Healthy Potato Recipes

Long assigned to the produce aisle's doghouse, potatoes are making a breakout. During the high-protein, low-carb craze, this meat-and-you-know-what staple was transformed into a tuber non grata. Health-conscious consumers began believing that potatoes were diet-sabotaging carb bombs. Then there was that whole "couch potato" thing. All in all, potatoes had a serious PR problem.

But now there's cause for spud-lovers to rejoice. The consensus in the weight-loss community is that high-protein diets aren't any more effective than any other kind of diet. The secret to weight loss is calories—fewer of them. In addition, a group of Australian researchers came up with the Satiety Index to determine which foods are the most filling. Which food did they discover has the most "stick-to-your-ribs" power? The potato. Bravo!

We'll admit that the potato doesn't have the charisma of, say, arugula. But let's take a moment to consider its virtues—besides its hunger-fighting power. It's cheap. It keeps. It's available everywhere. It's nutritious. And a medium-size baked potato has only 130 calories.

Even better, it's versatile. Its mildness means it blends with anything. Its starch content gives heft to soups, sauces and stews. Texture-wise, it ranges from the creamy-waxy to crumbly-starchy, so it's at home in just about any dish, chunky or smooth.

So if you've been avoiding potatoes, take another look. There's a reason it's America's favorite vegetable. Take that, arugula!

Spring Fruit Compote Recipe

Berries, pineapple and dried apricots meld in a light syrup of Grand Marnier or orange juice.

 Ingredients:
 

• 1/2  cup Grand Marnier (orange liqueur) or orange juice
• 2  tablespoons orange marmalade
• 1/2  cup quartered dried apricots
• Grated zest and sectioned fruit of 1 navel orange
• 1  fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cubed
• 4  pints fresh berries: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries

Cooking Instructions:

 
   1. Combine Grand Marnier, marmalade, dried apricots, orange zest and sections, and pineapple up to 24 hours in advance.
   2. Up to 1 hour before serving, rinse berries. Hull strawberries and slice. Halve blackberries if they are large. Leave blueberries and raspberries whole. Toss berries, as gently as possible, with marinated fruit.

Texas Sheet Cake

 Ingredients

  —  Cake:
        Cooking spray
        2  cups all-purpose flour
        1 3/4  cups sugar
        1  teaspoon baking soda
        1/4  teaspoon salt

        1  cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into small pieces
        1  cup water

        1/3  cup unsweetened cocoa
        2  eggs
        1/2  cup buttermilk
        1  teaspoon vanilla extract

 —  Frosting:
       3  egg yolks
       1  cup evaporated milk, divided
       1  teaspoon vanilla extract
       1  cup sugar
       1/2  cup butter, cut into small pieces
       1 1/3  cups flaked, sweetened coconut
       1  cup chopped pecans

Instructions:

   1. Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
   2. To prepare the cake, sift flour, sugar, baking soda and salt into a large bowl.
   3.  In a small saucepan, combine butter, water and cocoa. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until butter melts and mixture comes to a simmer.
   4.   Add cocoa mixture, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla to flour mixture; stir to combine. Pour into pan and bake 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Do not remove from pan.
   5.  To prepare the frosting, whisk egg yolks and about 1/3 cup milk in a saucepan. Add remaining milk, vanilla and sugar. Add butter; cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it comes to a full boil. Reduce heat to maintain boil and cook, stirring frequently, 7 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat and stir in coconut and pecans. Cool, stirring occasionally, until thick enough to spread.
   6. Spread frosting over top of cake.

Father’s Day Cookout

When summer rolls around we can’t help wondering why men who don’t cook a meal from October to May bring out the charcoal chimney and the tongs and look around for something that has stopped moving to slap on the grill. It must go back to Paleolithic gender roles: men hunt and women gather.

These days, starting fires and handling meat is the closest most men come to the manly act of spearing a woolly mammoth. Why not give Dad a break on Father’s Day—take away his tongs, bring him a nice cold drink, and do the hunting and the gathering.

So, girls, here’s a recipe that your man would probably never make—Grilled Vegetables and Pork Chops in Lemongrass Marinade—but he’ll love it all the same. But remember, don’t get hooked on playing with fire; he’s going to want his job back next week.

Get the Kids Grilling with Dad on Father’s Day

Firing up the grill on Father’s day is a great way to bring the family together to celebrate Dad…but bring young children too close to the flames and you’re asking for trouble. Here are five great tips to keep the kids out of danger but still feeling like Dad’s special little helpers.

1. Explain the rules. Before your grilling adventure begins, sit the kids down for a safety pep talk. Set a strict no running policy in the cooking zone and show them the boundaries of this area. Let them help with strictly safe tasks, like stacking charcoal briquettes, and walk through the old "stop, drop, and roll" technique of tamping out flames, practicing the tried-and-true maneuver at least once or twice.

2. Set up a side station. Right outside of your grilling zone, have a table just for the kids where they can prep items for the grill—like mixing marinades or patting out hamburger patties—and assemble no-cook side dishes and salads with mom.

3. Let little cooks be creative. Present them with bowls of freshly cut vegetables and meat, chicken or seafood and let them design their own shish kababs. Make sure they wash their hands before and after handling the food and explain the safety reasons why as they go.

4. Get them in on the action. Kids will eventually want to watch daddy man those flames, so show them how it’s done from a safe distance in the cooking zone and let them assist Dad with doable (albeit non-flammable) tasks, like bussing platters of food from grill to table or fetching forgotten tongs or spatulas.

5. Let kids give Dad the ultimate gift: Put them on KP after the barbecue while he relaxes with a big bowl of home meade ice cream and allow them to assist in cleaning the grill once it's completely cooled and all flames are extinguished.