Potato Goodness

Why did I used to hate potatoes? I mean, I grew up eating them all the time, and then there were about ten years that I absolutely hated them unless they were in the form of french fries. (Which I still love, by the way, and if there's nothing else on the menu, I'm getting fries.) But potatoes in any form are SO GOOD!

Lately, I've been making at least one meal a week based around potatoes. They are so yummy and budget-friendly! I just bought a five-pound bag of potatoes for 69 cents! Okay, maybe it was something like 69 cents a pound, but still! That's a load of potatoes for under five bucks!

Anyway.

Tonight I made good, old-fashioned scalloped potatoes. I checked out the Veganomicon cookbook from the library, which I'm now going to have to purchase, because the recipes are amazing. Take for instance, this vegan version of a classic dish. W was super excited about this meal. It seems we both grew up eating a lot of scalloped potatoes, so this was a throw back to the eighties. Thank you Moms for instilling the love of potatoes in us. (I'm sorry I strayed away from them for awhile.)

"Herb-Scalloped Potatoes" from Veganomicon

3 average-size potatoes, scrubbed, sliced into 1/8 inch-thick disks
3/4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk (I used plain rice milk)
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil (I didn't have this, so I used Italian seasoning)
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
Several pinches of ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400.

Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch glass baking dish.

Layer the potatoes in the pan, allowing them to slightly overlap. Lay them across the short way first.

Pour most of the vegetable broth over the potatoes, reserving about 3 tablespoons (no need to be exact.)

Pour the soy (rice) milk and drizzle the olive oil over potatoes, making sure to coat each one.

Scatter the minced garlic over everything, then sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the nutritional yeast over all the potatoes. Drizzle the remaining vegetable broth slowly; just get it moist. Then sprinkle with the last tablespoons of nutritional yeast, the herbs and the salt.

Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

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And the verdict is....

"Mmmmm! This is sooo flavorful!"

"We should totally make this for a dinner party."

"These are the best potatoes we've ever made."

"I'm going to eat them for lunch for the rest of the week... if they last that long. You HAVE to keep that recipe."

There you have it. An amazing good ole-fashioned dinner. Potato Goodness.