vegetable

Garlic Herb Smashed Potatoes

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Smashed Potatoes

I’m not sure if I’ve confessed my love of potatoes to you all yet. Yes, it’s true. I love them. A lot. My love of potatoes is only rivaled by pizza and chocolate. I mean, to be in the pizza and chocolate bracket is pretty special. You don’t just get there by being “average”. No siree Bob. You have to be the best of the best of the best to get to the pizza, chocolate and potato category in my mind. You have to earn it.

Smashed Potatoes

You know that scene from “Forrest Gump” where Bubba lists all the ways you can make shrimp? My family used to joke with me that I’m like Bubba with potatoes…You’ve got boiled potatoes, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, twice baked potatoes, loaded potatoes, home fry potatoes, tator tots, scalloped potatoes, potatoes au gratin…I could keep going. You know I could. I’ll spare you and tell you about these amazing garlic herb SMASHED potatoes.

Smashed PotatoesFirst of all, these were a HUGE hit in my house. I loved them and Travis really loved them! Also, they were super quick and easy to make. They would be perfect for party since once they’re boiled and prepared, they could easily be baking away in the oven when your guests come. Then when you pull them out your guests will think you’ve been working all day. Only, the real secret is that you haven’t! Booyah.

Smashed Potatoes

Smashed Potatoes

The other great thing is that this recipe is ridiculously versatile. I happen to think rosemary and potatoes were meant to be together for all eternity. However, you could just as easily make this with whatever herbs or spices you have. The only requirement is that you share your favorite recipe with me so that I can give something other than rosemary a try. I like to be fair…I like it even better if someone else can attest to how delicious an herb combo is before I even try it. So get cookin’ and let me know!

Garlic Herb Smashed Potatoes
Yields 12
Boiled then smashed and baked, these potatoes are perfect for any simple dinner or party!
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Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
55 min
Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
55 min
Ingredients
  1. 12 red potatoes
  2. 3 tablespoons olive oil
  3. 1 garlic clove, minced
  4. Dried or fresh rosemary, to taste
  5. Salt and pepper, to taste
  6. Chives, to garnish, optional
Instructions
  1. Bring salted water to a boil.
  2. Place potatoes in water and boil until the potatoes are fork tender, about 20-30 minutes.
  3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (start slightly before the potatoes are finished boiling).
  4. On a baking sheet, drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
  5. Place the boiled potatoes on the baking sheet with a little room between each potato.
  6. Gently smash each potato using a potato masher.
  7. Brush the tops of the potatoes with the remaining olive oil.
  8. Sprinkle on garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper.
  9. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
  10. Top with chives, optional
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/

Orange Cranberry Cashew Salad

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Orange Cranberry Cashew SaladIn general, I have to be in the right mood to eat a salad. Like if I could choose anything in the world to eat, my first choice would not be salad. It’s usually something more like pizza. Just saying. However, Travis and I ate this entire thing one day for lunch and loved it! The orange gives it a fresh citrus flavor, the cranberry is a little sweet and sour, and the cashews are salty and crunchy. YUM! I also have some creamy fresh mozzarella on there. And let’s face it…cheese makes everything better. End of story.

Orange Cranberry Cashew SaladThe great thing about this salad is that it’s *super* simple to make but seems *super* fancy. You could totally bring this to a fancy party and fit right in. But you could also make it in 5 minutes while binge watching TV in your sweatpants. It’s your life…I won’t judge. It’s hard to find something appropriate for EVERYTHING. This is it. This is the side dish that is perfect in any situation. You’re welcome.

Orange Cranberry Cashew SaladTalking about fancy, I am not very fancy. Fancy restaurants make me nervous and I usually leave hungry. Well, yesterday Travis and I went to this kind of fancy restaurant for an event with appetizers and such. As soon as we walked in I thought, “Something smells funky.” I mean I wish I spent the time enjoying meeting and talking to people but I mostly thought about how funky it smelled. I’m just being honest here. Anyways, they had some nice flatbread pizza and fancy fries and dips that of course we devoured. Afterwards, I told Travis that the funkiness was definitely from the fries. I thought it was a cheese or something but turns out they were truffle fries.

Orange Cranberry Cashew SaladNow, here’s the difference between me and someone fancy with a refined “palete” (yes, I had to look up how to spell that because I don’t use that word in real life). Turns out, I HATE the smell and taste of truffles. A fancy person would say that’s crazy and I don’t know what’s good. I’m sorry, but I’m not a fan. It must be one of those acquired tastes that only fancy people like. Or maybe I can just blame my heightened sense of smell and taste on the pregnancy. Perhaps I shouldn’t rule out such a supposedly wonderful thing so quickly. So instead I will say that as of today, I am not a fan of truffles, but who knows what will happen in the future.

Anywho, getting back to the salad. Regardless of how refined you palate is, this is a fancy and simple salad that you will love!

Orange Cranberry Cashew Salad
Super simple salad perfect for any event!
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Prep Time
5 min
Prep Time
5 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 orange
  2. 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  3. 1 tablespoon honey
  4. 1 teaspoon mustard
  5. salt and pepper, to taste
  6. 1/4 cup olive oil
  7. Spinach and/or salad greens of your choice
  8. Dried cranberries
  9. Cashews
  10. Fresh Mozzarella cheese
Instructions
  1. Cut the skin off the orange with a knife. To do this, I cut the top and bottom of the orange off, then ran my knife around the orange from top to bottom. Make sure to get all the white pith off in this process.
  2. Using a sharp knife, cut out the orange wedges by cutting just inside the white lines (see image above). This makes nice slices without the pith.
  3. Squeeze the juice from the leftover orange pith into a bowl. Whisk in the balsamic vinegar, honey, mustard, and salt and pepper.
  4. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until it comes together.
  5. In a large salad bowl toss together the salad greens, dried cranberries, cashews, Mozzarella cheese, and a drizzle of the salad dressing, to taste.
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/

Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese

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butternut squash mac & cheeseI’M BACK! *Finally*, after lots of holiday traveling (and fun!), website rearrangement/launching, and the craziness of going back to work after a couple weeks off, I am back and ready to keep on cooking and sharing more delicious recipes! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We certainly did here!

Back to the serious business at hand…cooking! I made this butternut squash mac & cheese with a little caution. Yes, I was confident that I could make something edible, but I wasn’t looking for edible. I was looking for DELICIOUS! Luckily, with a little finagling this dish DID turn out delicious!

butternut squash mac & cheese
If you’ve ever worked with butternut squash, you know that it’s not necessarily scary or even hard to work with but that it takes a little bit of effort to peel and cut into pieces. You can always use pre-cut cubes that are often sold in the store, but where’s the fun in that?? Plus, you pay way more for the pre-cut stuff so I tend to take on the challenge of an extra few steps instead of forking out the money. Take a look at the notes in the recipe to learn how to cube a squash!

butternut squash mac & cheese
This mac and cheese ends up ooey and gooey just like any mac and cheese. The butternut squash just adds a fresh and unique flavor to an ordinary dish. Plus, for those of you with kids, the butternut squash is basically the same color as typical mac and cheese so it’s easy to slip it in there for some extra nutrition without anyone noticing. I wouldn’t call that sneaky, just…creative. Yeah, we’ll go with creative.

butternut squash mac & cheese
So if you’re ready for a different take on mac and cheese that will make you feel not-as-guilty about that New Year’s resolution that has been broken way too many times for the 2nd week of the year, this is the dish for you! I’m not saying that this dish is the most figure friendly dish out there, but it sure beats some other mac and cheese dishes!

Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese
Serves 6
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Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
50 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
50 min
Ingredients for the pasta
  1. 5 cups cubed butternut squash (about 1 squash)
  2. 1 1/4 cups chicken stock
  3. 1 1/2 cups milk
  4. 2 cloves garlic
  5. 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  6. 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (about 1, 5.3 oz containter)
  7. 2.5 cups shredded Gouda
  8. 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  9. 1 pound rotini, cooked
  10. salt & pepper, to taste
Ingredients for the topping
  1. 1 tablespoon butter
  2. 1 cup breadcrumbs
  3. salt & pepper, to taste
  4. 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
Directions for the pasta
  1. In a medium to large sauce pan, add cubed squash, chicken stock, milk, garlic and nutmeg. Heat over medium-high heat until it begins to simmer. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender.
  2. Add Greek yogurt, salt and pepper to pan. Use immersion (hand) blender to bend until smooth. Alternatively, you can transfer the squash mixture to a blender, add the Greek yogurt, salt, and pepper and blend until smooth.
  3. Fold in Gouda cheese and Parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
  4. Pour squash and cheese mixture into a large bowl or pot with the cooked pasta. Stir to blend.
Directions for the breadcrumb topping
  1. Melt butter in a small sauté pan.
  2. Add breadcrumbs and stir until breadcrumbs are crispy.
  3. Sprinkle breadcrumbs and parsley over mac and cheese to garnish.
Notes
  1. To cut the butternut squash into cubes, use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin. Cut a small piece off the side to help stabilize the squash when turned on its side. Place the squash on the flat surface you just cut and cut the squash in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out the stringy flesh and seeds. Finally, cut into strips then cubes.
  2. You can make the sauce beforehand then heat it up when you are ready to serve!
  3. You can use any kind of melting cheese in place of the Gouda. Simple cheddar would be delicious as well!
Adapted from The Chew
Adapted from The Chew
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

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Cheesy Vegetable ChowderMy husband and I are fans of thick, chunky, and creamy soups. I first made this recipe several years ago and it was *amazing* to begin with. It’s slowly evolved to be even thicker and even more full of chunky vegetables. Oh, so perfect for a hearty and satisfying dinner. Especially perfect on a night like tonight where I am huddled in my jacket because I’m too cold to take it off. It’s only been like an hour…or 2…or something along those lines since I got home from work. Maybe 3. Don’t judge.

Cheesy Vegetable ChowderI love this soup with the basics of carrots, celery, potatoes, and broccoli but you are certainly more than welcome to try it with your favorite vegetables! I’ve added onions in the past as well but didn’t when I made it this time because my husband and I aren’t huge fans of onions in general. We’re working on that one.

Cheesy Vegetable ChowderDid I mention how creamy and cheesy this soup is? Maybe I did. Doesn’t matter because I’ll tell you again. This is the most creamy and cheesy and delicious soup EVER. In the WHOLE WORLD. Travis says I can be overly dramatic sometimes. Maybe this is one of those times. But, mark my words, you will love this soup!

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder
Serves 5
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
35 min
Total Time
50 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
35 min
Total Time
50 min
Ingredients
  1. 2 tablespoons butter
  2. 5 carrots, diced
  3. 4 celery stalks, diced
  4. 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  5. 4 cups chicken broth
  6. 5 potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2" cubes
  7. 1 cup milk
  8. 1/4 cup flour
  9. 1/2 cup water
  10. 1 head broccoli (approximately 4 cups), chopped
  11. 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded + more for garnish
  12. Salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. Melt butter in large pot and sauté diced carrots and celery for 7-8 minutes, or until they start to soften, over medium heat.
  2. Add in garlic and sauté 1 additional minute.
  3. Add chicken broth and potatoes and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
  4. Add 1 cup of milk and heat through.
  5. Mix together flour and water in small bowl then add to soup. Stir until the soup comes up to a simmer and thickens.
  6. Add broccoli and simmer until tender, about 5-10 minutes depending on the size of the florets.
  7. Remove from heat and stir in shredded cheddar cheese until it is melted. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
  8. Serve with cheddar cheese on top.
Notes
  1. This is a very vegetable packed soup! If you like a certain vegetable more than another you can alter the proportions of vegetables easily. Cheddar cheese that you shred at home (not the pre-shredded stuff) seems to melt better in the soup, though it will be delicious either way!
Adapted from Lulu the Baker
Adapted from Lulu the Baker
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/

Simple Stuffed Cabbage

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Stuffed CabbageGood old stuffed cabbage. Also known as holubky, if you want to sound Slovak. I mean that’s what my grandparents, who spoke Slovak, used to call this dish so it’s for sure authentic. However, I’m not so sure how authentic this actual recipe is. It does have condensed tomato soup as the main ingredient and I’m *pretty* sure that the canned stuff didn’t exist until fairly recently. However, it’s how it was made at home since I was little and there’s nothing better than comfort food. Especially when it’s fairly simple to make!

Stuffed CabbageFunny story about stuffed cabbage. I loved stuffed cabbage growing up. It was something that was made when we were all gathered as family for special occasions or for a Sunday dinner. My grandmothers would probably spend extra time putting together and rolling the stuffed cabbage to make them perfect. We’d always end up with enough to feed a hungry army so I figure they probably spent quite a bit of time making them. Well, there I came along as a young child and I would absolutely refuse to eat the actual cabbage. I would actually make my parents or grandparents UNWRAP those beautiful little rolls so that I could eat the meat and rice and sauce without touching that “gross” stuff known as cabbage.

Stuffed CabbageAs I grew older I’m sure my parents told me a million times to eat the cabbage. Eat the cabbage. Eat the cabbage. No, I would not eat the cabbage. No, I’m good. I’m not eating the cabbage. You get the gist. All those years my parents would eat my cabbage for me (you certainly cannot waste this stuff!).

Stuffed CabbageWell, turns out as you get older and move out and decide to cook for yourself, you no longer have parents to pick apart your stuffed cabbage and eat the cabbage for you. So, to my dismay…I ate the cabbage. FINALLY, after 20-some years I ate the cabbage and…/drum roll/…it turns out it tastes like everything else in the pot with it. What an anticlimactic ending to a 20 year battle. After simmering for hours in a pot, the cabbage is basically the same soft, lovely consistency as the meat and rice. Then you add the sauce (you have to add sauce, for sure) and I probably would not even be able to tell the difference between filling and cabbage without looking.

I suppose I had the best parents and grandparents in the world to put up with my stuffed cabbage issues. I’m sorry for all the stuffed cabbage that I unrolled throughout my life. They were most likely perfectly made with love.

Stuffed Cabbage

Simple Stuffed Cabbage
Yields 15
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Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
2 hr
Total Time
2 hr 30 min
Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
2 hr
Total Time
2 hr 30 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 head of cabbage
  2. 3/4 cup parboiled rice (*see notes*)
  3. 1 pound meatloaf mixture ground meat (mixture of beef, pork, and veal)
  4. 2 eggs
  5. 2 cans condensed tomato soup
  6. 1 cup water, plus water to cover the cabbage rolls
  7. 2 tablespoons vinegar
  8. salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut the core out of the head of cabbage and place the cabbage in the water. Return to a light simmer. Using tongs, remove the outer layers of cabbage as they start to soften (approximately 1-2 minutes per layer). Place the softened leaves on a towel or in a colander to drain. Keep removing the outer leaves until only the middle of the cabbage remains. Remove and drain the middle. Let cool.
  2. Once the leaves are slightly cooled, cut out the thick rib at the bottom of the leaf. I use kitchen scissors to do this. Start with the largest leaves to make into rolls. Lay the smaller leaves or leaves from the center over the bottom of a large pot to protect the rolls from burning during cooking.
  3. Mix the parboiled rice, ground meat, eggs, salt, and pepper in a medium sized bowl. Place approximately 1/4 cup of the meat mixture in each cabbage leaf (depending on the leaf's size) and roll by pulling the sides of the leaf towards the middle then rolling away from you (like a burrito!).
  4. Stack the cabbage rolls with the open side down over the leaves on the bottom of the large pot.
  5. In a separate bowl, mix together the cans of soup, 1 cup of water, vinegar, and salt and pepper. Pour over the cabbage rolls. Fill the pot up with enough water to just cover the rolls.
  6. Bring the water to a simmer on the stove top, cover, and simmer on low for 2 hours. Do not stir, though you can make sure the water is still covering the rolls by pressing them down periodically.
  7. Serve with bread to scoop up the extra sauce!
Notes
  1. *To parboil rice place 3/4 cup of water and 3/4 cup of rice in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer until no more water remains in the pan.
  2. You can use just ground beef for stuffed cabbage, but I really like the mix of meat. I just get the pre-mixed meatloaf mix at the store. Usually I don't even have to go to the meat counter for it.
Flavor From Scratch https://www.flavorfromscratch.com/
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