Cajun Boil

When I was a kid my family and I took a few trips to Lake Shasta and stayed on a houseboat with my aunt and uncle and other extended family members. We saw bears, tons of deer, caught some fish, and inadvertently went rafting (in a houseboat...) I was just young enough to not really remember those trips now, but I do have memories from the photographs I've seen, not to mention the trauma from the rafting incident. Just teasing, Uncle Gary!

The first time I had this meal was on one of those house boat trips. I don't remember the first meal because I was too young, but my family has had this hundreds of times since then. It's a really fun meal, especially for a group. But this isn't a fine dining sort of meal... it involves newspapers and piles of shrimp shells.

Cajun Boil
for 6


1 Zatarain's Crawfish, Shrimp, & Crab Boil in Bag
6 ears of corn
12 red potatoes
1 large bag of fresh or frozen, shell on, raw shrimp
8 spicy sausage links (like chicken andouille)
6-12 sourdough rolls, depending on your carb neediness
condiments: ketchup, horseradish, a selection of mustards and hot sauces, salt, pepper, butter

Add crab boil bag to the most giant pot you have (like industrial size huge) and fill 5" below rim with water.

You might call it a cauldron.

Prep corn by breaking into halves, or thirds, depending on your forearm strength.

Wash and scrub potatoes. Dry, pierce with a fork, and pre-cook in microwave on a plate for 12 minutes, or until cooked evenly.

Get your other ingredients ready. Rinse off shrimp (nobody likes frozen shrimp ice sauce).

And cut sausages into halves.

Water should be boiling away at this point!

Add in sausage and cook 2-3 minutes, or until just starting to plump up.

Add corn. Cook 4-5 minutes, or until a little brighter yellow.

Add shrimp. Cook about 5 minutes, or until they float and are red and opaque.

Prep your table! This is the fun part. The first layer (which you can't see) is a cut open trash bag. This protects the table from juices. Then put a few layers of newspaper, making sure you use the newspaper for placemats. Then finally, a layer of paper towels. You could use dish towels too. We make a ring of potatoes. It's kinda blair witchy.

Drain the boil!

And dump that shit on the table!

Now go be a pig and eat with your hands. Yum!

Perfect Baked Potatoes

This one is not for the sodium conscious.

But ohmagawd it's soooo good! This whole thing started with a big bunch of green onions about to go bad. So when you have extra green onions, what do you do? Make baked potatoes - duh!

So I googled "perfect baked potato" and epicurious to the rescue!

The cooking times on that recipe were way wrong, but the idea was way right.

Salt-Crusted Baked Potatoes


4 russet potatoes
1 egg white or 3 tbsp egg white substitute
3 tbsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425 F
Scrub potatoes clean and pat dry. Pierce each potato with fork tines about four times.

In a bowl, toss potatoes with egg whites. You want them well coated.

Place potatoes in a foil lined baking dish and sprinkle with salt. Pick up each potato and rub the salt around. Note: not fun if you have paper cuts!

Bake for 90 minutes.

The salt and egg whites will form this magical sodium crust on the outside of the potato. You can crack off extra salt crust when you serve, but trust me, you'll want some of that crispy saltiness.

Top with anything. I suggest that pile of green onions in your fridge.

Purply Potaty's

Potatoes are one of those foods that are hard to get behind.

They have little nutritional benefits. They're white and starchy. And they taste best deep fried, covered in ketchup, and in a red and yellow container with golden arches.

But alas, we have purple potatoes!

You know how you always hear nutritionists say "eat the rainbow!"?  Well, that's no joke. Purple potatoes, unlike their white counterpart, are a source of the antioxident anthocyanin! These little buggers can help lower blood pressure, but more importantly, they let you get that 'merica potato-fix with just a little less guilt.

Here' a good way to enjoy them.

Roasted Potatoes

 for 6

2 lbs potatoes of choice

3 tbsp EVOO

1 tbsp dried rosemary

2 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 400F

Wash and scrub your potatoes. Nobody likes roasted dirt.

Slice your potatoes into bite size pieces

In a bowl, toss all ingredients together

Spread potatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet
Bake for 25 minutes, flip potatoes, then bake for another 25 minutes.

Perfectly roasted potatoes every time.

Vegetarian Breakfast Hash Brown Muffins

Breakfast is my very favorite meal of the day. I never miss it! This christmas, in addition to Brother Bjorn's delicious rice pudding, I threw together some somewhat healthy Vegetarian Hash Brown Muffins. Basically, they are everything you like about breakfast within one muffin tin. Built in portion control!

Vegetarian Hash Brown Muffins
Makes 12 at 3 WW P+ each


Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 1/2 c. frozen hash brown style potatoes
• 1 cup frozen spinach
• 4 links Morningstar farms veggie sausage links, crumbled <---tastes like real sausage, but is actually TVP!
• 2 cups egg substitute (read: no cholesterol)
• 1/2 c. bisquick or other baking mix of your choice
• Dash of cayenne, salt, pepper to season
• 1 cup shredded light cheese of your choice

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 F
• Generously spray 12 muffin tin with cooking spray
• Distribute potatoes across all muffins

•  Then spinach

• Stick in oven for 10 minutes to heat spinach and potatoes
• Remove from oven and compress spinach and potatoes
• Season with S & P
• Replace in oven for 10 more minutes to lightly brown

• Distribute crumbled sausage evenly
• In a bowl, combine egg sub, baking mix, cayenne, and salt and p to taste

• Pour egg mixture in tins to about 1/4" below the edge
• Sprinkle with cheese

•  Bake for 20 minutes

These aren't going to pop out of the tins perfectly - you will need to scoop them out. That does not detract from their yumminess. A bit messy, yes. You could try to use muffin papers if you're super scared of scrubbing a pan.

These also make great breakfast burrito fillers. Just wrap 2 inside a tortilla, add salsa, and you're set!

Enjoy!