Herb Broasted Potatoes ™

This is an easy alternative to baked potatoes.

Feel free to experiment with herbs and spices that you like. Enjoy!

4 medium potatoes
1/8  - 1/4 c + 2 T oil (adjust amount needed)
1 clove garlic (crushed and chopped)
2 tsp each parsley, chives (dried or fresh)
1 tsp rosemary (dried or fresh)
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp each: salt, lemon juice (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet or baking pan with 2 T of the oil.

Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and into 8ths.

In a mixing bowl combine potatoes and remaining ingredients. Toss potatoes to coat well with oil and herbs.

Place potatoes evenly on baking sheet or pan and and bake for 20 minutes. Halfway through cooking, remove pan from oven. Stir or flip potatoes to cook evenly on other side. Put potatoes back in the oven to cook for 20 minutes more or until done. 


Remove pan from oven and serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Serves 6.

Thank You Readers! Cooking with Heide turns 1.

Wow, what a year it has been!

This is a very special post today. "Cooking With Heide" turns 1.

To all readers who have allowed me to share my recipes with you, thank you.

To my Dad thanks for the suggestion to start the sites. Thanks to Ellen for never letting me give up when others said I was wasting my time. Thanks to Bill and Judy for feedback on the sites and photos. Thanks to my mom for giving me the skills to cook.

It is my hope that these recipes have inspired you to have fun in the kitchen and that cooking is very easy. And if someone who once burned water, or couldn't even make reservations can cook, so could you.

These recipes can be easily adjusted to fit any dietary needs.


If there is a dish that you would like for me to create an original recipe for, let me know.

Once again, thanks!

Gazpacho

Gazpacho is a vegetable soup that is made with tomato juice and chicken broth. 

Here I used vegetable juice instead.

Gazpacho is often served cold.

 It's refreshing on a warm day and is excellent as a light lunch. 

I've even enjoyed it in cooler weather as well. 

Enjoy!

2 c. each: tomato or vegetable juice (regular or low sodium), chicken broth (low sodium)
1 clove garlic (crushed and chopped)
1/4 tsp. each: pepper, salt, diced jalapeno 
1/3 c. cucumber chopped
1/4 c. green onion chopped
1/3 c. each: tomato chopped, onion chopped, bell pepper chopped


Rinse, cut cucumbers in half lengthwise and chop. 

Rinse, seed, chop peppers.

Peel, rinse, chop onion. 

Rinse, seed chop tomato

In a sauce pan, heat chicken broth for a couple of mins.  

You can also do this in a microwave safe cup for a minute, let cool.

To serve:

Pour chicken broth into a bowl.

Add vegetable juice to the chicken broth.

 Add desired vegetables to the bowl.

Sprinkle salt, pepper over soup to taste.

 Mix, chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Makes 8 servings.

Potato Salad

This is a simple recipe for potato salad.. Enjoy!

8-10 Potatoes
3 T Mayo + 1 T of salad dressing
8-10 Slices of bacon (crumbled)
4 hard boiled eggs (sliced to your preference)
4-5 carrots (shredded)
1 cup sweet onion slivered
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt (optional)
3 squirts mustard (approx 1-2 tsp)

Boil potatoes until they are soft enough to fall off fork (but not too soft for a mashed potato).

Let potatoes cool, peel off skin and cut into cubes.

In medium bowl combine remaining ingredients with mayo and salad dressing.

Refrigerate until you're ready to serve.

Serves 4

Fried Apples and Pears, Oh My! ™

This is a favorite recipe of one of my nieces.

This is a great side dish or you can serve it as a snack. You can also serve this over ice cream or alongside breakfast. I used brown sugar but feel free to substitute regular or dietetic sweetener.

1 each: apple,  pear
1 -2 T butter 
1- 2  T sugar (brown, or diet sugar), to taste
1 tsp ground cinnamon, to taste

Cut apple and pear into slices.

Heat saute pan to medium high heat.

Reduce heat to medium, add butter. Add apples, pears to pan and brown on one side for 2 - 4 min. 

Sprinkle half of cinnamon and sugar over fruit. Turn over fruit and repeat process with remaining sugar and cinnamon.

Serves 2.

Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage ™

You don't need the luck of the Irish to enjoy this easy and classic recipe for corned beef and cabbage.

3 - 4 lbs corned beef (approx 2 packages)
1 large onion (quartered)
4 medium potatoes (quartered)
4 carrots (broken in half)
1 - 2 heads of cabbage (cut into quarters)
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt (optional)
1 bay leaf

In a large pot place corned beef with enough water to cover meat. Bring water to a boil and boil meat for 5 min. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 2 1/2 -3 hours until meat is tender. Skim fat that rises to top with strainer.

Meanwhile cut potatoes, onions, cabbage into quarters. Break carrots in two. When meat is done, add vegetables to meat. Cook for 30 - 60 min. or until done.

Makes 12  4 - 6 oz  servings approx.

Mama Mia Pasta Sauce ™

This pasta sauce is so simple to make. I used ground round for the meat. I've also used fresh mushrooms for this, but you can use rinsed canned mushrooms if needed instead. 

Feel free to experiment and use what you like. For a vegetarian sauce, you can omit the beef or use a vegan meat.

1 lb ground beef (ground round)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
4 oz mushrooms
2- 3 T fresh or dried basil
2 T dried or fresh oregano
1-2 cloves garlic chopped
2 cans each diced tomatoes, tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt (optional)

In a skillet or saucepan brown beef, onions and peppers for 8-10 min. Drain off the excess fat from meat (If using ground round or sirloin, omit this step).

Add remaining ingredients to meat, onion and pepper. Reduce heat. Let simmer for 15-20 min, stirring occasionally. Serve over your favorite pasta.

Serves 6-8