For The Fast Foodie: Oven Roasted Frenchy Fries

Sometimes you just gotta have a fry.

Who doesn't love french fries?  They're rich, creamy, salty, and delicious.  If they weren't so darn fattening i would eat french fries all the time!  Here's my double take on the YUMMIEST, CRISPY EDGED, CREAMY CENTERED, frenchy fries that keep you fit as a fiddle and won't cause you to have to run an extra mile the next day. 

SOOO YUMMY!!!

 Frenchy Fingerlings:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Scrub 1 lb of fingerling potatoes (leave the skin on)
Cut finglerings in half long way down the center.  If some of the halves are very large slice those in half as well.
Place on a greased baking sheet (mist with EVOO) and drizzle with about 2 TBSP of olive oil.
Mix with hands to coat well.  Add coarse sea salt, cracked black pepper, and fresh rosemary
Roast at 400 degrees about 20-25 minutes (or until nearly done), taking the pan out once or twice to shake or flip potatoes.
Once they are cooked through turn your oven to broil for 5 minutes to crisp.  Watch them during this process to make sure they do not burn, you may need to take the pan out and shake or flip the potatoes.

That's it.  serve them with organic ketchup for an authentic frency fry feel.

These puppies are AWESOME!!!  And will surely fix any fast food french fry craving only without the guilt or saturated fats.

And last but not least, what would my blog be these days without a shameless plug for my jewelry line?  Check out the newest Jane Jewels at meredithgnau.etsy.com.

turquoise and silver necklace and earrings

Gobble This: Acorn Squash & A Grateful Thanksgiving

So here it is the day before thanksgiving and i haven't planned what i'm making.  hrrrmmmm....  Let's figure this out together.

This year is all about EASE.  We have some friends coming over for dinner, but it's all very informal.  A casual day/evening of hanging out, eating, drinking, socializing, and enjoying the wonderful friends and company that we keep.  I just hit the market (a complete zoo and parking lot hell-zone) and still need to pick up a couple of harder to find essentials.

So what's on the menu?

Boyfriend is taking care of the bird (so not my thing), and he's picked up Trader Joes gravy and stuffing, and beer for the boys.  He also picked up some brussel sprouts which he's recruited me to roast.  Simple enough task.

I have one friend bringing dessert and one bringing a salad and a rutabaga dish.

I made sure we had ample vino for the wino-friends i keep (God love'em).  I know i'm making a tagine of carrot, butternut squash, and yam (all from my csa this week) with prune, gold raisins, onion, and warm spices.  The chopping will take some time, but the tagine cooks slow without much attendance or effort on my part.  The outcome is always worth the chopping time!  I'll also whip out some cranberry sauce tonight, no sweat...and i don't have to think of it tomorrow.  Oh yea, and the persimmons....what to do with the insane amount of these i have.  I tell you, from the csa, i have persimmons out the hoo-ha.  Perhaps i'll make the persimmon salad i blogged about on halloween, as well as a little persimmon in a second dinner salad if we need.  My favorite salad right now is a 6 oz bag of spinach, some thinly sliced red onion, 1 persimmon sliced and chopped, 1/3 - 1/2 an avocado, a dash of seasoned rice vinegar, a squeeze of lemon, and a few solid cranks of sea salt...you have to mush it all together in a bowl with your hands so the juices from the persimmon and the avocado squish into the salad...it's sooo good).

My final act will be acorn squash.  It's so simple to prepare and so delicous with warm holiday spices.  That's the effortless recipe i'm sharing with you today. 

I hope your Thanksgiving is full of warmth, love, smiles, hugs, and lots and lots of healthy delicous foods.....and maybe a spirit and/or dessert.  Tis the season, right?!

Half Moon Squash:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Clean the outside of the squash well with a scrubby brush.  The often pushed aside skin is edible.
Slice your acorn squash in 1/2 and scoop out the seeds and stringy flesh in the inner circle.
Place halves flesh side down onto a cutting board and cut into slices (half moons) about 3/4 inch thick
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Place half moons on parchment lined baking sheet and drizzle lightly with EVOO
Gently rub the EVOO into the half moons to coat all sides
sprinkle with cinnamon and garam masala
Roast in the oven at 400 until soft, about 45 minutes.



*acorn squash images sourced from google images, but the last one looks exactly like this dish does!

Absolutely Smashing Dahhh'ling!: Fall Harvest Carrot Smash

One of my first entry's ever on this blog was "Mama Make' Again" Carrot Mash.  This dish is so simple, delicious, warming and comforting, and very reminiscent of mashed squash you might be served at Thanksgiving.  I've lightly adjusted the recipe adding in a few fall warming spices, but feel free to play with the original recipe posted, or any other spice mixtures you might like (perhaps chili powder, honey, and ghee).  Make as much or as little as you like, but the amount below is enough to feed four as a side dish.

Fall Harvest Carrot Smash

2 lbs of organic carrots, scrubbed or peeled and trimmed
**(regular sized bagged carrots, farmers market carrots, or the mini bagged cocktail carrots.)
1 - 2 Tbsp local honey
garam masala spice, scant amount
cinnamon, scant amount

Steam the carrots until they pierce easily with a form.  Transfer to a food processor.  Add in one small dash of cinnamon, 1-2 tbsp of honey, and a few small dashes of garam masala.  Go easy on the spice, you can always add more, but you can't pull it back out! Process down into a creamy-ish mash, and serve.



**image from google images