Potato Skin Bruschetta

There is an Italian restaurant nearby that serves up some pretty awesome bruschetta.  A few things I've noticed about it:

• The tomatoes are peeled and of good quality (not mealy or freakishly red like those at Taco Bell- seriously, what's up with that?)
• They're not skimpy with the fresha pepper.
• They are skimpy with the fresh basil, and even if you ask for more they still won't bring much.  

With these notes in mind, I set out to create some bruschetta, but having no decent bread in the house (or even at our little town store) I decided to give it a bit of a twist.  Potato Skin Bruschetta.  And it was awesome.

When my Grandma was still around (and what I wouldn't give to have her back again) we shared a little secret.  After family meals were over she would take whatever potato skins were left on the plates and roast them up with a little garlic and a whole lot of butter.  There was often hardly any potato left on the skins.  Potatoless skins, you might call them.  They were awesome, too.  But you want a little potato left on these.  1/4" border will help them to keep their shape.  On to the recipe.

Potato Skin Bruschetta
Yield: 1 serving 

For the Bruschetta:
4 Roma Tomatoes
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed (I used 2)
4-6 basil leaves, julienned (you can guess how much I used)
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Other ingredients:
1 Russet Potato
2 tbsp Pinenuts
Garlic oil/ butter/ earth balance (your choice- I used garlic oil)

Preheat oven to 400F and bring a large pot of water to boil.  Pierce potato several times with a fork and roast for about an hour.  Meanwhile, remove stems from tomatoes and use a paring knife to cut an X across their bottoms.  Place in boiling water for 1 minute, then remove.  When they are cool enough to handle their skins should be easy to peel off.  Scoop out their seeds and membranes using a small spoon or your fingers, and chop.  Add to a bowl and mix with rest of bruschetta ingredients.  Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.  Briefly toast your pine nuts in a small frying pan with no oil, medium heat just until fragrant and set aside.  When potato is finished, remove from oven and let cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes, until cool enough to handle.  Increase oven temperature to 475.  Scoop out flesh from potato, leaving 1/4" border intact, reserve flesh for later use.  Brush both inside and outside with butter or oil of choice.  Place flesh side down and roast for 6 minutes, then turn over and roast another 6 minutes until edges are golden.  Top with chilled bruschetta and pine nuts and serve immediately.  

Fasolakia: Greek Stewed String Beans

Man, oh man, do I have a recipe for you!  But- I can't take credit for it.  It comes courtesy of Susan Tweeton's blog, "Please, DON'T Pass the Salt!"  I've been a fan of Susan's ever since I discovered her site.  It's full of low and no sodium recipes that could fool even the biggest of salt addicts (me.)  I'm pretty particular about green beans- I tend to like them best roasted or sauteed, but this recipe seemed to call out to me, and I'm so glad it did.  Best of all- my kids love it!  They're no stranger to vegetables and enjoy a pretty good variety, but up until today they were of the opinion that green beans are to be tossed, not eaten.  So thank you, Sue, for this awesome recipe.  My arm workout (mopping this merciless tile floor) will have to wait.

The only changes I made were to use tomato paste instead of sauce (I never seem to have any sauce on hand.)  Tomato paste is more concentrated than sauce is, so I halved the amount and added more vegetable stock to thin it out. (4 oz. tomato paste, 1 1/2 cups broth.)  I also added one chopped jalapeno (along with the onions while they were sauteeing) because it was dying a slow and painful death in the crisper.  I ate this plain, but I'm sure that it would be even better with crispy bread or over rice or noodles.  Sue also recommends sprinkling a little feta over it. The recipe below is the original, and here is the link to the original post.

Fasolakia
 (Greek Stewed String Beans)
By Susan Tweeton of "Please, DON'T Pass the Salt!"

A flavorsome combination of green beans stewed in a tasty tomato sauce. Simple, healthful, and delicious. A wonderful holiday alternative to the usual cream soup based green bean casseroles.

2 pounds string beans, fresh or frozen
2 onions, chopped
2 – 4 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup olive oil (I use about 1/4 cup now)
1 - 8 ounce can (no salt added) tomato sauce
¼ - ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1-2 teaspoons mint (or a combination of dried mint, oregano, & dill)
2 potatoes, peeled and cut in 1-2 inch chunks (any kind of potato will work)
2 carrots, sliced
1 cup water or low sodium broth (I used low sodium chicken broth)
2 teaspoons salt (I omitted)
Pepper to taste

In Dutch oven, sauté onion lightly in olive oil. Add tomato sauce, string beans, and remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer over medium heat for about 60 minutes or until all vegetables are tender. Check after 30 minutes; add more water or broth if necessary. Serve hot or room temperature.