Greek Scalloped Potatoes Gratin

January 8, 2015 Kathleen Henry

Wind. No Snow. Freezing temperatures. More wind. Unending darkness.

It's time for some serious comfort food in Alaska, my friends. This house-arresting weather demands it. If I can't ski, I will make comfort food!

Growing up, my dad used to make ham and scalloped potatoes. I hadn't had them in so long and for some reason a peculiar craving for the creamy spuds overcame me. So, I made my own version! Sans our animal friend, the pig, of course and better than ever! Todd and his strange and somewhat spontaneous love of Kalamata olives inspired me to develop a greek gratin with him in mind.

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”

— Epicurus

Canned coconut milk replaces heavy cream in my verison. Creamy and slightly sweet, this comforting herbed Greek Scalloped Potato Gratin is accompanied by green kale, salty Kalamata olives, and juicy yellow onion.

Greek Scalloped Potato Gratin

Creamy and slightly sweet, this comforting herbed Greek Scalloped Potato Gratin is accompanied by green kale, salty Kalamata olives, and juicy yellow onion.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

1 15 oz. can full-fat coconut milk
3 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp. dried thyme
½ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
dash of ground black pepper
dash of kosher salt
1 ½-2 lbs. russet potatoes (about 3 medium), washed and thinly sliced
½ medium yellow onion, sliced
3 large kale leaves, de-stemmed and chopped
12 pitted Kalamata olives, minced
sprinkling of nutritional yeast

Cooking Directions

In a small saucepan, heat the coconut milk through and including the salt over medium-low. Whisk to combine. Do not allow to boil.
Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables and coat a large 9x13 inch baking dish with a nonstick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 400 F.
Ladle some of the sauce into the prepared dish, so it covers the bottom. Place one sliced potato in the dish, arranging the slices evenly among the bottom. Add half of the sliced onion, one of the chopped kale leaves, and four minced olives evenly over the first layer of potato.
Repeat with second layer, excluding the sauce. Repeat with third layer (there will be no onion in this top layer).
Remove the sauce from heat and take out the bay leaves. Pour the remaining sauce over the layers. Sprinkle the top evenly with nutritional yeast
Cover with aluminum foil, leaving one corner open for steam to escape. Bake at 400 F for 40 minutes.
Remove and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Serve hot.

Dutch Word of The Day

Potato --> aardappel (ard-apple)

Good Deed of The Day

Are you surprised that a plant-based, minimal animal products way of eating was ranked as the healthiest diet again this year? Not me! Time to ditch the meat.

Grecian Kalamata Pasta

February 7, 2014 Kathleen Henry

TGIF, yes? Gahhh, I am officially "poo-pooing" this entire week, Madeline style. Unfortunately, there won't be any playing outside this weekend. We have absolutely zero snow, 80 mph winds, and an air-quality advisory. Poo poo! Looks like it will be a weekend filled with homemade bagel baking, yogilates, Game of Thrones reading, and Modern Family watching. That actually doesn't sound too bad. You know what else doesn't sound bad? This Grecian Kalamata Pasta. It's a filling pasta dish with Greek flair, including Kalamata olives, Roma tomatoes, and spinach. Lentils give it a hefty protein boost.

Also, I really like this Greek proverb so I thought I would share with you.

Isn't that nice?

Grecian Kalamata Pasta

Serves 8

Notes: Be sure to save 1/4 cup of the pasta water for the sauce. Avoid red lentils for this dish, as they wouldn't hold up as well as brown or green.

Sustenance:
1/2 cup brown or green lentils, dry
1 cup water
16 oz. pasta (penne or similar), dry
Sauce:
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
Goodies:
3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped (save innards and seeds)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
6 oz. fresh spinach (3 large handfuls), rough chopped
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, sliced
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

In a small saucepan, bring the lentils and water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and allow to cook for about 25 minutes, or until the tender. Drain and set aside.

Bring a large saucepan full of salted water to a boil for the pasta. Add pasta and cook according to package for al dente pasta. You will want it slightly undercooked for this recipe. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the water and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a food processor add the sauce ingredients and blend until smooth.

Cut the tomatoes in half and scoop out the innards with a spoon. Add only the innards to the processor and blend until well incorporated.

In a large frying pan, heat 1 Tbsp. of olive oil. Add in the goodie ingredients except for the olives and walnuts. Saute until the onions are browned. Cover with a lid for a minute or two during, to wilt the spinach.

Add the lentils, sauce, goodies, olives, walnuts, and reserved pasta water to the cooked and drained pasta. Stir well to coat.

Serve hot!

I like this calming song:

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[yumprint-recipe id='75']

Greek Hummus Salad Dressing

December 23, 2013 Kathleen Henry

It's no secret that I do most of the grocery shopping in our house. Every once and awhile Todd will go to Costco, in Anchorage where he works. He always manages to bring home something that he picked out and that was not on our the list. Most recently, he came home with a 500 pack of single serving hummus tins. If you're vegan, you probably know of which I speak. I was delighted that he'd brought home something healthy! However, hummus usually requires vegetables. Vegetables that need to be washed, chopped and put in a little container to be brought along to work, to be eaten. Having forgotten that we had this 500 pack of hummus tins (in the back of the fridge), necessary veggie preparation did not happen.

While cleaning the fridge this weekend I stumbled upon said hummus tins and took a peek at the expiration date. Uh...it's tomorrow, as in December 24rd. I'm not saying that these won't be consumed long after their expiration date, because they will, let's be real. However, we should probably get hoppin' on that. I had some leftover lettuce from several days earlier that needed to be eaten and I thought it would be a good idea to combine all the things that were beginning to decay in the fridge, to make one meal. This includes the kalamata olives, their original purchase date is probably going on a few years...if I die within the next few days, you'll know why.

May I suggest finding some...er...fresher ingredients for your salad dressing? Regardless, this salad dressing is awesome! It's creamy and thick, thanks to the hummus and not overloaded with oil, which can be appreciated. The kalamata olives lend a miso-esc umami flavor, the lemon juice a tartness, pinch of sugar a sweetness and the paprika a smoky profile.

This dressing couldn't be easier, so if you find yourself truly fortunate enough to have a 500 pack of single serving hummus tins a little past their prime, you now know what to do.