If all else fails: potatoes
Posted by The Wares Team on 7th May 2020
There can be no denying that the past few weeks have forced every
household in the country to make changes that were unimaginable even at
the start of the year. Many of us are working from home or have been
furloughed from our jobs, some are self-isolating
for at least 12 weeks, and all of us are getting used to a new way of
shopping, either switching to home deliveries or trying to do one big
shop a week.
Meal plans are becoming the new normal, as families spend more time
thinking about the food they eat and try to make their grocery shopping
go a lot further. No doubt many of us have had to rustle up a meal out
of unusual ingredients, having found ourselves
running out of some store cupboard essential or other, and unable to
simply pop to the shops to replace it.
In today’s blog post, we thought we’d take a look at something of a
culinary lifesaver - the humble potato. By having a big bag of potatoes
in store at all times, you can guarantee to be able to pull together a
tasty, nutritious and balanced meal that doesn’t
stretch the budget.
Potatoes for dinner
It’s easy to think that potatoes are a bit dull and dreary, but if you
believe that, you need to think again! It’s time to see potatoes as the
base on which to build a fabulous meal. Let’s start with the humble
baked potato...how often do you serve these with
baked beans or cheese, or perhaps both? Tasty though those fillings may
be, it’s easy to get a lot more creative with baked potatoes.
Try them topped with strips of juicy frying steak, onions and Swiss
cheese, for example, or go veggie for the evening with a range of
grilled vegetables drizzled in olive oil. Think red and yellow peppers,
sun-dried tomatoes, thin strips of courgette and a
little bit of spring onion. How delicious does that sound?
Potato wedges are another great idea, and these are likely to go down
well with kids as well as adult family members. Try loading them with
good quality bacon, or grate some Parmesan on them, then sprinkle with
paprika and crisp up in a hot oven. Potato wedges
are great for dipping too, so make a batch and have an informal supper
with lots of tasty dips, such as salsa, yoghurt mint sauce or hummus.
Potatoes for lunch
Whilst you might not want to sit down at lunchtime and scoff a big,
loaded baked potato, there are still ways to incorporate those
inexpensive and versatile spuds into a lunchtime treat. How about making
a big batch of potato salad for example? Chop and boil
some potatoes and then mix with mayonnaise, pepper, chopped spring
onion and chopped hard-boiled egg. If you make more than you need, you
can stop it drying out by storing it in glass jars in the fridge, so you
have plenty to dip into over the next couple
of days or so.
Another fabulous potato snack is crisps - and how many times during
lockdown have you wished you had a bag in the cupboard, ready to graze
on? What a lot of people don’t realise is that homemade crisps are easy
to make and they taste sensational. This is a
great idea to get the kids involved in a kitchen project, as they’ll be
keen to learn once they know what you’re planning to make. You can make
these by frying them in oil, or by baking them in the oven, so if you
do involve your kids, you may want to choose
the oven-baked option to minimise the risks involved.
Not forgetting soup
Of course, we couldn’t talk about how versatile potatoes are without
talking about soup. Quick to make, nutritious and filling and a real
comfort food for all the family, soup is something we should all make
more often. And potatoes are perfect as a base for
any type of soup, giving it just the right degree of thickness. Potato
and leek is the obvious choice to get started with, but why not try a
fancy cream of potato soup, adding milk, pepper, herbs, celery, mustard
seed and a splash of Worcestershire sauce,
for a surprisingly elegant taste?
You can also go experimental with your soup, adding spices from your
favourite style of food. If you love Indian food, try adding Indian
spices to your basic soup recipe. Prefer Thai food? Add coconut milk and
a spoonful or two of Thai green curry paste. Again,
you can use glass jars to store your soup in the fridge, to spread it
out over several days.
Have you been getting creative with your meal planning and cooking
during lockdown? Have you found some new favourite dishes, or invented
your own exciting recipes? Please feel free to share your ideas and
experiences with us, and we’ll share them with our
friends and followers. Find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!