Roasted Potatoes - Two Ways

Potatoes are underrated. They are really an incomparable comfort food. It's easy to prepare a jacket potato when energy is low and time is limited. And there is nothing like a creamy, buttery bowl of mashed potatoes to lift flagging spirits. I haven't always had success roasting potatoes, but here are two very tasty recipes for roasted potatoes that work well for us:

Potato Wedge Fries

3 large baking potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp grated parmesan
1/4 tsp chili powder

Preheat oven to 375. Spray baking sheet with oil.

Cut each potato lengthwise into 8 wedges. Combine oil and garlic in one bowl, and parmesan and chili powder in another.

Place potato wedges on baking sheet, brush with 1/2 of the garlicy oil, then sprinkle with 1/2 of the parmesan mixture. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn the wedges, brush with remaining garlicy oil and sprinkle with remaining parmesan mixture. Bake for another 20 minutes or until tender-crisp.

Fingerling or New Potatoes with Herbes de Provence

1 1/2 pounds fingerling or new potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried herbes de Provence
1/4 tsp cayenne
salt

Preheat oven to 450.

Place potatoes in a pot of salted water, bring to a boil and cook for 10-15 minutes until tender crisp. Drain potatoes and rinse under cold water. Cut into wedges. Toss with oil, herbes de Provence and cayenne in a baking dish. Season with salt.

Bake for 15 minutes, until golden.

The Mothership Tomato Salad

We all love this salad which is so basic that it shouldn't require a recipe. Yet every time, I search through my cookbooks to find it, just to remind myself of EXACTLY how to do it so it is as awesome as the times before. Thanks to Jamie Oliver!

The Mothership Tomato Salad

2 1/4 pounds mixed ripe tomatoes, of varying sizes, shapes and colours
sea salt and black pepper
dried oregano
red wine or balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic, peeled and grated

Slice, halve and/or cut up tomatoes into a variety of shapes and place in a colander. Season with a good pinch of sea salt, toss, and season again. Give the colander a couple more tosses and then let it stand over a bowl for around 15 minutes. Disgard the juice.

Transfer tomatoes to a large bowl and sprinkle with dried oregano. Make a dressing of 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 oil. Add garlic. Drizzle tomatoes with enough dressing to coat.

You can also toss in some small mozzarella balls or black olives.