Tag Archives: potato

Casseroles, Healthy, Main Dishes

Creamy Tuna Potato Salad

Leave a comment

 

I’ve never been a huge fan of potato salads. They are usually overly-fatty-creamy, with cold mushy potatoes and bits of who-knows-what. Just not appetizing. But then I read this in some magazine once, and since I had asparagus and red potatoes already, decided to give it a whirl.

With a bit of a twist and crossover of tuna salad and potato salad, and easy on the saucy things, it sounded much more delicious than your usual potato salad rotting in the picnic sun. And by substituting in Greek yogurt for some of the heavier dairy per usual it becomes slightly healthier.

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds redskin potatoes
  • 1/2 cup frozen mixed vegetables (or just peas)
  • 10-12 spears asparagus
  • 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 can tuna, drained
  • 1/2 cup skim milk
  • Salt, pepper, dill, oregano, etc.

IMG_6891

Step 1: Dice your potatoes, and bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook 5-7 minutes. Add the chopped asparagus and frozen veggies and cook another 3-5 minutes.

IMG_6892

Step 2: Mix the yogurt, mayo, and milk in a small bowl. Use more or less milk to make it your desired consistency.

IMG_6893

Step 3: Drain the potatoes and vegetables. In a large bowl, combine the tuna, potatoes, and cream dressing. Season as desired, mix well.

IMG_6895

This recipe makes enough for three good-sized servings. The SO and I each had some for dinner, then I packed up the rest for lunch the following day.

IMG_6918

This is tasty warm right after combining, or cold right out of the refrigerator, making it a great dish for leftovers.

Less than 5, Main Dishes

Chicken, broccoli and potato dinner – SNAP meal

Leave a comment

 

This is a super simple meal you can get together in about 10 minutes for under $1. You’ve got protein from your chicken, starch and carbs in the potato, and a healthy serving of veggies from the broccoli.

Ingredients:

  • 1 chicken drumstick
  • 1 medium baking potato
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen broccoli
  • Garlic salt

IMG_5161

Step 1: In a frying pan, cook the chicken for 10-15 minutes, until no pink at all when poked.

Step 2: Wash the potato and poke some holes in it with a fork. Microwave the potato 8-12 minutes, until soft.

IMG_5162

Step 3: Microwave the broccoli 5-7 minutes, until soft. Serve it all with a dash of salt and enjoy. You can add whatever else you have to top the potato: butter, sour cream, cheese, beans, salsa…

 

 

**UPDATE: The SNAP Challenge is complete, with many lessons learned! All SNAP Meal Recipes listed below:

Soups

Souppa like Zuppa Toscana

Leave a comment

I still had some sausage left over from my sausage gravy & biscuits, plus half a bunch of kale that hadn’t been made into kale chips. (If you’ve never tried kale chips, I definitely recommend it! Kale is super good for you but can be bitter, and this is a super simple way to get your leafy greens). A quick internet search for “sausage and kale” quickly showed a trend towards this “Zuppa Toscana” that Olive Garden makes (don’t sue me please!) that lots of people claim to mimic.

Well as any loyal reader knows, I’m not a ‘by-the-book’ recipe follower, so I just took the general idea and ran with it. What happened was a simple, delicious soup that quite frankly surprised me with how tasty it was. With really only 4 ingredients and 30 minutes, a warm, filling and complex soup for dinner can be yours!

Ingredients:
1/2 pound sausage
1/2 bunch kale, shredded
2-3 large potatoes, diced
6 cups water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
3 tbsp cornstarch
Italian seasonings

Step 1: Brown the sausage in a frying pan. Drain most of the fat and set aside.

Step 2: Dice the potatoes into thin wedges. There’s no right or wrong way really. Most copy-cat recipes use redskins but I only have russet so those will do. Drop them into a pot with enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Cook for about 8-10 minutes, until soft when poked with a fork.

Step 3: While the potatoes boil, rip the kale into bite sized pieces, discarding the stems. When the potatoes are soft, drain and put back into the pot.

Step 4: Add water, bouillon, seasoning, kale and sausage. If you’re on a super budget the spices and bouillon aren’t required, just kicks up the flavor a notch. If you’re flush with cash, try adding half heavy cream and half chicken stock to make a creamier base soup. Of course, if you’re rolling in Benjamins you could also just go out to Olive Garden for dinner tonight…and we should be friends. Email me k?

Step 5: Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes. In a cup, combine some hot soup water and the cornstarch and mix. Once it’s all dissolved add it to the pot. This will help it to thicken. Also not completely required, but I like a little body. You could use flour for the same purpose.

The flavors combine beautifully into a rich soup that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would definitely make this again. If only I had some salad and bread sticks to go with it.

Comfort food, Less than 5, Main Dishes, Vegetarian

Easy Mashed Potato Pirogi

Leave a comment

As a Hungarian-Slovak-Polish American, pirogi are a critical part of many holidays. And any day of the week really. I had never attempted making them, but since we had recently made FIVE POUNDS of mashed potatoes, I decided to give it a try with the leftovers.

Since the potatoes are not my recipe, I can’t put the mashed potatoes on here, but they were great! I know it involves sour cream, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and butter…. Anyways, start with any mashed potatoes as the filling. And the dough is super-easy to make!

Ingredients:

  • 1 16 oz tub of sour cream
  • 3 cups of flour
  • Mashed potatoes (~1 cup)
  • 1/2 stick butter
  • 1/2 onion, diced

Seriously, it’s that easy!

 Step 1: Mix the flour and sour cream well until it forms a dough. Roll it out on a floured surface.

 Step 2: Using a small cup or other cutter, cut out ~3inch circles of dough. You can re-roll the pieces about 4 times.

mashed potato pierogi

 Step 3: Place ~1 tsp of mashed potatoes in the middle of the circle of dough. Press the sides together to make a half-moon shape. Crimp the edges with a fork.

 Step 4: Drop into boiling water and simmer for about 5 minutes to cook the dough. Drain.

 Step 5: Melt a half stick of butter (or as much as your arteries can handle!) and cook the onions until translucent and slightly browned.

Step 6: Fry the pirogi in the butter & onions about 3 minutes, until yellow-brown on both sides. Enjoy!

They weren’t quite as good as my grandma’s or mom’s, but pretty darn good for a first attempt! And I have the rest of forever to perfect my techniques.