Hasselback Red Potatoes & Breaking News!

Breaking News!

our lake home!

For those newbie Happy Tummies out there, you may not know that I spent the past month at our lake home in Northern Wisconsin. I was there for the fresh air and relaxing atmosphere and lifestyle that you can only find in The Northwoods — hoping that the change of pace would be conducive to healing for the current Ulcerative Colitis flare I’ve been in since September.

beautiful times on the lake!

We left mid June to come back to Cincy for a procedure, and then were planning on returning this Saturday, and being there through our big family reunion over the 4th of July.

a slow way of life

Well, today, we received a call that there was a fire at our lake home!! It was struck by lightning, which traveled through all the wiring in the house and set one of the bottom floor bedrooms on fire! Thank the Good Lord above that my uncle knows about fire safety, and makes sure all the doors are closed before we close up the place. If it wasn’t for his “closed door policy,” we would have lost the whole house and all the cathedral pines around it! Because of that closed door, the fire was contained to the bedroom.

AND, thankfully, the woman who looks after our property when we’re gone just happened to be there to discover the fire, and was able to call the fire department to put it out! We were so lucky. So we didn’t lose the house. BUT, every inch of the house is coated in this slimy soot, requiring a 100% scrub down!

So as far as our 4th of July family reunion plans go, we’re going to rent another cabin on the chain — paid for by our insurance! Thanks State Farm! :) This family reunion is something everyone looks forward to all year. We live for it:) There was no way we’d bag it!

hasselback potato bliss!

OK — now onto dinner!

Body Ecology Diet friendly Red Potatoes!

Tonight was a real treat. I made Hasselback Herbed Red Skinned Potatoes with Grilled Veggies! It was so good.

a little accordion!

But wait — How are Red Skinned Potatoes on the Body Ecology Diet? That’s a ZERO sugar diet; and starchy veggies — ie: potatoes — are strictly prohibited! Welllll, it just so happens that Red Skinned Potatoes are the ONLY potato allowed on the BED because they have less sugar than their white and orange potato cousins, and therefore, don’t feed the yeast! (pg 52) Hurray!

warm and tender but crunchy

So I made Hasselback Red Skinned Potatoes — which are so cool! They look like an accordion, or an armadillo! :) And they’re fabulous.

yummm!

And this meal was Gluten Free, Vegan (minus the fish), and Body Ecology Diet friendly!

Here’s the run down for Hasselback Red Skinned Potatoes: (serves 3)

7 organic red skinned potatoes
3 cloves of garlic
dried oregano and basil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. After you scrub and dry your potatoes, slice them 3/4 of the way through all the way down the potato. Then, slice your garlic. Put about 4-5 slices in each potato in between the slices of potato. Then, spray the potatoes with olive oil, and sprinkle with dried oregano, basil, sea salt, and pepper. Bake for 50 minutes, until golden. It will “fan out” as it bakes.

gorgeous grilled veggies!

With these potatoes, I served grilled veggies. Holy cow, these were SO good! Smokey, crispy-but-slightly-softened, and fabulous!

Here’s what you need:

6 shiitake mushrooms
1 red pepper, quartered
2 large carrots, sliced in half lengthwise
3 stalks of celery
1 big stalk of celery, broken into florets

Heat your grill pan or grill. Toss your veggies in 1 tsp EVOO, salt, and pepper. Grill for 4 minutes per side. Then, chop into bite-sized pieces and serve!

yummm!

I also served broiled grouper from Lobsta Bakes. This wild, ocean-caught fish was fabulous and sweet! I broiled it with 1 tsp EVOO, salt, pepper, chili powder and paprika.

so delicious!

This meal was SO delicious! Those potatoes — oh my gosh, I was swooning in bliss! Haha, but no really! The beautiful thing about these potatoes is that by cooking them like that — in thin rounds — the outside gets crunchy and golden brown, while the inside is creamy and delicious! They’re like glorified, healthy potato chips! And the garlic flavor subtly permeates through the entire potato, while the oregano and basil provide a delicious herby flavor! Not to mention, their appearance is slightly show-stopping:)

Fabulous grill marks!

And the veggies were fabulous! They were wonderfully warm and crispy-crunchy – but not “raw crunchy.” And they had such vibrant colors! I know it seems kinda strange to grill celery, but it is so outrageous! Since it has such a high water content, it softens beautifully, and all the sugars come out and caramelize! YUM!

the mushrooms were so good!

And for a special treat, I grilled a lemon to squeeze over the fish — I hear grilled citrus is the “latest food trend” — haha :P

so trendy ;)

What’s you favorite thing to make on the grill?

Until tomorrow!

Need a grill pan or an olive oil mister? Here's the ones I use and highly recommend: