My dear friend Michelle, whom I have known through Instagram for about 10 years, has come out with a wonderful plant-forward and pescatarian cookbook – Supper With Love. We go back a long time – she was one of my first friends on Instagram, who supported me when I started making jams for the Jam Lab.
Michelle is a wonderful person, who is straightforward, honest and a beautiful soul. I had the pleasure of meeting her when she was in the Bay Area last September, shooting for her cookbook.
Supper With Love
Michelle’s cookbook is an ode to her mother, and I truly understand her sentiments. She writes very fondly about her memories with her mother, and how her mother encouraged her to write this cookbook. I love that her cookbook has so many plant based recipes, which is not true of so many published cookbooks nowadays, especially with me being a vegetarian.
How is the cookbook divided?
The cookbook is divided into several chapters such as Salads, Soups, Handy things (consisting of wraps, sammies, pizza), Brinner recipes (now I love this concept – Breakfast that can be had for dinner!), Bowls, Sides and her personal favorites – Supper with Love. She also provides a scancode for Spotify playlists to enjoy as you cook along to her recipes.
I have bookmarked a lot of recipes that I want to make such as the Vegetable Chowder, the Panzanella-ish Pizza, Spicy Tofu Bowls, Roasted Baby Broccoli with Romesco Sauce to name a few.
I had most of the ingredients for the Loaded Smashed Potatoes and I know my family would love it – so that is what I decided to make first! They are a lovely take on the popular smashed potatoes but with a Greek twist of Tzatziki, tomatoes, olives, pepperoncini, feta.
Ingredients of the Smashed Potatoes:
The ingredients of the smashed potatoes are pretty simple:
- Petite gold potatoes – be sure to use small potatoes, so that they cook faster and are easy to smash as well.
- Extra virgin olive oil – The oil makes the potatoes flavorful and crispy.
- Oregano – adds a lovely fresh herb element to the potatoes
- Salt
- Lemon – gives a bright zing to the potatoes
How to make the smashed potatoes?
The potatoes are easy to make. You boil them to soften. Then you smash them on a baking tray, add the other ingredients – minus the lemon on the top and bake it off at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes. Be sure to flip them half way through. They come out beautifully crispy and perfect!
Other condiments for the Loaded Smashed Potatoes
The pickled red onions are so easy to make and are great for tacos as well or simply a salad bowl! Love it! I have made it twice already. The tzatziki is one of my favorite dips or sauces, and it came together very easily too.
Assembly was a breeze, and I simply put all the ingredients on top of the smashed potatoes. I do not like pepperoncinis so I added sweet peppers instead that I bought from Whole Foods. I am not a fan of dill as well, so I added some roughly torn mint on top.
As soon as I told my family that the dish was ready, ofcourse once I took videos and pictures of the complete dish, they came down and it was snuffed within minutes! They devoured the dish completely – no potato left behind! Haha!
If you are looking to eat more plant based foods in 2024, TRUST me, you HAVE to get my friend Michelle’s new cookbook baby – Supper with Love, that is available on Amazon, as well as all bookstores. Her recipes are easy, delicious, vibrant, and perfect for everyday meals. Gift it to friends who are looking to eat more plant based – there is a ton of inspiration, and substitutions available – and a ton of flexibility with the recipes.
You can get a copy of the cookbook here.
Be sure to tag @supperwithmichelle if you are making this recipe!
XO
Amisha
Loaded Smashed Potatoes
Ingredients:
Potatoes
- 1 ½ pounds (680g) petite gold potatoes
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Fine sea salt
- ½ medium lemon
Quick-Pickled Red Onions
Makes about 1 ½ cups (165g)
- ¾ cup (175 ml) unseasoned rice vinegar
- ¼ cup (60 ml) apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon pure cane sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
Tzatziki Sauce
Makes about ⅔ cup (170 g)
- 3 inches (7.5 cm) of a medium English cucumber
- ½ cup (115 g) plain whole-milk Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or distilled white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For Serving
- 1 medium tomato, seeded and roughly chopped
- ½ cup (80g) pitted kalamata olives, halved
- 6 pepperoncini peppers, stemmed, seeded and thinly sliced
- 2 ounces (56g) feta cheese, crumbled (about ½ cup)
- Flaky sea salt (optional)
- Chopped fresh dill
Get Recipe Ingredients
Method:
Quick-Pickled Red Onions
- Combine both vinegars, the sugar and salt in a small saucepan over low heat. Gently warm until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved in the vinegar, then remove from the heat. Cool slightly. Put the red onion into a mason jar or other heatproof glass container with an airtight lid. Pour the vinegar mixture over the red onion to cover. Put on the lid slightly ajar until cooled completely. Seal and store in the refrigerator for atleast 2 hours to allow the flavors to marry, the longer the better. These will keep in the refrigerator for upto 2 weeks.
Tzatziki Sauce
- Halve the cucumber lengthwise and seed. Grate on the medium holes of a box grater. Squeeze out the excess water from the cucumber and place in a small bowl. Add the yogurt, garlic, vinegar, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. The tzatziki sauce can be made upto 3 days ahead, and kept refrigerated in an airtight container.
Cook the Potatoes:
- Preheat the oven to 450F.
- Put the potatoes in a large pot and add water to cover the potatoes by several inches. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then continue to boil until the largest potato is fork-tender, 15 to 25 minutes. Drain and, once cool enough to handle, place the potatoes evenly spaced on a large sheet pan.
- Using the bottom of a large glass, gently press down on each potato until ¼ inch (6mm) thick. They don’t have to be perfect. Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with the oregano, and season liberally with salt. Transfer to the oven and bake until they are golden and slightly crispy, 20 to 25 minutes, flipping halfway through. Squeeze the lemon over the roasted potatoes when they come out of the oven.
To Serve:
- Transfer the potatoes to a serving platter, top with the tomatoes, olives, pepperoncini, feta, tzatziki sauce, pickled red onions and dill. Serve immediately.
