Twice Baked Potatoes

I love this dinner. It's cheap and delicious and so easy to make. With bacon and sour cream you can't go wrong. Definitely isn't the healthiest, but I'm confident substitutions could be made without affecting the taste too much.

12 large baking potatoes

1 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup cheese

1/4 cup chives, finely chopped

2 Tbsp butter

8 slices bacon, crumbled

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp paprika

1 ranch dressing packet

salt and pepper to taste

6 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (200 C). Bake potatoes for one hour or until soft. Meanwhile, fry bacon, drain grease, let cool and crumble.

Once potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and carefully scoop out the flesh of the potato leaving about 1/4 of an inch of the potato attached to the skin. Set skins aside.

In a large bowl combine potato flesh, sour cream, bacon, green onions, milk, butter, 3/4 of the cheese, spices, salt and pepper. Mix until smooth and creamy and spoon back into the potato skins. Top with Parmesan and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Hearty Cabbage Soup

Adapted from Cate's World Kitchen

Cabbage soup is the ultimate diet food. It is filling and cheap and low in calories. The potatoes and beans add a little more heft, but still this is a great way to stick to those new year's resolutions. My estimate is about 200 calories per bowl.

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, medium

3 potatoes, diced

4 cups stock

salt

pepper

1 cup pinto beans

1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced

3 carrots, julienned

1 tsp parsley

grated parmesan for a garnish (omit for vegan)

Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add garlic and onion and saute until onions are soft. Add the potatoes and 2 cups of stock along with a little salt and pepper. Bring the water to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes, covered. Once potatoes are very tender, carefully puree with and immersion blender until very smooth. (You may want to let the soup cool a bit!) Add 2 cups of stock and stir in cabbage, beans, parsley and carrots and bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer for about 10 minutes or until the cabbage is tender.

Serve hot and garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Ants Climbing on Branches

Adapted from First Look, Then Cook

After bingeing during Christmas I was feeling very lethargic and unhealthy and I wanted to try a few recipes that tasted good but were still fairly light. This is the carb friendly version to the Chinese food "Ants climbing on Trees" which is ground pork with thin noodles. Here the noodles are replaced with green beans, making it much lower in calories while still being delicious.

1 lb green beans

1/2 lb lean ground pork

1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced

1 Tbsp fresh garlic, minced

1 medium onion

1-2 chilies

1/3 cup chicken broth

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

1 red pepper, chopped

1/2 cup chopped cashews

Heat oil and saute garlic, onion, spices together for a few minutes until fragrant. Then add pork and brown, then add beans and red pepper and cook for a couple of minutes until the beans are beginning to soften. Meanwhile in a small bowl combine broth, soy sauce, cornstarch, and whisk together until smooth. Stir broth mix into pork and cook until thickened. Top with cashews and serve with rice.

Karelian Stew

from Mandi

Karelian stew (Karjalanpaisti) is a traditional meat stew from Karelia, the eastern part of Finland where Ben's mother is originally from. It is hearty and uses tasty root vegetables found in Scandinavia. I would love to try this in a dutch oven sometime, it seems like perfect camp food.

Serves 4

1-2 lbs of beef, pork or lamb chunks

1 Tbsp butter

1 rutabaga, chopped

3-5 carrots, chopped

4 small onions, chopped roughly

4-5 cups water or beef broth (enough to cover food in the pot)

15 peppercorns

4 bay leaves

salt to taste

6-8 potatoes

Heat the oven to 275 F. Wash and chop all vegetables except potatoes (set them aside). Brown the meat in the butter in a sauce pan and layer meat cubes, onions, and vegetables in a lidded casserole dish. Pour water or beef broth over the meat and cover.

Bake in the oven, stirring occasionally until meat is tender (about 5 hours). While the stew is in the oven, boil the potatoes. Once 5 hours is up, take out the stew, remove bay leaves and peppercorns and serve over boiled potatoes.

Christmas Beet Salad

from Nordic Recipe Archive

This is a traditional Finnish dish at Christmas time and goes well with ham, turkey or other meat dishes. It reflects the local produce available this time of year in Scandinavia. It is even better the next day so feel free to prepare it in advance.

2-3 potatoes

2-3 carrots

2-3 beets

2 pickles

1 apple

1 very small onion

1 cup sour cream

Peel and cook potatoes and carrots until soft, remove from heat and let cool. In a different pot, do the same with peeled beets, once soft reserve 1 tbsp of the water. Cut the potatoes, carrots, beets, apples and pickles into small cubes. Mince the onion and mix all of the vegetables together in a bowl. Cover the bowl and put in the refrigerator for the flavors to mingle together. Mix together sour cream and 1 tbsp beet water to dye it pink. Serve the cream on the side.

Spicy Spanish Bean Soup

I just can't get enough soup this winter! It has been so snowy and cold this week and this soup was perfect to cast off the chill.

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion

1 bunch cilantro

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1-2 chili peppers (depends on how much spice you want)

2 chorizo sausages, chopped into pieces

2 cups garbanzo beans

3 potatoes, cut into thin slices

1/2 cup olives, chopped

1 red pepper (I used the roasted kind that comes in a jar)

1 cup tomato sauce

3-4 cups chicken broth

cheese or sour cream to garnish (optional)

Saute the onion, garlic until beginning to soften. Then add oregano, cumin, paprika, chilies and sausages in a large soup pot. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve immediately.

Mom's Poppyseed Bread

From my lovely Mom

This recipe always reminds me of my mom. This bread is sweet and soft and irresistible. The glaze makes a nice citrus touch which helps the flavor pop.

Makes 2 loaves

1 1/8 cups oil

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp poppy seeds

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 tsp butter flavoring

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup milk

Glaze:

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp butter flavoring

Preheat the oven to 350 (176 C). Combine oil, sugar, poppy seeds and flavoring. Beat in the eggs. Then sift together flour and baking powder and add alternately with milk. Once smooth, pour into prepared bread pans and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until the center comes out clean when pierced with a toothpick.

While baking, mix together the glaze ingredients. (You may not need all of it!) Once the bread is done, stab the top of the warm loaves while still in their pans and pour the glaze on top. Allow to cool completely and serve.

White Chocolate Gingerbread Blondies

adapted from Every Last Cookie

I wanted to make a Christmas cookie and this was perfect. They were good warm and even better the next day.

Makes about 4 dozen 2-inch squares

2 3/4 cups plus 1 Tbsp flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 1/2 sticks (20 Tbsp or 260 grams) butter

1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar

3 eggs

1 1/4 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup molasses

10 oz white chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350 (176 C). Line a rimmed cookie sheet with baking paper.

Cream together butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then beat in the vanilla and molasses. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves and add slowly to the wet mixture until just combined. Fold in white chocolate.

Pour batter into baking sheet and spread around until even. Bake until edges are golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting.

Ground Pork Curry

Adapted from Chow Times

I am always nervous about curries. I don't have much of a background in Indian food, and I often question if I am doing things correctly. This was perfect for a beginner like myself, and Ben liked it so much that he ate the whole pot. It was spicy and so easy to make. I would be interested in trying it with chicken, and varying the heat levels, but it was great as is.

1 lb lean ground pork

2 onions, finely chopped

4 medium potatoes, cubed

3 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp minced ginger

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cumin seeds, roughly crushed

1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp dried chili flakes

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 1/4 cup vegetable stock

1 large bunch spinach

salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions, garlic, pork, and spices together in a pot. Cook until onions are soft and meat is browned. Then add potatoes and tomatoes, once warm add stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once 20 minutes have passed, add spinach and allow to heat through for a couple of minutes, just enough to wilt it.

Serve immediately with rice.

Honey Mustard Vegetables with Feta

adapted from Luna Cafe

Here's a light dinner that can help offset those heavy holiday foods. You can use whatever fresh vegetables you have on hand. Just toss it all together and throw it in the oven!

Vegetables:

3-4 potatoes

1/2 squash

3-4 carrots

3-4 beets

1 bell pepper

green beans

1 tsp rosemary (1 Tbsp if fresh)

1 clove garlic, finely minced

2 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup Feta cheese, crumbled

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette:

9 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 (176 C). Chop all of the vegetables into bite sized pieces and put them in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix together rosemary, garlic, oil and salt and pepper, toss vegetables with the oil mixture and arrange vegetables on an edged baking sheet. Try not to overlap.

Roast for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and beginning to caramelize. Remove from the oven and let cool. Sprinkle the Feta cheese over the vegetables.

Prepare the vinaigrette by combining all ingredients and mixing them together well.

Toss the vegetables with the vinaigrette and serve immediately.

Orange Dream Jello Salad

From Grandma Ilez

This is from Ben's Grandma Ilez, and where I am from having at least a couple of jello recipes handy is basically mandatory. The orange and whipped cream blends flawlessly and provides a light, sweet side to any casual dinner.

2 cups whipped cream

2 boxes orange jello

2 cans mandarin oranges

The day before (or at least several hours before) prepare the two boxes of jello according to the directions on the box. Just before serving, mix together the prepared jello, whipped cream and gently fold in the mandarin oranges. Keep cold until serving.

Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes

adapted from impurrfections

This is an easy way to throw together dinner. I loved the combination of rosemary and chicken and the potatoes were a perfect side.

4 chicken breasts or thighs

4-6 medium red potatoes, cut into wedges

1/4 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp fresh rosemary (2 tsp dried)

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 (176 C) and prepare a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss potatoes and chicken with olive oil and arrange on the baking sheet. In a small bowl mix together rosemary, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper and sprinkle liberally on potatoes and chicken.

Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes, then use a brush to baste the chicken in some of the pan juices. Bake for an additional 15 minutes and serve.