I wasn’t lying when I said I was in a soup mood. This particular soup resulted from an experiment. I had four fairly large red potatoes on the counter for a few days and I kept thinking – I bet I could make that into a soup in the Instant Pot.
I finally jumped in and took a chance. With great results, I might add. I wanted a creamy soup, pureed. But I didn’t want to add any cream or milk to it. Immersion blender to the rescue.
These Potato Breakfast Bowls are loaded with hearty red potatoes, scrambled eggs and sausage. The best part is that you can have them on the table in 30 minutes. This is my entry for the Potato Lovers Club Speedy Spud Challenge blogger recipe contest. This post was sponsored by the U.S. Potato Board.
I’m not what you would call a quick cook. I’m the first to admit that I lack swiftness in the kitchen.
It’s not that I have loads of time to kill or that I dislike quick recipes, I just have a very short attention span. When I’m cooking for myself, I only get about 5 minutes in before I catch something out of the corner of my eye and my head jerks quickly to the right.
Squirrel!
It often goes something like this. I’m chopping the onion. Oh, is that an episode of Gilmore Girls on T.V.? I need to turn the volume up. Then I open the sliding glass door to let out a whining pug so she can go fake potty and come back in to beg for her free treat.
Then I get back to the onion. I open the fridge for something. Oh, I really need to throw that out. Oh man, I forgot to empty the dishwasher.
You get the idea. A recipe might say it takes 20 minutes to make, but it’s not going to take me 20 minutes.
I’m sharing some green, along with my favorite St. Patrick’s Day recipes, and travel inspired by one my favorite places — Ireland!
I’ve had green on my mind lately. Isn’t it such a beautiful color? I grabbed some green things from around the kitchen last week and took a few fun photos. It got me in the mood for spring and for St. Patrick’s Day!
We’ve been to Ireland a few times now and each visit I get more inspired by the people, the food and the landscape. So when we have a holiday where I can celebrate those things back home, I’m all in.
These baby yellow potatoes are a recreation of an appetizer we had while dining out. They are served with a smoky sauce and topped with tangy pickled shallots and crisp crumbled bacon! The Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes I recently received from Melissa’s Produce are the perfect size for this party snack or side dish.
I’m not really a bar person. Brewery tasting room person, yes, but bar person, not so much. I’m talking about the kind where all the cool kids go. The places where you have to scream to speak with someone and get bumped so many times that you aren’t sure if you actually drank your cocktail or splashed it out of the glass.
Truth be told, though, these places are usually pretty cool, with intriguing interiors and inventive drinks. I don’t like to miss out completely, so if I do go, I prefer to be there about 5:00 pm.
Yes, I know. Old lady. But this is also when happy hour specials are available so I call it me being frugal.
Don’t worry. I see it, too. Happy hour specials could easily merge into the early bird discounts at the local restaurant and eating dinner at 4:00 pm. I may be on a downward spiral.
If you’ve read my blog much at all you know that Ireland has a special place in my travel-loving heart. I’ve had the opportunity to visit three times, exploring gorgeous landscape, overdosing on amazing food and drink and even meeting bloggers. So I can’t let March 17 pass without making something that uses a few flavors from Ireland. I’m always tempted by the incredible desserts that pop up on other blogs, but I decided to go savory. This is a super simple meal, but the Guinness adds a deep flavor to the kale that tastes so good with the eggs and potatoes. Bonus, it’s perfectly suitable for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Makes: 4 servings
Ingredients
10-12 red or white new potatoes, quartered
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 tsp dried dill
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 lb. kale, stemmed and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup Guinness Extra Stout beer
¼ tsp sea salt
4 poached eggs
Prep
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, dill, sea salt and black pepper. Stir to coat the potatoes with the oil and spices. Transfer the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir the potatoes. Return to the oven and bake 15 to 25 more minutes, or until the potatoes are tender with crispy edges.
While the potatoes are baking you can prepare the kale. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the kale and garlic. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring to coat the kale in the oil.
Add the beer. Cook 30 seconds more, or until the kale begins to wilt. Remove from the heat and stir in the sea salt.
To assemble, divide the potatoes into 4 serving bowls, top with ¼ of the kale and finish it off with a poached egg. Serve warm.
Sláinte!
Thanks for reading! All images and content are the property of Fake Food Free unless otherwise stated. Please do not republish full recipes or images without written permission. What is okay? Feel free to Pin images, share links to my posts or share the photo in a round up post with the title of this recipe and a link back to the post. Confused about copyright and food blogs? Here is some helpful information on Recipe Attribution. If you want to use a photo or full recipe, just ask. I’m sure we can work something out.
This hearty potato soup with kale is filled with smoky bacon ends and topped off with crunchy kale chips!
Kale chips are the new cracker.
Since discovering kale chips last year, thanks to all my favorite food blogs, I can’t get enough of them. Every time I pull a pan out of the oven I still look at them, amazed that a leafy green can turn so crisp and tasty.
When I decided to make some potato soup tonight I wanted to add a little something extra so I decided on a little kale in the soup itself. Then one thing led to another and I was topping my bowl with kale chips before dinner. Now I’m officially proclaiming kale chips as my new cracker for all my soups!
The soup starts with a little bacon. I’m able to get smoked, pastured bacon ends at our local meat shop which is perfect for this kind of thing. It chops up easily and I can use just what I need for each recipe.
Once all the veggies are cooked, I finish it off with a little half and half from one of my favorite Kentucky dairies. This half and half is low heat pasteurized and non-homogenized so the creamy fat thickens the soup nicely. To finish it off with just a little more smoky flavor, I turn to some smoked paprika.
I was a rainy, cool day here and I have a feeling more days like this are to come. This soup fits in nicely with the change of seasons; hearty, creamy and filled with a good dose of dark, leafy greens.
Smoky Potato Soup with Kale
Makes: 4 servings
Ingredients
Kale Chips
2 cups kale, chopped
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp fine ground sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Soup
¼ cup smoked bacon ends, diced
2 ribs celery, sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
½ large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups kale, chopped
2 tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
½ cup half and half
Prep
To make kale chips:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the 2 cups of chopped kale pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the olive oil, salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes until crisp.
To make the soup:
In a 3 to 4 quart soup pot, cook the bacon over medium heat until fat becomes visible in the bottom of the pan. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the celery, carrot and onion. Cook about 3 minutes and stir in the garlic. Continue to cook until the veggies are tender, about 5 more minutes.
Add the potatoes and cook for 2 minutes. Add water to the pot just to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. As soon as the potatoes become tender, add the kale. Cook just until wilted, about 1 minute.
Stir in the salt, pepper and paprika. Using a potato masher, gently mash the soup, breaking up some of the potatoes, but not all. Stir in the half and half. Transfer to serving bowls, top with kale chips and serve warm.
Thanks for reading! All images and content are the property of Fake Food Free unless otherwise stated. Please do not republish full recipes or images without written permission. What is okay? Feel free to Pin images, share links to my posts or share the photo in a round up post with the title of this recipe and a link back to the post. Confused about copyright and food blogs? Here is some helpful information on Recipe Attribution. If you want to use a photo or full recipe, just ask. I’m sure we can work something out.
