a large skillet
3. Add ground pepper
4. Cook on a medium heat, flipping the burgers occasionally until cooked through
5. Once cooked, add burgers to homemade hamburger buns and add your toppings
6. Serve with homemade french fries

quinoa and potatoes

This is a recipe that I completely made up one night as I was trying to put dinner together. I started out with a plan, but things just didn't work out how I wanted. I ended up with this, and I was skeptical of how it would taste. Lo and behold, it was really, really good. I was so surprised. Chef Jeff loves it and it is a regular around our house.

Ingredients

• 2 cups quinoa
• 8 golden potatoes
• basil
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• pepper
• scallions

Directions

1. Cook quinoa in a rice cooker just as you would rice
2. Wash and cut potatoes into small chunks (I don't peel them)
   
3. Put olive oil in a pan
4. Add basil and pepper to pan
   
5. Cook the potatoes until they are soft
6. Once the quinoa and potatoes are done, mix them together in a big bowl
7. Top with diced scallions
   

french fries

I LOVE homemade french fries! They are so simple and go delicious!

Ingredients

• Potatoes
• Olive oil
• Seasoning of choice

Directions

1. Slice potatoes
2. Place in baking dish
3. Drissle olive oil over potatoes
4. Sprinkle your choice of season
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are soft

creamy potato broccoli soup

Ingredients

• 6-8 golden potatoes
• 1 head of broccoli
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup sour cream
• Pepper to taste
• Shredded cheese for topping (optional)

Directions

1. Chop potatoes and broccoli into small pieces (I leave the skin on the potatoes)
2. Steam potatoes and broccoli (I use my rice cooker for this step)
3. Place potatoes and broccoli in blender
4. Add sour cream, chicken broth, and pepper.
5. Blend until smooth (depending on the size of your blender, you may have to do this in batches)
6. Pour directly into bowls
7. Top with cheese

This goes great with homemade bread bowls! MMMmmmm!

White BBQ Chicken = Delicious!

This is a fast and easy, no fail meal. Plus, my husband raved about it.

White Barbecue Chicken

3 Tb Mayonnaise

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Coarsely Ground Pepper

1 Tb Sugar

1 ½ Tb Vinegar

1/8 C Milk

2-3 Boneless Chicken Breasts

In a bowl, combine mayo, salt, pepper, sugar, vinegar, and milk. Pour sauce over each piece of chicken in a greased baked dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 min.

Pesto Potatoes

3 Medium Potatoes, washed and cut in 8ths

¼ C Prepared Pesto Sauce

Toss potatoes in pesto. Spread on sprayed cookie sheet and salt. Bake along with chicken at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Turn occasionally.

Sauteed Asparagus

1 Small Bunch of Asparagus

Olive Oil

Wash asparagus, cutting off tough ends. Sauté asparagus in olive oil until tender for 5-10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

stephanie is awesome

Well. Stephanie gave me a wonderful cooking gift. It's called The Nancy Drew Cookbook. I'm sure I'll be sharing it with you all in bits, and the first bit is Dave's Deviled Potatoes.

These potatoes are pretty much mashed potatoes with a kick. Which is nice for me because I make smashed potatoes pretty frequently but make gravy never. (Get out your mirror to read the recipe.)

And if you don't know who Dave is, he's Ned's friend and George's boyfriend. (Or is he Bess's boyfriend??) And Ned is Nancy's beau. And no, this isn't some modern aspect of Nancy Drew you weren't aware of, George is a girl.