Greek Feast, Part Four: Artichokes & Potatoes

One of the suggested dishes for Greek week was this Artichoke-Potato Medley, and though it had olives (a food I've never quite managed to acquire the taste for), the pictures looked so divine that I had to try it. Also, the original poster noted they were not fond of olives but loved them in this dish. (I concur with this opinion, by the by, all of you fellow olive-haters.) Also-also, I knew S-Pidge would be coming for dinner, and I knew she was an olive lover.

Give this recipe a try; it was delicious. My husband plans on eating them again this weekend; I will be in Utah visiting a dear friend of mine and he and the children will be fending for themselves... in part by convincing a local friend of ours to cook for them, it seems! This was also delicious as a vegetarian meal, stuffed into a pita with tzatziki sauce.


Look, there they are, right up at the front; aren't they lovely?

We doubled this recipe and had a lot of leftovers. Which was fine by us because YUM.

Start by washing and quartering the potatoes, then put them in a pot of cold water on the stove and bring to a boil. Once they are boiling (this can take a while), reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about five minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender. Drain.

Return them to the saucepan (and here is where I would vary this next time, by putting them into a large skillet instead; we had a heck of a time getting ours to brown the way they appear in the original post. They were still delicious but we would have liked a little bit of browning on them, and I think a wider surface area with more heat might do the trick); add the olive oil and the artichokes (the recipe calls for frozen but I couldn't find those at my grocery store so I did canned ones, drained, same quantity) and turn the heat to high. Cook until the vegetables start to brown, stirring occasionally.


We have been 'browning' this for quite some time and, as you can plainly see, very little actual BROWNING is taking place.

Add the chopped olives, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest (we left this out because my husband didn't feel like zesting), and paprika (we couldn't find sweet or smoked paprika, so we went with regular). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook 5 minutes or more, until fragrant and heated through.


Eat. A LOT. Because they are YUMMY.

Artichoke-Potato Medley
serves 6

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. small red potatoes, quartered
2 10-oz. boxes frozen artichoke
hearts, thawed
1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced (4 tsp.)
3 Tbs. chopped parsley
2 Tbs. lemon juice
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
3/4 tsp. sweet or smoked paprika

DIRECTIONS
1. Bring potatoes to a boil in large pot of salted water. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 5 minutes, or until potatoes are just tender. Drain.
2. Return potatoes to saucepan; heat over high heat with artichokes and oil. Cook 5 minutes, or until vegetables start to brown, stirring occasionally. Add olives, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest, and paprika. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Cook 5 minutes more, or until fragrant and heated through.


S-Pidge is a fan.




I am participating in the Global Cook Along project, where we try recipes from around the world. We focus on one region's cuisine each week. We try to do ours as one big potluck-style meal each week, but other people are doing one meal a night, a week, whatever works for them! To learn more, see additional recipes, or to participate yourself, check out our livejournal community and / or our facebook group!

with love from K-Pidge :)