Herb-Roasted Potatoes

"It was a summer of wisteria.
The twilight was full of it
and the smell of his father's cigar
as they sat on the front gallery after supper...
while in the deep shaggy lawn
below the veranda the fireflies blew
and drifted in soft random."
~ William Faulkner

We love these Herb-Roasted Potatoes from Great Good Food by Julee Rosso. The recipe is soooo easy, you can pop the potatoes in the oven and let them cook while you are preparing dinner. The cookbook focuses on "lucious lower-fat cooking" with garden and cooking quotes and tidbits on everything from bok choy to figs.

Herb-Roasted Potatoes (Serves Four)

• 2 pounds russet new potatoes, quartered
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 head of garlic, with cloves peeled and left whole
• 2 cups minced fresh herbs (such as parsley, basil, sage, chives, oregano, mint)
• kosher salt and coarse ground pepper
• poppy seeds (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the ingredients and place in a shallow baking dish, reserving half of the mixed herbs for later. Place in the oven and roast until golden brown, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes to 1hour. TRemove from the oven, toss with the remaining herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Substitutions & Adjustments

Idaho potatoes were used, unpeeled. Some of the garlic was left whole and the remainder sliced in the hopes of stronger garlic flavor. I added about 1/4 inch of Swanson Organic Chicken Broth to the roasting pan. For herbs, I used cilantro and sprinkled with chopped rosemary from the garden after about 30 minutes.

This recipe was amazingly easy to follow and took less than 10 minutes to prepare for the oven. The potatoes were yummy, with a slightly crisp outside and soft inside and a mellow garlic flavor. The kids were less than thrilled by the bits of green (cilantro etc) in the mixture and declined to participate in the tasting. My husband and I liked them and agreed that they would be a great along with stir fried veggies, lamb chops, steak or chicken. I served it with baked BBQ chicken wings and the potatoes complimented the chicken nicely. This dish could easily become one of our favorite potato dishes.

Comments

[RA]

How nice and simple!