Baked "Parmesan" French Fries

 Sponsored by Frontier Co-op

The Christmas that Fox was born, Adam and I had to stay here for Christmas (Fox was born about 2 weeks later), so we were trying to come up with some fun things to do.  We weren't sure when the baby was going to come, but we did our best to have some festivities anyway.

We decided it could be fun to forgo the ham dinner on Christmas (Adam isn't a huge ham fan, anyway), and make homemade hamburgers instead.  We got some good cheese, I made buns, and seasoned the patties really well, and we had pretty spectacular hamburgers for dinner.

Fries and hamburgers go together, so we also decided to make some fries.  I cut up about 2 pounds of potatoes, and we carefully followed directions for deep frying them.  They were amazing, but it was a serious greasy overload!  We both felt SO sick after eating so many greasy fries.

I may not ever make homemade deep-fried french fries again, but I really love oven baked fries, and wanted to share my latest and greatest with you.

These might be the best ones I have ever made.  Crispy and fabulous on the outside, and soft and warm on the inside.  They were truly spectacular.  The key is to boil them before sticking them in the oven.  It works wonders!

I love using Frontier Co-op's new Nutritional Yeast in this recipe, because it added a slightly cheesy flavor, and gave a gloriously crisp texture to the fries.

Frontier Co-op is one of those brands that I recently discovered and am completely in love with!  They source from ethical and responsible growers, and are striving to promote and healthy, delicious tasting community.  I can get 100% behind that!  Also, their spices are just dang good.

When you make these fries, be sure to pick up their Nutritional Yeast, because it is terrific!

Baked "Parmesan" French Fries

4-6 medium russet potatoes, cut into thin fries

1/8 cup olive oil

1 Tbs Frontier Co-op Nutritional Yeast

1/8 tsp Frontier Co-op Garlic Powder

1 Tbs flaky sea salt

pepper, to taste

dried parsley (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the potatoes, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.

Drain the water off the potatoes, and carefully spread them out on parchment paper or a silicone mat lined cookie sheet.  With a pastry brush, brush olive oil over the top of each fry.  In a small bowl, mix the salt, garlic powder and Nutritional Yeast, and then carefully sprinkle over the fries.

Place in the oven for about an hour and ten minutes, until golden brown and crispy.  Remove, let cool for a minute or two and sprinkle with parsley, if you are using.  Serve with chipotle mayo (see recipe below), or ketchup.  Enjoy!

Chipotle Mayo: 

3 Tbs full-fat real mayonnaise

a few heavy shakes of chipotle powder

Mix in a small bowl until combined. It is DELICIOUS with these fries! 

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Easy Ramen Noodle Salad

My life has moved to the fast lane the last couple of weeks.  I have had a ton of activities and outings going on every week, which is unusual for me.  I tend to like to have lots of time at home, but I have been trying to be more social, and to let Fox interact with friends more often, and that has meant much less time at home.  It has been great (and slightly exhausting for my little introverted self), but dinner prep has definitely suffered.

So this type of meal has been so great.  It is about 15-20 minutes of prep from start to finish (even faster if you are using a bagged coleslaw mix), pretty healthy, and delicious.  You could add some chicken to it, if you felt like you wanted a little extra bulk or protein, but I think it is pretty great just how it is.

Easy Ramen Noodle Salad:

1 bag coleslaw mix or 1/2 cabbage head, thinly sliced and 1-2 thinly sliced carrots
2-3 packages ramen noodles (the 25 cent kind)
1/2 cup peanut sauce (see recipe below)
toasted, salted peanuts, for garnish

Prep your vegetables and your peanut sauce.  Cook your noodles (without the seasonings packet.  You can discard that, or save it for another project) according to the package directions.  Plate by layer in the cabbage/carrot mix on the bottom, top with ramen noodles, and finish with peanut sauce and peanuts.

Peanut Sauce: 
adapted from The Veg Life
1/2 cup vegetable broth (or warm water with a dash of marjoram and turmeric)
3 Tbs smooth natural peanut butter
2 Tbs honey or maple syrup
2 Tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
a small splash of lime juice
1/4 tsp garlic powder

In a medium sized jar or bowl, combine all ingredients and stir until smooth.

Enjoy!

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Black Bean Stew with Cilantro Pesto

Dried beans are really one of my best friends.  They may not help me get any other friends, but I really love using dried beans all the time.  They are incredibly cheap, healthy, and very filling.  The most commonly used beans in our house are black beans, garbanzo beans, and lentils, and you can find each of these beans in my pantry at any given time.  

I almost always cook my beans in the crock pot (except lentils... they cook much faster, and can be done stovetop), prior to using them in a dish, and it is totally mindless and great.  My method for cooking them in the crockpot can be found here.  Or to make things easier, I often just throw them in with a sprinkle of garlic powder and a bay leaf. It will make your house smell amazing.  

This black bean soup uses cooked beans (you are welcome to use canned, too), and feels more like a stew than my pureed black bean soup recipe.  I really love this soup, and thought the pesto was a surprisingly delicious addition.  I worried the jalapeño would be too hot (because I have wimpy tastebuds), but I found it to be just right.  I would love to see yours, should you choose to make this soup!  Tag me on social media @measureandwhisk!

Black Bean Stew with Cilantro Pesto

Adapted from Modern Sauces

2 cans black beans or 3 1/2 cups cooked black beans

3 Tbs olive oil

1 small yellow onion, peeled and diced

1 shallot

1 large carrot

2 garlic cloves

4 cup beef broth

2 bay leaves

2 tsp thyme

salt

1 cup water

1 14oz can crushed tomato

1/2 cup cilantro-almond pesto (see recipe below)

In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil for 30 seconds, until hot, then add the onion, shallot and carrot.  Stirring frequently, cook until they are beginning to soften, and the onions look translucent (about 5-7 minutes).  Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds or so.  

Then add the broth, thyme, bay leaves and black beans.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes.  Add the cup of water, and the crushed tomato and heat the soup for another 5 minutes or so.  

At this point, you can serve it as is, or puree half of it with an immersion blender, or standard blender.  Salt and pepper to taste, then serve with a dollop of cilantro pesto and sour cream.  

Cilantro-Almond Pesto

2 -3 cups cilantro leaves and tender stems

1 small jalapeño stemmed and seeded

1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

1 garlic clove

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients, except olive oil in a food processor.  Blend for 30 seconds or so, until the mixture is broken down.  Then add the olive oil in 1/8 cup increments, and blend between each edition until the oil is blended thoroughly with the other ingredients.  Refrigerate until use.

Enjoy!

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Double Pumpkin Peanut Butter Bars

I don't love pumpkin.  I like most types of squash quite a bit, but pumpkin is kind of overwhelming for me. It usually adds a kind of squishy texture and is often overpowering in most recipes. But as a food blogger, there is always a sort of expectation that you will make seasonally appropriate food, right?  

Anyway, I had a leftover can of pumpkin from another project I was working on (not for this blog), and was trying to figure out what to do with it.  I had been dying to make granola bars again, and this seemed like a great way to do it.  

The first batch I made was a total fail, so I tried again, this time adding peanut butter.  Basically anything tastes great when you add peanut butter (at least in my opinion), and it works fabulously as a binding agent.  

They were a serious home-run.  You may not have all these seeds and nuts on hand, and that is fine (although this combination was a perfect mix of crunchy/soft)!  You can sub in other nuts and even use 2 cups of oats to replace all the nuts, if you like.  Just keep the ratio of dry to wet the same, so the bars will hold together. 

I hope you like them as much as we did!  Happy Fall!  

Double Pumpkin Peanut Butter Bars: 

adapted from Running with Spoons

1 1/4 cups rolled oats

1/8 cup millet

1/4 cup pepitas

1/8 cup flax seeds

1/8 cup chopped almonds

1/8 cup wheat germ

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup pumpkin

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup honey

2 Tbs brown sugar

Combine the oats, millet, pepitas, flax seeds, almonds, wheat germ, salt and spices in a bowl.  In a larger bowl, combine the pumpkin, peanut butter, honey and brown sugar.  Stir until smooth.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until even distributed, and all the dry ingredients are wet.  

Pour into a well-greased 8x8 dish or rectangular 2 qt. dish.  With a spatula or spoon, mush all the mixture into an even layer.  

Cook in an oven preheated to 350°F for 20 minutes.  Remove when the bars feel a bit spongy and dry.  

Let cool for 3 minutes, then cut.  Let cool another 5 minutes, then remove from the pan.  Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.  

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Curried Vegetables and Rice With A Vegan Cashew Sauce

The last few years, I have been really into eating vegetables.  I generally eat a salad (or vegetable heavy leftovers) for lunch and for dinner, we usually have a vegetable heavy dinner.  This is my favorite kind of meal, because it leaves me feeling satisfied and energized, and not too stuffed.

This dinner is vegan, simple, and really, really good.  The first time I made it, I wasn't totally sure what I was going for, but it worked pretty well, and I knew I was on to something.  After a few slight modifications, it is pretty much perfect, and exactly what I had hoped it would be.  Hopefully you will love it as much as we do!

Curried Vegetables and Rice
Serves 4

1 1/2 cups rice

Roasted Vegetables:
1 large sweet potato, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
2 zucchini, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 tsp garlic powder (or 1 small garlic clove)
1 Tbs curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil

Cashew Dressing 
Adapted slightly from The Scaling Back Blog

1/2 cup roasted cashews
1 Tbs rice wine vinegar
1 tsp lime juice
1 clove garlic
4-5 Tbs water
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tsp honey

Cook rice according to package directions.

Preheat your oven to 400°F.  On a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat, combine the sweet potato, zucchini, onion.  Sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, curry powder and salt, then drizzle with the olive oil.  With clean hands, toss until all the vegetables are evenly coated.  Place in the hot oven for 25 - 30 minutes, or until the sweet potato pieces can be easily pierced with a fork.  Flip some of the vegetables every 5 minutes with a spatula, to keep the vegetables from getting dry.

While the vegetables are cooking, combine all the dressing ingredients in a small food processor or blender and blend until fairly smooth (it may still have some graininess).

Once your vegetables and rice are done, place rice on the plate, top with a large helping of the vegetables and top with sauce.  Serve with greens if you like.  Enjoy!

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