Pesto Mashed Potatoes

Though we honestly don't eat them that often, we *love* our smashed potatoes around here. Our favorite way is with loads of caramelized onions. yum!

However, we came across this recipe this summer and thought we should share. It's very tasty! We made it with our homemade pesto...yum!! : )

Pesto Mashed Potatoes
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Show:
30 Minute Meals
Episode:
Turbo Classics

2 1/2 pounds small red skinned potatoes

Coarse salt

1 cup chicken broth (we didn't need 1 full cup)

1 cup prepared store bought pesto (again...use your own homemade!)
Cut larger potatoes in half and leave small potatoes whole. Cover potatoes with water and bring water to a boil. Add salt and cook until potatoes are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain potatoes and return them to hot pot. Add broth or stock and smash the potatoes up. Add pesto and smash to desired consistency. Serve while hot. (you can also freeze this!)

I don't have a picture of this dish right now, but I found this great one on someone else's blog. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1171/1201969131_a906b2684c.jpg&imgrefurl=http://urbandrivel.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html&h=375&w=500&sz=82&hl=en&start=15&um=1&usg=__YefayrtIaFPpZZi6G7KnyKIeIC8=&tbnid=rRA_HYoaqsez0M:&tbnh=98&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpesto%2Bmashed%2Bpotatoes%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1G1GGLQ_ENUS275%26sa%3DN%26ie%3DUTF-8

Dilled Potato & Cucumber Salad

Dilled Potato Cucumber Salad

1 lb. new potatoes, cut in half or quarters
1/3 cup sour cream
6 cornichons, chopped (about 1/4 cup) cooks note says these are made from gherkins and to substitute gherkins if need be
2 tbs chopped fresh dill
2 tsp. capers, rinsed, drained and chopped
1 seedless cucumber, thinly sliced

Cover potatoes with water, add a good pinch of salt and cook about 10-15 minutes or until done. In the meantime, combine sour cream, cornichons, dill and capers in a bowl. Drain potatoes and return to pot for a minute to dry out slightly. Combine potatoes and cucumbers with sour cream mixture and toss to combine. The recipe didn't say to chill, but I thought cold would be best, so I did.
Though it was good this way, I like to try new things. So, next time, I'm going to make it a little bit differently...I will leave out the gherkins (I never did find cornichons in Rochester!) and add onion. I think tomatoes would be good in here, too.

Grilled Veggies

We grill out as much as possible...year around.
In the summer, we eat this a few times a week.

Grilled Veggies

1 potato per person
2 carrots "
1/2 pepper "
1/2 onion "
(you can add other things like pea pods, green beans, summer squash, beets)

*Cube potatoes and carrots into 3/4" pieces. cook in microwave until just soft (do not cook all the way or they will get too mushy on the grill).
*Slice peppers and onions as you like. we cut the onions into 1/8ths, and the peppers into similar sized slices. you will not need to precook these veggies (or pea pods and summer squash. beans need just a bit of precooking, beets need more, like the potatoes)
*Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large bowl. add all the veggies.
*Season as you like. Following is what we use. (this is for 5 or more servings...we do have three growing gardeners to feed!) adjust seasoning to your tastes.

2 tsp Penzeys Spicy 4S seasoned sea salt
1 tsp McCormick's Worcestershire Ground Black Pepper Blend
1 tsp garlic salt (or garlic powder)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
1/2 tsp crushed Red Pepper seeds (the type you find at pizza restaurants...we use hot ones, though. if you don't appreciate spicy food...leave this out)
1 tsp ground turmeric
a few dashes of cayenne powder (again, leave out if you don't like the heat)

Another yummy seasoning is simply chopped up fresh rosemary leaves and a little sea salt.

*Put all seasoned veggies in a grill pan and cook on grill, stirring often, until veggies start to caramelize. this takes at least 30 minutes of grill time.

Enjoy your grilled farm fresh veggies!