Roasted Sicilian Potatoes

Here's an easy, vegan side dish recipe you can bake or grill in foil packets.

It's an intuitive toss-together combo of potatoes, onion, garlic, tomatoes, olives and raisins--- with some hot pepper flakes thrown in to kick it up Sicilian style. I don't even know where the inspiration came from.

It all started with cleaning out the pantry.

We're leaving on our long pined-for road trip next Sunday (can you say, Stoked, Babycakes?). I've been trying to use up the remaining lonely bits of our fresh ingredients and whittle down our stash of friendly staples. I'm determined to scour the cupboards bare. One way or another. I'm leaving no can of fire roasted tomatoes behind. Or bags of organic popcorn. Whatever is left standing next Saturday night? It's all coming with me. Because deep in the cockles of my private tiny girl heart, I am not coming back. Nope. Not even to say good-bye.

So if you spy a black Honda Fit humming its little heart out, streaking across the Southwestern desert on its journey to Los Angeles stuffed with home-baked vegan goodies (translation: Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins, Chocolate Pecan Brownies, Lime Quinoa Salad with Mint, Two Potato Salad) and gluten-free comestibles (translation: several pounds of rice pasta, three boxes of quinoa, two sacks each of millet flour, sorghum flour, and tapioca starch, five jars of sugar-free organic preserves, one unopened bottle of Annie's ketchup, a shoebox packed with a baker's dozen bottles of dried herbs, sea salt, cumin and sesame seeds), well.

That would be, me.

Roasted Sicilian Potatoes Recipe

I used baby Yukon golds in this recipe but I imagine all kinds of potatoes would work- red, white, blue, sweet. Sweet potatoes may cook a little faster, however, so if you choose sweet potatoes, check for doneness earlier.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. baby Yukon gold potatoes, washed, quartered or cut up

1 smallish onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1/3 cup raisins- dark or golden

Handful of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

Handful of baby spinach leaves, washed, patted dry

Handful of black olives

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 to 3/4 cup light broth- as needed

1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes with spicy green chiles

1 teaspoon thyme

A sprig of fresh rosemary, chopped

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Hot red pepper flakes, to taste

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375º F. Lightly oil the bottom of a single large gratin dish or four individual baking dishes.

Dump the potatoes into a bowl. Add in the onion, garlic, bell pepper, raisins, fresh tomatoes, spinach leaves and black olives. Mix. Add in the olive oil, half a cup of broth, and diced tomatoes with juice. Stir to mix. Add the thyme and rosemary; season with sea salt and pepper. Add a shake of hot red pepper flakes, to taste. Stir to coat all the potatoes. If you need a splash more broth to make everything happy and moist, add it in.

Spoon the potato mixture into the oiled baking dish or dishes. Roast in the center of a preheated oven until the potatoes are slightly browned and fork tender- roughly 35 to 45 minutes, depending upon the size of the potato pieces.

Serves 4 to 5 as side dish.

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

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Karina's Notes-

I would love to try this recipe on a grill- in a foil packet- grilling these on medium high heat for 35 to 45 minutes, or longer, perhaps. I might add a little more broth to keep them moist. If anyone tries this recipe on a grill, let me know the timing of it. (Closed, covered grills will cook faster.)