Maria NasirKeeping weekdays meals simple and quick, but still delicious and hearty, this is the challenge every homemaker faces each day, especially if there are growing kids in the house.
There are not many basic ingredients that my whole family agrees upon. Luckily potatoes are one of those few things that all four of us love but deep frying them is not the way to do it. Usually I bake them with or without skins with different flavour combos, make quick curries, mash them with greens to make patties or boil to make warm salads. Keeping the portion size small, baked, sautéed and boiled potatoes make yummy and healthy side for any family meal.
These Baked Lemon and Basil potatoes are my most favourite of potato sides to serve with a protein main. The refreshing, zingy, peppery, aromatic, lemon-basil combo is simply exquisite. I used to make this with dried basil and that always turned out quite good too but since I have fresh Thai basil in my garden, now I always use that and really the flavour is so much more robust and fragrance more appetising. It’s one of the easiest plants to grow from seeds, even on the kitchen window sill in a small pot.
The preparation time for these lemon basil potatoes is really short and hassle free. I serve them with both vegetarian and no vegetarian frittatas, burgers, steaks and wraps. The kids even request for these as Friday night movie snack.
If using baby potatoes, there is no need to peel them, just cut in halves.
You can use Sweet Basil instead of Thai Basil for this recipe. OR any other herb and greens you fancy. I sometimes add mint and baby spinach too.
Ingredients:
1 kg potatoes
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon red chilli flakes
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
salt to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup Basil leaves
This is What You Do:
Preheat oven at 180 degrees C.
Peel and cut potatoes into thick wedges.
Add garlic cloves, lemon juice, red chilli flakes, cumin seeds, salt and olive oil to a food processor. Make a sauce.
Add the sauce to the potatoes, toss to coat them completely.
Spread potato wedges in a single layer in a large baking dish. Cover the pan with foil paper.
Bake for 20 minutes. Turn the wedges, sprinkle roughly chopped basil leaves on top. Bake covered another 15 minutes.
Uncover the dish and bake another 5-7 minutes or place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes, till the potatoes are tender inside and crisp up on the outside.
Serve hot.
Serves 6