Roasted Garlic Twice Baked Potatoes

I'm working on finding recipes that I can freeze, so that when I get home from a 12 hour shift at the hospital this year, I don't have to stress so much about what I'm gonna make for dinner. One of the websites I found suggested twice baked potatoes, but then refused to provide a recipe. Well, that wouldn't do, would it? While browsing through my cookbooks, I found a recipe for smashed potatoes--essentially mashed potatoes, but with a little more texture. As the filling for twice baked potatoes is typically just some variation of mashed potatoes, I decided to give it a try.



Roasted Garlic Twice Baked Potatoes
Modified from Southern Living 2007 Annual Recipes, Roasted Garlic Smashed Potatoes

1 large garlic bulb
1 tsp olive oil
2 lbs potatoes, washed well
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Cut off pointed end of garlic bulb. Place on a piece of aluminum foil, then drizzle with olive oil and fold foil over top. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30-45 minutes. Cool. Remove roasted garlic.

Prick potatoes with fork, then place on oven rack (or foil covering the rack). Cook at 375 for about an hour, until done when pierced with fork. Allow to cool, then slice in half and spoon out inside of potato, leaving about 1/4 inch in the skin all the way around. Set aside skins.

Beat potato filling with cream cheese and sour cream. Add milk until the consistency is slightly stiffer than mashed potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon filling back into the skins. At this point, you can opt to freeze the potatoes.

If cooking without freezing, drizzle tops with olive oil and bake at 375 for 15 minutes, until tops are light brown and filling is heated through.

If cooking from frozen, place on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes, until heated through.

My Notes:
Overall, not bad. I think I could use a little more creaminess. I reheated them from frozen and they were just a bit dry, but should be fine if you make them straight through. I'd probably up the cream cheese if I made them again.

Orzo Pasta Salad

I'm a big fan of pasta salads. Just not ones with mayo/Miracle Whip. They just seem too heavy to me. I like the light and refreshing ones with just a hint of olive oil, not drenched in the stuff so it collects on the plate or at the bottom of the bowl.

So when I had to come up with some side dish to bring to a potluck, I searched for some recipes for pasta salads. I found a couple that were interesting, but also laden with fat thanks to a creamy dressing like ranch or blue cheese. Plus, I really wanted something with orzo, since I had a bunch sitting in my cabinet. So, when I stumbled across this recipe, it worked out.



Apologies for the poor picture. It was taken quickly at the potluck I brought it to, so I didn't really stage it.

Orzo Pasta Salad
Originally found at Fork Knife Swoon

1 1/2 cups orzo, uncooked
2 Tbsp olive oil, or just enough to lightly coat the pasta
1 lemon
1 large cucumber, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
salt and pepper, to taste

Cook the orzo until tender, according to package directions. Rinse in cold water and toss with olive oil. Zest and juice lemon and mix with pasta. Mix in cucumber, mint, and cheese. Chill at least 1 hour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve cold.

My Notes:
I think there needs to be some other spice in this dish, but I'm not entirely sure what. The people at my potluck enjoyed it, though, so I think it's a keeper.

Red Curry Lentil Soup

This is a post I was waiting to post until I got a picture of it taken. That hasn't happened yet and I'm getting sick of it sitting in my drafts folder. So here you go!

For some reason, I bought a jar of red curry a while ago, and have been searching for a way to use it. Thanks to Pinterest, I found a number of recipes for lentils as well. So when I got a gift card to Whole Foods, I figured Lentils would be a good thing to get and I made my way over. Unfortunately, as I was getting ready to make the recipe that I thought sounded the best, I realized I didn't have any coconut milk. Sadness. So I improvised and ended up doing a bunch of substitutions to end up with this lovely soup. It's nice and warm and fills you up nicely.

Red Curry Lentil Soup
Originally found at Zesty Cook

1 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrot, chopped
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp red curry paste
1 cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed
3 cups vegetable broth + 2 cups water
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
1 (19 ounce) can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)

In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the onion and carrot and cook until tender. Add the garlic, ginger, and curry paste, heating until fragrant. Add in the lentils, vegetable broth, water, and tomatoes, and cook until the lentils are soft, about 10-15 minutes. Add in the cayenne pepper (more to taste), then add the chickpeas and heat through. Serve hot with a side of flatbread.

My Notes:
This dish has a ton of fiber and protein. The original recipe calls for quinoa as well, but I didn't have any on hand, so I skipped it. They also recommend garnishing with cilantro and plain greek yogurt, but I found it wonderful even without the extra creaminess. It's great reheated, and the flavors really meld together well. Though this makes a ton of food (far more than enough to feed lil' ol' me), I'll be make this again in the future.

Easy Fudge

The lovely Ms. Stephanie over at A Year of Slow Cooking posted this recipe a few weeks ago. I immediately wanted to give it a try. So I went out and bought the only thing I was missing--chocolate chips--and proceeded to make it as one of the first dishes in my new place. It's inaugural fudge!



Easy Fudge
Originally found at A Year of Slow Cooking

3 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Spray the crock well with cooking spray. Dump in everything. Cover, and turn heat to low. Stir every 30 minutes. Once the chocolate is fully melted (about 2 hours), pour into a lined 9x9 baking pan. Chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Cut into bite-sized squares. Store in a cool, dry place.

My Notes:
It's not terrible. It's certainly not the best fudge ever, but it's easy, and doesn't include Marshmallow Creme, which so many of the recipes now do. It's very creamy, but very, very rich. While I normally indulge in fudge quite often, this one I can only do a couple of small pieces at a time (I divided my 9x9 pan into roughly 36 squares).

Overall, it's probably a recipe I'll use again. Just make sure you stir every 1/2 hour or so. Even on low, this gets hot enough to scorch the chocolate if you're not watching.