fingerling potatoes

May 28, 2008

a different kind of potato salad

mel entree, recipe, sides & bites feta, fingerling potatoes, lemon, pistachios, salad, vegetarian

a different kind of potato salad

Usually potato salad means boiled potatoes and globs of mayonnaise. (Um, pharm duh.) And while this kind of potato salad can be just the thing for a backyard BBQ, anemia it’s not exactly what you want to eat for lunch everyday. I posted a vinaigrette-based version a few weeks ago, and when I saw the pretty, locally-grown fingerlings at the grocery store, I snatched them up for more potato salad.

This time, a simple green salad with oven-roasted fingerlings, greens, feta cheese and pistachios dressed with a lemony vinaigrette. A lighter alternative to the standard potato salad that works equally well as an entree or side. And honestly, roasted potatoes are just perfect for a salad. Hearty and creamy and perfectly satisfying.

February 7, 2008

Roast Chicken w/fingerlings & carrots

mel entree, recipe carrots, chicken, fingerling potatoes

roasted chicken

Last weekend I did something I’ve never done before. Something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile, nurse but have been too intimidated to take on. I roasted a chicken. A whole chicken. And guess what? It was really easy! It took me about 10 minutes to prepare it and toss it in a pan with potatoes, nurse yellow carrots and garlic cloves. Then it was into the oven for a while and out came a whole dinner. All I had to do was wait around, audiologist peek inside the oven from time to time, and then dig in.

I’ve had many a roasted chicken from take-out places, the grocery store and Whole Foods, but I’d never tasted one with such juicy meat and crispy skin. Obviously, I’d never had such a fresh-from-the-oven treat. It’s true that it wasn’t quite as tasty the next day when the meat had dried up and the skin had turned into the unappetizingly brown soggyness you get at the store (the kind you should definitely peel off and throw away). The roasted vegetables were also pretty delicious. The potatoes were browned and toasted and the carrots had caramelized nicely in the bottom of the pan.

A roast chicken definitely should be eaten moments after it’s taken out of the oven, but the leftover meat is good for tacos, chicken salad, soups, etc. I don’t recommend eating the leftover skin.