I have great taste!

Garlic-Pesto Oven Fries… and How I Do Christmas Gifts

nutritionista:

Aaaand I’m back from the holiday celebrations! I missed you all. How were your holidays? Let me tell you a little tidbit from mine…

My boyfriend and I have been together for going on five years. That means we’ve pretty much gotten everything we can get each other when you include birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries.

This Christmas, we agreed to go easy on the gifts and just spend some quality time together instead. To me, quality time = food, so I decided to whip up a delicious dinner we could enjoy together.

The star of the show was, hands down, the pesto oven fries I made. I used Susan’s recipe as a starting point (her technique looked solid!) and added my own flare in the form of pesto (because what doesn’t pesto make tastier?!).

You’ll need (makes 3-4 smallish servings):

• 5-6 medium potatoes cut into wedges. I used Yukon Gold, but you could probably use any kind you have
• A couple tablespoons infused olive oil if you have it, or just regular olive oil.
  2-3 tablespoons pesto (more if you want a strong pesto taste!). If you use regular oil, mix in 3-5 minced cloves of garlic with your oil before adding to the potatoes.
  
• salt and pepper to taste

Make it:

• Preheat oven to 400*. Susan’s recipe says 450*, but I was cooking a roast along with the fries and didn’t want it to overcook. It worked out just fine! I may have had to cook the fries 5-10 minutes longer, but no biggie.
• Boil the wedges for around five minutes, or until they’re just pierce-able with a fork. Like Susan says, they shouldn’t be edible at this point!
• Drain the water, run some cold water over the fries to cool them down, and then put them in a mixing bowl. Add your olive oil, pesto, and salt + pepper.
• Grease (heavily) a baking sheet (or two) with more olive oil and spread the fries out. No crowding!
• Bake ‘em for 20-25 minutes, or until the underside of the fries starts to turn golden-brown. Flip and cook for another 15-20 minutes.
• Serve with a sprinkling of parmesan and parsley if you’d like.

GAHHHH, these were so delicious. By far the crispiest, most fry-like oven fries I’ve ever made. I’m definitely going to use the par boiling technique again!

Don’t they look fabulous?

To round out the meal, I made a pot roast and some sauteed green beans.

Yes, that is a yellow poinsettia with glitter on it. No shame.

Anyway, if I do say so myself… My boyfriend is a lucky dude. This girl can cook. But you all knew that. ;)

(Source: yourhealthista)