Twice baked potatoes are jazzed up with broccoli, carrot, bell peppers, tomato… and of course cheese!
Ingredients
2 large potatoes (Russets if you have ’em), halved lengthwise
1 bell pepper, diced
1 C broccoli (about 1 head), chopped or diced
1 carrot, grated
1 onion, diced
2 cloves roasted garlic (or 1 t garlic powder, or both!!)
3 T plus 1 t olive oil
1/2 t smoked paprika
1/2 t sweet paprika
3/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t chili powder
1/4 C Greek yogurt
10 cherry tomatoes (or 5 cherry and 1 small regular tomato), chopped
3/4 C cheese, grated
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 350F. Brush cut side of potatoes with 1 t olive oil, sprinkle of salt and pepper. Place cut side down on baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes (or until a fork can be easily inserted into potato).
In last 10 minutes of potatoes’ baking time, heat a skillet; add 1 T olive oil. Once it’s hot, add veggies (all but tomatoes) and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove potatoes from oven. Cut around edge, leaving a 1/4″ wall, and scrape out the middle into a bowl (be careful not to pierce the skin). Add veggie mixture, seasonings, yogurt, tomatoes, 1/2 C cheese, 2 T oil. Mash together. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Fill skins with potato mixture. Top with remaining cheese and return to oven and bake 10 minutes (or until cheese is melted).
Notes
Serves 2 if it’s more of a main or large side course. Can serve 4 if it’s a side and each person gets a half.[br] Prep and veggie cooking can be done while the potatoes roast.
September ended, October has begun. It’s actually been fall for a while, but it’s not really fall (in my mind) until it feels like fall. September was hot. October 1st was 106F. That’s too hot for October. Now it’s cooling down. Relief! We ate on the back patio last night, because it was finally chilly enough. I’m a little obsessed with cooler weather. I love cold fall evenings. I love putting on a sweatshirt, or having to get a quilt ’cause I’m cold when we’re watching TV. I love to be cozy. (When I was little, I had a blanket that I called my “cozy”. Maybe that’s why I still like being cozy so much. I even like the sound of the word. It’s kinda comforting, and, well, cozy.)
My wedding was in October, so I love to remember that fall, which included a honeymoon close to Yosemite, and the brilliant fall colors. I love to think of fall in Ontario, where I grew up. I miss that kind of fall. I wish we were there right now, for so many reasons (one of whom is 2 weeks and 3 days old and would call me Auntie if she could talk).
I love that it’s the baseball postseason. My team didn’t do well this year. But, I just love to watch, so I’m glad that someone is in it, and I’ll keep wearing my Red Sox hat regardless.
I love that October is National Pizza Month. I love pizza. Almost as much as I love soup and sometimes more. Depends on the day. Today is a pizza day, Pizza Friday.
There are so many other things that I love about fall. I’ll save them for another time. For now, enjoy your weekend. Hope it’s lovely and just the right temperature. I hope it’s full of joy, laughter, good food, great company. That’s my desire for our weekend. I think we’ll start it off tonight by using up the last slice of bacon (literally, I have only one slice of bacon in the freezer) and make my BBQ Apple Bacon Pizza. It’s a treat for sure.
You want to know one of the challenges of my job? Not eating ALL THE TIME! Like right now, I just finished editing this taco episode. Then I had to retouch the photos. Then I had to type the recipe. All the while getting hungrier and hungrier. You know how you’re not supposed to go grocery shopping when you’re hungry? I think the same applies to writing about food. To be fair, it is lunchtime. But, there are other times when it’s not, and I’m thinking about the food on the computer screen so much that I can hardly keep myself from snacking on it (and sometimes I give in and eat the cold leftovers while standing in front of the fridge).
Whew, now that that’s been said, want to talk about this episode? It’s a simple dish. A perfect meal for a night when dinner hasn’t been planned and you need something quick. All you’ve gotta do is chop up a few veggies, cook some tempeh and some of the vegetables, warm up the tortillas (totally optional), and you’re ready to dish up!
If you’re afraid of the tempeh, don’t be. It’s good. But, if you insist that you don’t want to try it, no big deal, use your favorite kind of ground meat. I’m into that too.
Heat oven for a few minutes. Turn off and place tortillas (wrapped in tinfoil) to warm.
Heat pan. Add oil. Add crumbled tempeh, onion, corn, peppers, and seasonings. Cook about 10 minutes over medium heat (or until veggies are tender and tempeh is heated through), stirring occasionally. (Note: If using meat, add meat in place of tempeh, cook completely.)
In center of tortilla add a bit of the tempeh mixture and top with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, salsa, yogurt, and any other toppings.
Either fold at one end and roll sides in, or fold in half (works well for a larger taco).
Notes
This meal is vegetarian (unless you substitute for the tempeh with meat), and can be gluten free by using corn tortillas.
Heat oven for a few minutes. Turn off and place tortillas (wrapped in tinfoil) to warm.
Heat pan. Add oil. Add crumbled tempeh, onion, corn, peppers, and seasonings. Cook about 10 minutes over medium heat (or until veggies are tender and tempeh is heated through), stirring occasionally. (Note: If using meat, add meat in place of tempeh, cook completely.)
In center of tortilla add a bit of the tempeh mixture and top with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, salsa, yogurt, and any other toppings.
Either fold at one end and roll sides in, or fold in half (works well for a larger taco).
Notes
This meal is vegetarian (unless you substitute for the tempeh with meat), and can be gluten free by using corn tortillas.
What do you like to use your weekends for? Do you relax? Play? Go out of town? Maybe you have to work on the traditional weekend, and your weekend is in the middle of the regular work week?
My ideal weekend includes lots of down time. But, that doesn’t always mean lounging on the couch and watching movies all day (although an occasional day like that is wonderful, important even, in my opinion). For me it means some relaxing in front of the TV probably (hopefully catching whatever baseball game is on on Saturday afternoon), but also doing lots of little and random things around our home, that I might not get to during the week. Like transplanting our olive trees and digging in my garden, organizing a cupboard (yes, this is actually fun to me), planning our menu, rearranging furniture, making stocks and breads, cleaning out the fridge… I’m also happy when our weekend includes things like: walking the dog, sleeping in a little bit, popcorn, reading a good book, dinner with friends, church, reading a cooking magazine cover to cover, good TV and movies, a  glass of wine on the patio with Husband, laughter…
Weekends away are great, but I sure love a weekend at home.
Most Fridays we have pizza for dinner. “Pizza Fridays” I call them. I love being creative with pizza. It’s fun and really yummy. This past Friday I didn’t make any pizza dough. I got distracted with work and other things on my to do list. Not too big of a deal. I had a baguette that I sliced in half and topped with Margherita Pizza toppings. It was quick and easy and tasty.
In case you have a dough-less pizza night, here’s a cheater version. 🙂
