Twice Baked Potatoes with Pancetta and Irish Cheddar

This recipe came about when I was walking the aisles at Whole Foods. I passed the cheese section and picked up some Dubliner Cheddar. Then I saw some pancetta nearby and put that in my cart. Determined to come up with a dinner idea using these two ingredients I decided on twice baked potatoes. For this dinner though I was just going to come up with my own instead of finding an official recipe.

Twice Baked Potatoes with Pancetta and Irish Cheddar
Serves 3-6

Ingredients:

3 russet potatoes, washed and dried
3.5 oz Irish Cheddar cheese, freshly grated
6 slices pancetta, cooked (I fried up mine on the stove)
3T heavy cream
2 T. unsalted butter, + a smidgen more
salt and pepper to taste

1). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place potatoes in oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, pierce potatoes and return to oven. Bake until tender

2). When cool enough to handle (or you could use a towel) cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the inside. Be sure to leave a rim so the potato skins don't tear.

3). Mash potato filling with a fork. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add butter and combine. Add heavy cream and combine. Add pancetta and cheese. Stir entire mixture so that the pancetta and cheese are equally distributed.

4). Return filling to potato skins. Top each potato half with a smidge more butter.

5). Place potato halves on a cooking sheet lined with aluminum foil and a thin layer of olive oil. Return to oven until warmed through.







Delicious!

Chickpea Barley Salad

This is my new favorite summer "salad". I came up with this recipe because I had quite a bit of fresh parsley to use up.

Ingredients:

1 cup dried barley, cooked to package specifications
1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 cucumber, deseeded and peeled
2 medium tomatoes, chopped and deseeded
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 T. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook barley
2. Prepare all vegetables
3. Put fresh parsley, red onion, cucumber, tomatoes, chickpeas, and barley in a bowl
4. Mix extra virgin olive oil and vinegar in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper
5. Combine veggies and dressing. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper if needed.

Ingredients in the bowl:



The end product:

Using What You've Got

On Thursday I went to the grocery with a few of what I like to call "the essentials" on my list. These included basic things like eggs, plain yogurt, milk, butter (hey this girl likes to bake), and bananas. However in true Sarah fashion I ended up with more in my cart then I had originally planned. When I was passing the avocado and corn I grabbed a few of each and told myself I would concoct an idea on what to use them for later.

Well today's lunch was the product of my brain trying to plan a cohesive meal using corn, avocado, and anything else I already had on hand. What did I come up with...

Wheat berries with Avocado, Corn, and Grape Tomatoes
Serves 1
Ingredients
1/3 c. dried wheat berries
1/2 avocado, skin removed and diced
1/2 lime
1 ear of corn, kernels removed
5 grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 green onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher Salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Hot Sauce (I used a habanero hot sauce that my sister and brother-in-law brought back from Belize)
Optional: Sour Cream

The line up:



1) Boil water in a medium size saucepan and add 1 t. kosher salt when water has started to boil. Then add wheat berries. Cook for ~20 minutes over medium heat. When these have finished cooking, drain.

2) In a skillet heat 2 t. extra virgin olive oil. Add the garlic and onion and cook for about 2-3 minutes over medium heat. Then add the corn kernels, 1/4 t. salt, and 1/8 t. black pepper. Cook for 3 more minutes and then add the wheat berries back in.

3) After another two minutes add the tomatoes, stir, and remove from heat. Pour in a bowl, add juice from 1/2 a fresh lime, the diced avocado, and as much hot sauce as you desire. Then if your feeling really adventurous add some sour cream for good measure.



It was delicious and just reinforces the notion that on a whim food purchases are not always a bad thing.