The other day my husband and I were sitting at the kitchen table. He was eating a late dinner after having gotten home from the office too late to eat with the boys. The aforementioned boys were playing "race car", which meant every 20 seconds or so the older one would shoot past us wearing his race car helmet and holding the matching steering wheel out in front of him. About 20 seconds after that the little guy would waddle past holding the Wii steering wheel out in front of him, totally mimicking his older brother. The race car helmet makes appropriate race car noises and both boys were giggling and screaming. It was kind of loud. But I think I heard my husband ask about "grandma's potatoes". Now I don't know if anyone else has ever heard of this dish or if it is specific to my husband's family, but I do know that I had never heard of it prior to joining this family. My husband's sudden interest in side dishes could only mean one thing. Side dish boredom had set in. I had to act quickly.
So I wanted to spice up dinner but didn't want to head back to the grocery store. For me, at least, part of the fun of trying new recipes and cooking for my family is doing it all well and coming in under budget. Lacking the items needed for grandma's potatoes I did the next best thing and threw together a brand new potato dish. It wasn't too bad!
Beth's "Side Dish to the Rescue" New Potatoes
1 pound small new potatoes, quartered. I would think that any type of potato would work, I just happened to have new potatoes in the pantry.
2 cups fresh baby spinach
4 green onions. Use more, use less, depends on how much you like green onions.
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour (approximately)
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon basil. I use fresh and I am just not sure I actually like basil, which is why I keep putting it in so many dishes. If you use dried then you will need to adjust the amount to suit your tastes.
1 cup milk (approximately) I use skim milk in all my recipes, because that is what I have on hand.
1 cup shredded cheese. I used mozzarella because that is what I had in the fridge. I would think any kind of cheese would be good in this dish, as long as it melts well. I would not use Velveeta. :)
bread crumbs.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the potatoes in lightly salted water in a large pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Boil for approximately 8 minutes or so. You want to use a large pot because you will be adding the spinach directly to the pot and will need the extra room. Stir in spinach and drain. Set aside.
In a smaller saucepan heat the butter. Cook the green onions in the hot butter over medium heat for about 3 minutes or so, until onions are softened. I like to use my kitchen shears to cut the green onions- so much easier than chopping and works great. This way you can cut them directly into the pot. Stir in flour, salt, pepper and basil. Continue stirring as you cook the mixture over medium heat until thickened. Add approximately 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese and stir until melted.
Lightly coat a 2 quart baking dish with whatever you use to prevent foods form sticking. I usually use cooking spray or olive oil. Layer half of the potato and spinach mixture into the dish. Pour half the sauce over the potatoes and sprinkle with cheese. Top this with the remaining potatoes and remaining sauce. Sprinkle with cheese and breadcrumbs.
Bake, uncovered for about 25 minutes until potatoes reach your desired tenderness. I shut my oven off after 25 minutes and kept the door closed and didn't serve the potatoes until about 15 minutes after that, so they were in the oven for quite some time and they were fine. It seems like this is a dish that is hard to mess up, which, of course, makes it an instant favorite of mine!
These potatoes were really good. I may have added a smidge too much black pepper. My husband liked them. I liked them. The 24 month old smashed his with his spoon and then moussed up his hair with them. The 4 year old tasted them, stated they tasted "sour" and refused to try another bite. To his credit though, he really doesn't like potatoes. And to the 24 month old's credit, he didn't eat anything for dinner, so I'm thinking it was less the potatoes and more the heavy lunch that stopped him.
I served this side dish with homemade chicken and noodles. It was the first time I made the chicken and noodles without using some sort of cream soup, and it was lighter and yummier, and took only slightly longer. Plus, it was healthier. Two of the three boys ate the chicken and noodles; the little guy, again, just smushed his noodles into his hair.
OK, so if I had it to do all over again I would probably not serve potatoes with noodles. But my mission was to create a yummy side dish with what I had on hand, so mission accomplished.
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