I need to do another post to finish up Easter, especially so I can share the recipes of the lovely items that other folks brought.  But, it has been a busy few weeks.

I was totally booked the entire weekend of April 10-11 and again this past weekend, with the weeks in between Easter and now taken up by preparing, as Board President and de facto volunteer Admin person,  for my church’s annual meeting (www.wakefielduu.org) on 4/15 and also for my father-in-law’s Celebration of Life service on 4/17.  All went well, but I was glad to finally have time to cook a meal last night!

It was just the simple but tasty Garlic Chicken Leg Quarters and, to keep things on that simple theme, I thought I would roast potatoes and also roast the other veggies.  BUT…how to do everything at once without having to set multiple timers and add the other veggies after the potatoes, etc. ? I didn’t want to have burnt broccoli and hard potatoes, but I didn’t want to have to open the oven once I put the chicken in!  (I guess I was still feeling stressed for time even though I didn’t even have a meeting to go to after dinner.  🙂

ANYWAY -here is my solution.  I found a recipe for roasted broccoli and potatoes that said, along with seasoning and a few tablespoons of olive oil, just put it all together in a 9×13 casserole, cover tightly with foil, and bake at 400 for 45 minutes to an hour.   How easy is that?

The chicken is supposed to cook for 50 minutes at 425, so I just cooked both dishes at 400 for the hour and that was that – ready to serve.

For the veggies, I used broccoli, carrots, new potatoes, and mushrooms for the veggies, chopped some fresh rosemary, and added sea salt and freshly ground pepper before roasting. They were fabulous!  Not quite the same crunch on the outside that you get when roasting veggies uncovered, but there was still a satisfactory firmness to the outside and that lovely intense flavor that comes with roasting. And, because the dish was covered, there was no charring of the broccoli, the musrooms were not shriveled, and all the veggies has a creamy sort of texture on the inside.

Here is the original recipe on which I based my roasted veggies – and from which I learned about covering with foil! Click the name of the recipe to go to the original recipe web page, courtesy of Teri’s Kitchen.

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Roasted Broccoli and Potatoes

• 1 medium head broccoli or bunch broccoli crowns, tough ends removed, remainder cut into medium florets and small stems
• 3 small potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400° F. Place broccoli and potatoes in a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Add the next 4 ingredients and toss or stir to combine. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until the vegetables are tender, about 1 hour. (If you prefer crispier vegetables, check them after 45 minutes.) Remove the foil and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Return to oven just until the cheese melts slightly. Serve hot or room temperature.

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If I am going to roast just one type of veggie (especially potatoes) or a group of veggies that all take the same time to cook, I am sure I will still use the uncovered method.  But, if I am not sure how long it will be before dinner (the covered ones will hold at a “keep warm” temperature) or want to combine veggies in one simple dish, I will be using the covered method of roasting veggies.  And, not just for hurried home meals.  This is good enough for company!

WOW.  This was, to quote the native Wakefield MA person that I am, “wicked good!”  (Should I add “Menga?  I have no idea how to spell it, but the last time I heard it (other than from some long-lost and quickly again forgotten person I ran into last year) was at Lanie Island in the 1980s.  Scary times.  However, I digress.  <grin>

It was time to use up things in the cupboard and fridge.  I had lovely potatoes from Farmer Dave and exquisite carrots from Flats Mentor Farm, both via the Wakefield Farmer’s Market, and collard greens from the garden I help with by the lake.  By the way, the best way to keep greens such as collard, kale, and chard, is to put them like cut flowers in water, cover loosely with a plastic bag, and store in the fridge.

So, I started by searching for “potatoes and collards” and found this:

Collard-cannon with ale-braised onions & raw milk cheddar

I pretty much followed the directions, although I added grated carrots and I didn’t happen to have a block of high-test cheese in the fridge.  I actually did have a small amount of super cheddar from the Farmer’s Market, but not enough for the recipe and better savored with a cracker or two, anyway.

The original recipe didn’t have any set amounts of ingredients, but it was easy enough to wing it.  Here is what I used for ingredients:

About 3 cups  chopped collard greens, not tightly packed:

(See Simmered Greens – Collard, Mustard, and Arugula for tips for chopping collard greens)

The original recipe calls for steaming the greens, but I opted to blanch in boiling water for just under 3 minutes.

Not shown here, but I also grated a few small carrots – maybe 1 cup loosely packed after grating.

About 2 and a half pounds or so of potatoes with skin left on
1/2 cup or a bit more low-fat plain yogurt
2-3 TBSP olive oil
1/4 cup or more hot water:

After cooking to fork tender, I mashed the potatoes with a few dollops of low-fat yogurt and some olive oil, along with a bit of hot water to get the right texture.  Next, I caramelized the onions to be folded into the mashed potatoes.

Here are the results: about five cups of mashed potatoes.

As aside, here.  I just love pyrex measuring cups.  This is my quart – or 4-cup one.  I have the 1, 2, and 8 cup versions, too.  Really handy!  And, of course, the knife my Mom gave me years ago.  Just a treasure.  And, my new handy-dandy heat-resistant up to 400 degrees  “spoonula.”    Okay, on to the onions.

Three medium to large onions, sliced
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 cup or so beer

First, I heated up two TBSP or so olive oil in my saute pan.  (Yes, it’s All-Clad and I love it!)  I sauted the onions on high, stirring frequently, until they started browning nicely, as shown above – up to 10 minutes. Then I cooked them for another 10 or so minutes on med-low until they got really brown:

The next step is to deglaze the onions with beer.  I’ll just quote the original recipe:  “When they were nicely browned, we deglazed the pan with a cup or so of brown ale — gathering up all those delicious browned bits that clung to the pan and granting the onions a bit of that delicious beer-y flavor.”  I couldn’t say it better myself.  🙂

After scraping the pan to loosen all the tasty bits, I let the onions stay on a low simmer for a few minutes until just about all the liquid evaporated.  Then, I folded them into the potatoes:

Next it is the layering game.  Put 1/2 the taters in a greased baking dish and cover with all the collard and carrots.  I used my 10 inch square corning ware pan.

The last ingredient is about 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese.  I just used regular New York Sharp.  I then sprinkled half the cheese on the veggie layer:

Next,  I added the rest of the potatoes and topped it off with the rest of the cheese.

I used my toaster 0ven.  I have the Cadillac of toaster ovens.  It is a Krups 6-Slice Digital Convection Toaster Oven, as recommended by cooks Illustrated, and it rocks.  I just used the regular oven setting versus convection for this dish.  1/2 an hour at 375 degrees did it. (Pre-heat first if using a regular oven.)

YUM:

Okay – here is the list of indgredients and the instructions all together so you can copy and paste to a file for printing:
I pretty much followed the directions, although I added grated carrots and I didn’t happen to have a block of high-test cheese in the fridge.  I actually did have a small amount of super cheddar from the Farmer’s Market, but not enough for the recipe and better savored with a cracker or two, anyway.

The original recipe didn’t have any set amounts of ingredients, but it was easy enough to wing it.  Here is what I used for ingredients:

About 3 cups chopped collard greens, not tightly packed
1 cup grated carrot
2 and a half pounds or so of potatoes, peeled or not
1/2 cup or a bit more low-fat plain yogurt (or sour cream)
2-3 TBSP olive oil
1/4 cup or more hot water as needed for mashed texture
3 medium to large onions, sliced thin
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 cup or so beer
2 cups grated cheddar or other type of cheese

1) Chop up the potatoes and set to boiluntil soft.
2) Slice onions and saute in olive oil until caramelized.
3) While potatoes and onions cook, chop collard greens and grate carrots and cheese.
4) Add beer to deglaze the onions, and simmer for a few minutes until most liquid is gone.
5) Mash potatoes with yogurt, olive oil, and hot water as needed.
6) Fold onions into mashed potatoes
7) Lightly grease a shallow baking dish and spread with 1/2 the potatoes.
8) Cover with collards and carrot (and/or any other veggie) and top with 1/2 the grated cheese.
9) Spread on the rest of the potatoes and top with the rest of the grated cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees in a pre-heated oven.

To accompany, I also prepared a very interesting dish that I will blog about the next time I have a moment.  My reason for this dish?  I had fennel in my fridge.  Why?  I don’t remember why…well, last week I was going to try a recipe that used it but never got around to it.  I don’t remember what the recipe was…BUT, the good news is that the dish I made was super.  You can find it here:

Italian Sausage with Fennel, Peppers, and Onions Check back later for my post about it.  Enjoy!