Of course, all of this craziness happened right after I posted on the blog on Friday that I would start doing regular posts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then I couldn’t find the time to post something yesterday. But here is my intended Monday post for Chickpea, Potato, and Kale Curry, which is fitting since this dish has become our latest super fast weeknight dinner choice!

Lots of veggie curries can tend to be a bit bland, but this one is full of flavour and the toasted cumin seeds on top are just a genius addition with the Greek yogurt. More importantly, it is so easy to make that it ensures you can still eat well even if your schedule is insane like ours has been this past week. This curry makes enough for 6 dinners at 95 cents per serving.

Chickpea, Potato, and Kale Curry, from Huge Fearnley-Whittingstall
2 14-ounce tins of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, plus a little ¬?extra to garnish
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 hot dried red chilli, crumbled
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
10 ounces potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
5 ounces kale, finely shredded
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, chopped
Greek yogurt to garnish
rice to serve

Put a dry frying pan over a medium heat and, when hot, toast the cumin, coriander, and mustard seeds and the chilli for a couple of minutes ¬?until they smell ¬?really fragrant and the mustard starts to pop. Grind the spices to a powder in a coffee grinder, spice mill, or with a pestle and mortar, and mix in the turmeric and ginger.

Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat, and fry the onion, stirring regularly, until it is soft and golden brown. Stir in the garlic and spices, let it cook for a minute or two, and then add the stock. Simmer everything for five minutes, then add the chickpeas and potatoes. Cook the curry until the potatoes are tender, then add the kale. Cook for a few minutes, until the greens are tender. While the curry is cooking, toast some extra cumin seeds in a dry frying pan to sprinkle over the final dish with a dollop of Greek yogurt and some chopped cilantro.

Despite our Thanksgiving trip to Tucson negating a couple weeks of hard work in the gym, we are trying to get back on track by eating lots of vegetables this week and hope to continue eating this way when we are at home so we can prevent the dreaded holiday weight gain. This Veggie Shepherd’s Pie with Sweet Potato Mash is one of my favourite weekday meals to make. The recipe makes a huge pie that can be eaten for either lunch or dinner throughout the week, and we have even frozen half of it before and it always holds up well after it is defrosted.

After the gluttony of Thanksgiving, there is something soothing about eating a huge bowl of lentils and vegetables for lunch. Although don’t get the wrong impression that this dish tastes like boring health food because the sweet potato mash and grated cheddar make it feel like you are still being decadent. This recipe makes enough for 8 large portions at 95 cents per serving.

Veggie Shepherd’s Pie with Sweet Potato Mash, adapted from BBC Good Food
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, halved and sliced
1 pound carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
2 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
7 ounces red wine
14 ounce can chopped tomatoes
2 vegetable (or chicken) stock cubes
1 pound dried lentils
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 tablespoons butter
4 ounces mature or Irish cheddar, grated
salt and pepper

Cook the lentils according to the package instructions, which is usually to let them simmer for around 45 minutes until they are tender. Heat the oil in a large pot and fry the onion until golden. Add the carrots and all but a sprinkling of the thyme leaves. Pour in the wine, 5 ounces of water, and the tomatoes, then crumble in the stock cubes and let everything simmer for 10 minutes. Add the drained lentils to the pot and simmer for another 10 minutes until the carrots are almost tender and the lentils are pulpy. Season the pie filling with salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, boil the sweet potatoes for 15 minutes until they are tender, drain well, then mash them with the butter and season to taste. Place the lentil mixture into a pie dish, spoon the sweet potato mash on top, then sprinkle over the cheese and remaining thyme.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F and cook the shepherd’s pie for 20 minutes, or until the cheesy top of the pie becomes golden and bubbly.

While all of the meat was perfectly cooked and seasoned, the stand out dish of the meal was the Potato Puree. These potatoes were the silkiest and most flavourful that I had ever had. They were the equivalent of potato crack, and I half seriously joked with Carlo that I wanted to lick out the last dredges from the dish since they were that good and I had drunk quite a bit of wine that night. A couple of weeks ago, our friend Bethany was in town and graciously took us out to eat at Craftsteak. Once again we got the tasting menu, and thank god, the potato puree was still on the menu!

After falling in love with these potatoes all over again, we knew that we had to try to make them at home. Unfortunately we don’t have a potato ricer, so we had to use a stick blender to puree the potatoes which didn’t result in as fine or silky potatoes as those at Craftsteak, but they were still pretty damn good. I like Tom’s technique of whisking the potatoes and then slowly adding the cream and butter to make them light and fluffy. I think that a potato ricer will definitely have to be on my Christmas list this year so I can perfect these potatoes. This recipe makes enough to for 6 side dishes at $1.22 per serving.

Potato Puree, adapted from Tom Colicchio’s Craft of Cooking
5 pounds yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed
salt and white pepper
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
olive oil
chopped fresh chives

Place the unpeeled potatoes in a large pot, and add water to cover them. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper and bring the pot to a simmer over a medium heat. Simmer the potatoes until they are tender, around 20 minutes or so.

Drain the potatoes, and then while they are still hot, peel them. To stop the potatoes from burning your hand, hold the potato in a dish towel and use a sharp paring knife. If you don’t want to do this, I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to peel the potatoes before you cooked them.

Place the peeled potatoes in a covered bowl so they remain hot. Puree the potatoes with a potato ricer, or immersion blender. Place the potato puree in the pot and whisk the puree with a stiff whisk. Gradually whisk in the milk, cream, and butter, then season with salt and pepper.

Serve the potatoes topped with a drizzle of olive oil and chopped fresh chives.

Other Recession Recipes Potato Recipes:
Twice Baked Potatoes with Cheese and Broccoli

Every time that I’ve made these potatoes since the dinner party, they have been a huge hit and are always the first things to be finished on the table. Although it may sound strange to lightly smash the potatoes, this helps create a delicious crispy potato with barely any oil. This recipe makes enough for 4 people at 99 cents per serving, although you may want to up the amount of potatoes if you have lots of potato fiends at your Thanksgiving dinner.

Crunchy New Potatoes, adapted from BBC Good Food
12-16 small-medium new or small potatoes, unpeeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the oven to 400 F degrees. Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes, then drain them well. Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet, and crush each one lightly with a potato masher. Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake the potatoes for at least 20 minutes or until they are as crispy as you like.

If you have other things that need to go in the oven that are cooked at a different temperature, just stick the potatoes in anyway and keep an eye on them. This cooking process is pretty foolproof and can work under numerous conditions. I like keeping mine in the oven while I’m cooking the main course so they can get super crispy.

First up, we’ve got this nice scalloped potatoes and fennel dish. I tend to prefer mashed potatoes with my turkey (well, with my gravy, really, if I’m being honest), but I do enjoy a good scalloped dish or gratin as well. This one was pretty easy to make (especially if you have a mandoline), and the addition of the fennel was a nice accent. But, in the end, it was good, tasty, creamy potatoes, with just the right amount of browning on top. This potato recipe makes enough for 12 side dishes at 70 cents per serving.

Scalloped Potatoes and Fennel, adapted from Bon Appetit, November 2008
6 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed
2-inch-long fresh rosemary sprigs
2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
2 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
3/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 large fresh fennel bulbs with fronds
3 1/2 pounds medium russet potatoes
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Preheat the oven to 350¬?F and place the rack in the center of the oven. Grab a large glass baking dish, and place the smashed garlic cloves and rosemary springs on the bottom of the dish. Combine the cream, coarse salt, and white pepper in a separate large bowl.

Prepare the fennel bulbs by cutting off the stalks and fronds, but reserve the fennel fronds for a finishing garnish. Cut the fennel bulbs in half and using a mandoline, thinly slice the fennel bulbs. If you don’t have a mandoline, you can slice them as thin as possible using a knife. Layer half of the fennel slices evenly atop the garlic and rosemary in the baking dish.

Peel the potatoes and place them immediately in a large bowl of cold water so they don’t turn brown. Thinly slice the potatoes into rounds with a mandoline, or carefully cut them with a knife. Immediately add the sliced potatoes to the bowl with the cream and make sure that all of the potatoes are fully coated with the mixture.

Arrange half of the potato slices evenly over the fennel in the baking dish, and reserve the leftover cream in the bowl. Repeat this layering process with the remaining fennel slices and then the potato slices. Pour the remaining cream mixture over the layers of fennel and potato in the baking dish.

Cut up the butter and arrange the cubes on top of the dish. Cover the baking dish with foil, making sure that the foil does not touch the potatoes.

Bake the scalloped potatoes under the foil until they are almost tender when pierced with a knife, around 1 hour and 15 minutes. Then increase the oven temperature to 425¬?F. Remove the foil and bake the dish uncovered until the potatoes are tender and the top is a deep golden brown, about 20 minutes longer.

Remove the potatoes from the oven and let them rest for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the top with the reserved fennel fronds and serve at your Thanksgiving dinner.

Turlu Turlu, adapted from Moro: The Cookbook
2 zucchini, trimmed and cut into 1 inch disks
1 eggplant, halved lengthways and each half cut into 4 wedges lengthways
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves
2 green peppers, halved, deseeded and thickly sliced
3 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthways and each half cut into 3 lengthways
1 medium turnip, cut into 1 inch wedges
2 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 can chickpeas
2 14-ounce cans of whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 small bunch each of fresh Italian parsley and cilantro, roughly chopped
salt and fresh ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. While the oven is heating up, sprinkle a teaspoon of fine sea salt on the zucchini and eggplant slices, and let them stand for 20 minutes before rinsing under cold water. The salt helps get rid of the excess water in the vegetables so they can roast up nicely.

In a large bowl, toss the eggplant, onion, 2 garlic cloves, peppers, carrots, turnips, and potatoes with the olive oil, allspice, coriander seeds, and a little salt and pepper. Spread the veggie mixture on a large roasting tray in a single layer, so the veggies can roast rather than steam.

Cook the vegetables for 45 minutes in the oven, and gently turn the veggies over every 15 minutes or so to prevent them from burning. After 45 minutes of roasting, add the zucchini disks to the tray and cook for another 15 minutes.

While the veggies are in the oven, make a sweet tomato sauce that will bind the dish together. In a medium saucepan, heat up the olive oil over a medium to high heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the 6 finely sliced garlic cloves and fry until the garlic begins to color. Add the chopped tomatoes and a pinch of salt to balance their acidity. Cook the sauce over a medium heat until most of the liquid that the tomatoes give out has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and then stir in the rinsed chickpeas to heat them up.

To serve the Turlu Turlu, add the roasted vegetables to the tomato-chickpea sauce and then stir everything together with the fresh herbs. Taste, and season with extra salt and pepper if needed.

Thank god, the Roasted Sweet Potato Salad With Black Beans and Chili Dressing that we had originally made as a side dish turned into a very last minute and desperate vegetarian main course. Roasted sweet potatoes are always a favourite of mine and they paired nicely with the spicy dressing and the fresh cilantro. This recipe feeds 4 people as a side dish (or 2 as a main course when disaster strikes) at $1.24 per serving.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad With Black Beans and Chili Dressing, adapted from Mark Bittman’s The Minimalist
4 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large red onion, chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons minced fresh hot chili, like jalape?±o
1 clove garlic, peeled
juice of 2 limes
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the chopped sweet potatoes and onions in a large bowl and toss them with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and lots of salt and pepper. Spread the mixture into a single layer on a large baking sheet and roast them in the oven, turning occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and start to brown on their corners, around 40 minutes. Remove the roasted veggies from the oven and keep them on the baking sheet until you are ready to toss the salad.

While the sweet potatoes are roasting, whiz up the chilies, garlic, lime juice, remaining olive oil, salt, and pepper in a mini food processor to create the dressing. In another large bowl, dress the chopped red pepper and the black beans with half of the dressing and let it sit to infuse the flavour of the dressing into the beans.

Once the sweet potatoes are roasted, transfer the warm veggies into the bowl with the black beans and red pepper, and toss everything with the remaining salad dressing and chopped cilantro. Season the salad with salt and pepper as needed, and you can serve this sweet potato salad either warm or at room temperature.

I got such an urge last week and found this wonderfully adult tasting meatloaf recipe. Instead of squirting tons of ketchup into the meat mixture, this recipe has the surprise ingredient of chopped prunes instead. Sounds disgusting is what I bet you are thinking, right? If so, you are wrong. The prunes add a nice sweetness to the meatloaf that tastes so much better than cloying effect of the normally used ketchup. In fact, while we were eating dinner, I had Carlo guess what the mystery ingredient was and after a few mouthfuls, he still had no idea. He named pretty much all of the other ingredients in the dish, but was stumped at what was the pi?®ce de r?©sistance of the dish.

Anyway see for yourself just how good prunes could taste (seriously, who knew?), and stump your loved ones by making this meatloaf and have them guess the mystery ingredient. This recipe for meatloaf makes enough for 8 large slices of meatloaf at $1.60 per serving.

Meatloaf, adapted from Gourmet, February 2008
1 cup fine fresh bread crumbs (from 2 slices firm white sandwich bread)
1/3 cup whole milk
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium celery rib, finely chopped
2 medium carrot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 pound bacon (about 4 slices), chopped
1/2 cup pitted prunes, chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck
1/2 pound ground pork
2 large eggs
1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Before you start preparing the mixture for the meatloaf, preheat your oven to 350¬?F with the rack placed in middle.

Start the meatloaf by soaking the bread crumbs in milk in a large bowl.

Then cook the onion, garlic, celery, and carrots in the butter in a large heavy saucepan over a medium heat for about 5 minutes and stir occasionally. Cover the saucepan and reduce the heat to low, then cook everything until the carrots are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, allspice, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of pepper. Add this veggie mix to the soaked bread-crumb mixture.

Finely chop the bacon and prunes in a food processor, then add to the vegetable mixture along with the beef, pork, eggs, and parsley. Mix everything together with your hands.

Coat a 9- by 5-inch oval loaf pan with a light spray of olive oil and pack the meatloaf mixture into it. Once you have shaped the meatloaf, turn the loaf pan upside down in the middle of a 13- by 9-inch shallow baking dish or pan and remove the loaf pan. The meatloaf should retain the shape of the loaf pan, but will be able to cook in the pan so the three exposed sides get a bit crispy while it all cooks.

Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of meatloaf registers at 155¬?F, about 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Once the meatloaf reaches the ideal temperature, remove it from the oven and let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.

After cooking the meatloaf, a lot of drippings remained in the baking dish, so I asked Carlo to make a gravy from them to top the meatloaf. He drained the drippings into a small saucepan and whisked them with a little bit of flour to create a roux. Then he added some water until he had the right gravy consistency and kept on whisking over a low heat.

The meatloaf tastes great smothered with gravy and a side of creamy mashed potatoes. It also tastes pretty amazing the next day on a sandwich too.

Vichyssoise is a classic French-style chilled soup made from potatoes, leeks, water, and heavy cream. Although the ingredient list is sparse, the soup has a decidedly complex taste. The key to a successful Vichyssoise is proper seasoning. Keep on tinkering with the seasonings until you get it perfect. It is best to season once the soup is cooked and then again when it is chilled. Like most potato dishes, salt adds a whole lot of flavour and can turn this soup from bland to exquisite.

I made a huge pot of soup and we have been eating that for lunch for the last couple of days. Not only is the soup really easy to make, but perhaps even easier to serve: just take it out of the fridge, chop up some chives, and then eat. This Vichyssoise recipe makes enough for 8 lunches at 68 cents per serving.

Vichyssoise, from Julia Child’s The Way to Cook
4 cups sliced leeks, white part only (I used a bit of the light green too!)
4 cups diced baking potatoes
7 cups water
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons salt or to taste
ground white pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon fresh chives, minced

Place the leeks, potatoes, water into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Lightly salt and then partially cover the pan while everything simmers for around 25 minutes, or until the veggies are tender.

Use an immersion blender and puree the soup. Taste it and then season it again with some salt and white pepper. Let the soup cool off and then add the heavy cream. Then taste the soup again and season until it is perfect to your taste buds.

Place the soup in the fridge until it is properly chilled and serve with a sprinkle of fresh chives on top. If you live in parts of the world that are experiencing cooler weather, you can also heat up this soup too.

I found this Zucchini and Potato Tortilla recipe that helped me use up the last of my zucchini and a couple of pattypan squashes. Despite the addition of the zucchini, the tortilla still tastes like a traditional Spanish tortilla with a creamy texture from the slow cooked potatoes in olive oil. I realize that some people may freak out from the 1 1/2 cups of olive oil used to cook the veggies, but a lot does drain out at the end, and isn’t olive oil supposed to be healthy for you?

During the cooking process of this tortilla, I somehow managed to grate off the top of my right thumb and then cut my left thumb through the nail bed. My bad luck continued when I proceeded to burn both hands by stupidly grabbing the handle of the skillet after I had taken it out of the oven. The preparation was a total and painful disaster to my hands, but the end result was delicious! I am definitely making this again, but will just keep a better eye on protecting my hands. This Zucchini and Potato Tortilla is great to make in advance for a few lunches and makes 8 portions at 85 cents per serving.

Zucchini and Potato Tortilla
2 pounds zucchini
2 pounds boiling potatoes
1 1/2 cups olive oil
1 pound chopped Spanish onion
10 large eggs

Coarsely grate the zucchini and watch out for your fingers! Toss the grated zucchini with 2 teaspoons of salt and let it stand for 30 minutes to drain some of the water in the zucchini.

While the zucchini stands, peel the potatoes and cut them into 1/3-inch dice.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over a medium-high heat until hot, then add the potatoes, onion, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the potatoes without browning them for around 30 minutes. Cook the potatoes uncovered and stir them occasionally.

Transfer the zucchini to a colander to drain, then squeeze small handfuls to remove as much liquid as possible. It is pretty incredible just how much water comes out of the zucchini, but keep on squeezing it in small handfuls until you get it as dry as you can.

Add the zucchini to the potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and the zucchini is slightly browned, about 15 minutes. Drain the vegetables in colander set over a bowl so you can keep the oil that the veggies were cooked in. Let the veggies cool for 5 minutes.

Lightly beat the eggs in a large bowl, then stir in the vegetables, 1 tablespoon of the oil from the veggies, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Return 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil to the skillet and add the the egg mixture, pressing the potatoes flush with eggs. Cook over low heat, covered, until almost set and the underside is golden, around 12 to 15 minutes.

Place the skillet in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F. Let the tortilla cook until it is set all the way through, around 15-20 minutes. It is hard to overcook the tortilla due to all of the olive oil from cooking the veggies, so be sure that the center of the tortilla is cooked all the way through.

Once the tortilla is cooked, run a rubber spatula around the tortilla and gently shake the skillet to loosen the tortilla. Carefully slide the tortilla onto a serving plate and cut into 8 wedges. You can serve the tortilla warm or at room temperature.