French Potato Salad from Sunset Cookbook

My mom's cupboard is FILLED with old cookbooks from the 80s and even before that.
This particular recipe is from Sunset Favorite Recipes for Salads copyright 1979.

 The funny part is that I made this potato salad a little while ago for my parents to take to a 4th of July party. French potato salad...American holiday. Interesting.

Anyways, this potato salad is low in saturated fat, zingy, zangy, tangy, and just plain delish!!

You will need:
2 1/2 pounds of red potatoes (boiled)
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley (fresh is best)
1 small red onion (chopped)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
 1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp tarragon leaves
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil

To boil potatoes: place in 1 inch of boiling water, cover and cook until tender when pierced (about 30 mins)
Drain, let stand for about 10 minutes. Slice into thin rounds about 3/8 inches thick.

Place potatoes in a large salad bowl. Add all other ingredients. No specific order, its delicious anyway. Mix until all potatoes are covered. Prepare the day before and refrigerate over night. This is so the tastes can absorb.

Italian Seasoned Potatoes for lazy people

I like potatoes as much as the next girl but I HATE baked potatoes. They are just too bland and too dry. So my mom started making these (she got the recipe from the newspaper). They are very simple and easy to make. Most likely you have all the ingredients in your kitchen already.

The good thing about these potatoes is that they are low in saturated fat, since they are made with olive oil, as well as low sodium. Potatoes are also high in Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, and Potassium. (Lots more nutrients than rice, my friends.)

You will need:
servings 4-6

5 softball sized golden potatoes (these ones work best because of their rich taste and creamy texture. You can also use regular russet, or red potatoes, or even yams or sweet potatoes.)

3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp season salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

If you are working with yams or sweet potatoes (my mom recommends the following seasonings:
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp season salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

(my mom said it would be fun to experiment with your favorite seasonings or season mixes like Cajun, tarragon, or cumin or whatever you prefer.)

Preheat your oven to 375!!!

First grab a gallon sized bag it doesn't need to be ziplock but it can just be whatever large bag. (The purpose of this is easy clean up, since we are lazy people.) You can also use a large tupperware if you are super eco-concerned. Put the olive oil and seasonings in the bag or tupperware and shake it up or mix it up with a fork. (This is so that the seasonings are evenly distributed in the tupperware/bag before you put the potatoes in the bag.

Then cube the potatoes into bite sized pieces and put them in the bag with the season mixture. SHAKE IT UP!!! Pour the seasoned potatoes onto a FOIL lined cookie sheet. Make sure they are evenly spread out.
Pop into the oven for 40 minutes.
When they are soft in the middle with a toothpick test they are done.
You can place them in an attractive serving dish and serve.

Bon Appetit!!

Grandma Rita's Potato Salad

My Grandma Rita is my mom's mom and this one out of her two specialties. My mom has been making potato salad for YEARS. I usually can't stomach anything with mayonnaise, but this potato salad is lovely and flavorful. And its NOT mayonnaise soup.

This is the perfect size salad for a graduation party, birthday party, summer BBQ, or 4th of July. This recipe will make 5 pounds of potato salad.

You will need:

5lbs of potatoes (cubed)
6 hard boiled eggs (diced)
1 1/2 cup diced celery
1 1/2 cup diced red onion
1 4 oz can of sliced drained black olives
1 cup chopped dill pickle
2 cups mayonnaise (it doesn't matter what kind, but light is more expensive)
1/4 cup mustard
1/4 cup dill pickle juice
1 tsp blk pepper
2 tbsp parsley

You're going to want to boil the potatoes for about 30 minutes or until tender. You don't want them boiling for longer since you don't want mashed potatoes, right?
Once the potatoes are boiled AND HAVE COOLED cut them into bite sized cubes about the size of a standard playing dice or a little bigger. Put all the cubed potatoes into a large bowl.
It doesn't matter which order you put all the other ingredients in but I recommend putting in all the produce first and then the condiments. Mix well.
Also the potato salad with taste so much better if you make it a day or two before. It allows time for the flavors to mesh and the potatoes to absorb the flavor.

A funny story about this recipe: My mom made this potato salad for a wedding reception once for my dad's side of the family. Now you need to understand that I love my dad's side but they are kind of hillbillies. My grandpa's cousin John (whom has the personality of a doorknob) was going down the buffet line and my mom was right behind him. He got to my mom's potato salad and scrunched up his face and said, "Who the hell put all this shit in the potato salad?!" Meaning the onions and olives and mustard and pickles. My mom turned to him and said with pride, "I DID!!" To this day all my family members prefer my mom's potato salad to the traditional bland swill.
As a matter of fact we just returned from a graduation party and the mother of the graduate emptied out our leftover potato salad bowl into a bowl of her own because her whole family LOVES my mom's potato salad.

Potato salad doesn't have to be bland...

Linda Bonita Mexican Chicken

Do you ever come home from work and ponder, "What in the heck should I make for dinner?" Are you ever so desperate for ideas that you ask your spouse/partner, sibling, roommate, or even your children what you should make for dinner? Do you look in your fridge and see MOSTLY condiments? Are you ever bombarded by lack of motivation, lack of funds, or lack of ingredients?

If you answered yes to any of these then this recipe is especially for you!!! With my LOVE!!!

Prep is only about 15 minutes!!! Cook time 45!! Total is 1 hour!! It takes that long to have your significant other run to the closest burger joint and back.

You will need:
(cooking for 4 version)

4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts (or 2 large ones cut in half)
12-24 oz of any spiciness salsa depending on how much you have or how much sauce you like
2 tbs vegetable or olive oil or butter (whatever you have, noticing a trend here?)
cooking spray is the easiest (but again, whatever you have that's oily)
sour cream (optional)
avocado (optional)
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese/mozzarella cheese (optional)

After you've cleaned and trimmed your chicken...
Do yourself a favor right now and PREHEAT YOUR OVEN TO 350 F RIGHT NOW!!!! DO IT!!
Now, coat your skillet or large pan with 2 tsp of oil, turn the stove top to high. place the chicken breasts on the pan and set your timer for 5 mins. Now leave it alone!!

In the mean time you can scrounge through the fridge and figure out what else to make. My family happened to have a ton of mushrooms and some Cole slaw mix. Super random I know. But it works. Corn on the cob would go better.

Ok the 5 minutes is up!!! Time to flip the chicken, it should be a darker golden brown. Set the timer for 4 minutes this time. The chicken doesn't NEED to be completely cooked because its going into the oven soon.

Ok now you can shred your cheese if you want it, make your sides, wash your veggies, pick your nose, make out with your spouse/partner, drink your vodka tonic, draw evil pictures of you massacring your boss, ect.

Ok the timer just went off. Now check to make sure the other side of the chicken is nice and golden, if it is continue, if not keep cooking.
You're going to want to coat your Pyrex dish with cooking oil and then place the chicken on it. Then dump the salsa all over it. (I don't recommend putting on the cheese yet, otherwise it will stick to the foil.) By this time the oven should be done preheating. Put foil over the top of the dish. And cook it for 45 minutes. Even if its ALMOST done preheating you can still put it in for the same amount of time, my mom said so!!

Now you have time to set the table, continue making your sides/veggies, kiss your lovie some more, drink your fancy drink, lounge, take a nap, ect.

Ok when it comes out you can put the cheese sour cream and/or sliced avocado on it. Or if your family is like my boyfriend's family and not everyone agrees on the same thing then you can put everything out on the table separately. If your family is on a portion control diet you can pre-serve everything and garnish with the small dollop of sour cream, slice of avocado and a sprig of cilantro. My mom wanted to put paprika and tobasco sauce on it. She's really happy/flattered I made this blog.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have for the past 14 years. This is something my mom made up in a hurry one night, and it became one of her beautiful specialties.

Bon Appetit!!

Tuna Stuffed Potatoes

Sounds nasty right? I've been savoring every last morsel of this recipe for years. I'm 22 now and I started eating these when I was about 1 1/2 old, according to mom. So a long time.
These are actually surprisingly good, despite how it sounds, its potatoes, cheese (yum so far) and tuna (?!?!?!) with a few other ingredients.

My mom found this recipe in the newspaper in "God knows what year" she was living in Redwood city at the time and had just moved out of her parents home and into a 2 room studio apartment.

She likes it because its cheap, nutritious, low calorie, and tasty!!

You will need:

4 large potatoes
1 can (6 1/2 oz.) tuna, drained
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c. mayonnaise
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp pepper

You can also add any other herbs/spices you like. Make it spicy with cayenne, zesty with dill, savory with garlic or spunky with cumin.

Then you need to preheat your oven to 350 F. Microwave those potatoes (be sure to poke a few holes to vent) in high for 8 minutes on a plate. Flip them around and microwave for another 8 minutes. Let cool for about 15 minutes. (Make sure they are cooked thoroughly otherwise they will get mushy after you bake them. Eww.) With a paring knife slice an oval shape in the top of the potatoes and peel the oval flap of skin off. using a spoon carve out the pulp and save in a medium sized bowl for later. You want to leave a 1/4 inch thick shell. You should have 4 little potato boats now. Now that you have a bowl of potato pulp mash it up and add in the drained tuna, 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese , mayo, onions, and seasonings. Mix well and restuff the shells with the mixture. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the mound. Place on a baking sheet or a Pyrex glass dish. (Saves the extra baking sheet from having to be washed. Come now, lets be green.) Bake for 30 minutes or until hot. This serves 4 but when my parents were first married my mom used to make 4 of these and they'd eat them for dinner and then for lunch as leftovers the next day. They reheat just fine.

Also a little serving tip: What many people may do by instinct, especially children, is to eat the cheese first and then the mixture, leaving the shell. The shell is a bit dry so I recommend slathering it with low fat or non fat sour cream.
Also it is served beautifully with asparagus, green beans and strawberries.

Bon Appetit!!!