Super Easy Herb Roasted Potatoes

More nights than not, simplicity is key. 

It never fails. Just as I'm starting dinner someone pinches their finger in a drawer or can't find their leotard or is suddenly in dire need of help stapling 30 sheets of paper together. More than likely all three. That is why, my friends, recipes like these easy-enough-to-pull-off while applying band-aids and stapling through mountains of paper yet deeply satisfying and delicious roasted potatoes are absolutely essential. Your welcome.

Super Easy Herb Roasted Potatoes
adapted from Fine Cooking

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
2-3 pounds small red potatoes, washed and halved (quarter larger potatoes so they're all about the same size)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 handful fresh thyme sprigs (roughly 8-12 sprigs)
1 large onion, sliced
1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Drizzle a baking sheet with 2 tbsp oil. Use your fingers to spread the oil to coat the entire pan.

Put the potatoes in a large bowl. Pour the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil over the top. Season with salt and toss together.

Arrange the thyme on the bottom of the prepared baking sheet. Layer the onion slices on top of the thyme.

Arrange the potatoes on top of the onions, as many cut sides down as possible. If there's any olive oil still hanging out in the bottom of your bowl, pour that over the top of the potatoes.

Put the whole ensemble into the preheated oven and roast for about 35 minutes until the potatoes are soft and starting to brown.

Use a spatula to loosen the onions and potatoes. Sprinkle chives over the hot potatoes, adjust the seasoning with more salt and/or pepper as needed and toss again.

Not bad for 10 minutes of hands on time.

Spiced Lentils and Rice with Crispy Fried Onions

My love affair with Jerusalem: A Cookbook has yet to wane. 

I have two words for you. Two golden brown, balmy, scrumptious little words: Fried onions.

If I'm being honest, you could skip over the entire second half of the recipe, pausing after the onions are golden brown and draining in a paper towel-lined colander. If I'm being completely honest, you could just plunk that colander down on the counter, pull up a stool and have at it, just you and your hot, crisp, salty, sweet bucket of onions.

It's not that the lentils and rice aren't fragrantly warm and deeply satisfying, both exotic and homey at the same time, because they are. But oh, those onions!

The original recipe calls for 4 medium onions. The original recipe obviously does not account for the cup and a half of fried onions that will surely never make it to the finished dish because you can't possibly stop shoving them into your mouth. Lucky for you, I account for this certainty below. Use 6 big onions. Heck, use a whole bag if you've got them. They won't go to waste, trust me.

Spiced Lentils and Rice with Crispy Fried Onions
adapted from Jerusalem a Cookbook

1 & 1/4 cups dried lentils (green or brown)
6 large onions
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 & 1/2 tsp salt plus more to taste
1 & 1/2 cups sunflower oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ground coriander
1 cup long grain brown rice
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
1 & 1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 & 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp sugar
1 & 3/4 cups water
black pepper

Put the lentils and enough water to cover them by several inches in a large pot. Bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes, until the lentils are soft but not mushy. Drain and set aside.

Peel and thinly slice the onions. Separate the onion slices into rings and spread out on a few baking sheets. Sprinkle with the flour and 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Heat the sunflower oil in a wide, heavy saucepan over high heat. Once the oil is hot enough that a single onion thrown in starts to sizzle and dance, turn the heat down slightly to medium-high. Add the onion slices in several small batches frying each batch for about 6-7 minutes until the onions are golden brown and crisp, taking care not to burn yourself with the splattering oil. Line a colander with paper towels. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the crispy onions to the colander to drain while you fry the remaining batches, adding more sunflower oil to the pot if needed. Sprinkle the crisp onions with more salt to taste. Try not to eat them all before the lentils are finished, I dare you.

Discard the leftover oil and wipe the pot clean with a paper towel. Toast the cumin seeds in that very same pot over medium heat for a minute then add rice, olive oil, remaining spices, and sugar to the pot. Season with salt and pepper and stir to coat the rice with the oil-spice mixture. Add the lentils and water. Bring to a boil, cover the pot, and simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes until the water is mostly absorbed. Remove from heat. Open the lid and cover the pot quickly with a clean dish cloth. Secure the lid on top of the towel, and set the pot aside for 10-15 minutes.

Stir about half of the fried onions into the lentil mixture. Reserve the rest of the onions and use them to top individual servings. Steal the onions off other people's bowls while they're not looking. Go ahead. Tell them I said you could.

Summer Vacation Salad

Just as we're about to leave town for anything longer than a weekend the panic sets in. What to do with all that produce that won't make it until we're back? This time our Angelic Organics CSA box arrived Wednesday and we were leaving for Traverse City, Michigan, (more on that in a later post) on Saturday, so it was quite a bounty!

First, I whipped up some pico de gallo but in the flurry of packing, cooking, searching for bathing suits, and back to school preparations, I never got around to taking photos. Rest assured it was suitably fresh and piquant with lots of jalepenos, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, lime, and even a few chopped tomatillos thrown in for good measure. We brought it along in the cooler and ate it all vacation long with chicken, over pulled pork, on eggs, and mixed with pasta.

For my next endeavor, Vacation Salad. What's Vacation Salad you ask? Why, it's anything you need it to be. That is the beauty of Vacation Salad.

To make Vacation Salad simply dump the perishable contents of your refrigerator as well as the wire basket or whatever contraption you use to store non-refrigerated vegetables onto the counter. For us that meant I was staring down exactly 4 ears or sweet corn, 8 tomatoes (that was after the pico de gallo), 2 green peppers, one red bell pepper, one banana pepper, one zucchini, one yellow squash, a white onion and two lemons. Get chopping.

Then make a splash of dressing and drizzle over the top. Mix it all up and pack it in the cooler.

The longer it sits, the better it gets. For maximum flavor, enjoy on a balcony overlooking a beautiful mist-hooded lake.

Now obviously, the allure of this salad is that you can make it out of whatever you happen to have on hand. Here's how ours went down.

Our Summer Vacation Salad

Corn kernels cut from 4 ears of sweet corn
8 tomatoes (any variety)
2 green peppers
1 red bell pepper
1 small yellow squash
1 zucchini
1 banana pepper
1 medium onion

For the dressing

1 clove garlic
1 cup basil leaves, loosely packed
zest of one lemon
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup good quality olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper

1. Place corn kernels in a large bowl. Chop all the other vegetables into 1/4-inch dice and add to the corn.
2. To make the dressing, puree the garlic and basil in a blender. Add the lemon zest and juice and pulse to combine. Slowly drizzle in olive oil through the top opening in the blender lid while continuing to pulse. Season with salt and pepper and pour over vegetables. Mix the whole concoction together and serve, or pack it up in tupperware for your own vacation, or at the very least, a leisurely picnic lunch.