Oh hey, what’s up? I’m just sitting here, editing a post and thinking about the fact that my almost 5 year-old is ‘graduating’ preschool this week. And while I’m not crying right NOW, you best believe that this has been hitting me quite intensely for a few weeks now. How is it that the years are so long and so short all at once? I’m honestly at that point where if one more person stops me while I’m trying to calm a tantrum-ing child of mine in a Target with, “Enjoy it now. Mine are so grown and I miss them”, I just might lose it on them (the stranger, not my children. Let’s be clear). In the movie of my life that is constantly playing in my head, I have responded to these well-meaning strangers with an emotionally-charged, “I got it! OK!! I KNOW! YOU ARE THE 10th PERSON THIS WEEK WHO HAS SAID THAT TO ME. I AM CONSTANTLY STRUGGLING WITH WANTING THEM TO GROW UP AND NOT ALL AT ONCE! NOW PLEASE BUY ME A LATTE AND LEAVE ME BE”! Also in the movie of my life that is constantly playing in my head, the role of ‘me’ is played by the talented and stunning Gal Gadot cause it’s my movie and I can do what I want.
We are all on shaky ground lately due to the change that seems to be blowing our way. As a result, my husband and I went ahead and purchased a minivan cause what better way to manage your emotions then to participate in a major purchase (so says your friendly social worker and school counselor)!? Look, I know what I’m doing, OK? OK!? But honestly, I never knew I always wanted this minivan. Like, I didn’t know I always wanted to NEVER physically have to open the side doors to my car, but I don’t. I really don’t and thanks to modern technology, I don’t have to open my car doors ever again. When husband and I bought our first car 7 years ago, we spent every penny we had on a base model Honda Fit. The only luxury that car had was the standard automatic window. Now we’re ballin’ in our swaggin’ wagon and it’s a little strange. Have we all really grown up this much!?
Speaking of ‘growing up’, the other ballin’ thing I’d like to talk about is this here recipe of crash hot potatoes with pesto and labneh. If you don’t know about labneh, let me learn ya something. Labneh (also known as kefir cheese) is a tart cheese spread akin to Greek yogurt and can be found at your local kosher grocer or Whole Foods. I used to actually not like labneh but, as I mentioned above, I’ve done some growing up and so has my palate. I now LOVE labneh and actually prefer it to Greek yogurt for a delicious and protein-packed snack or breakfast (pair it with Persian cucumber, Roma tomatoes, salt and some delicious olive oil and you’ve got my ideal snack). The recipe below is basically my idea of ‘grown up’ cheese fries. Except instead of French fries you’ve got perfectly cooked fingerling potatoes and salty, fresh pesto to bring out all the flavors. You can make this as a dip or spread it on your plate like I did so you don’t have to do SO much work (dipping food into a dip can be a lot of work).
Crash Hot Potatoes with Pesto + Labneh
Ingredients for Crash Hot Potatoes:
1 lb. fingerling potatoes
6 – 8 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 tbsp flaky sea salt (such as Maldon)
1/2 cup Labneh
Ingredients for Pesto:
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed (can sub half the basil leaves with baby spinach)
1/2 cup freshly grated Romano or Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil.
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
3 garlic cloves, minced
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Boil potatoes in salted water until fork tender; about 15 – 18 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Drizzle a large sheet pan generously with olive oil. Place tender potatoes on sheet pan, leaving plenty of room between each potato. With a potato masher or large fork, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes. Brush or drizzle the tops of mashed potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with flaky salt such as Maldon Sea Salt.
Place sheet pan in oven and bake for roughly 20 – 25 minutes or until edges are browned and crispy.
While the potatoes roast, make your pesto: Recipe for pesto found here.
Once pesto is complete and potatoes are perfectly baked, spread labneh on a plate and top of pesto. Top that plate with potatoes and enjoy! You could also mix the pesto and labneh into a bowl and dip your potatoes in that as well. The choice is yours!
