Roasted potatoes & carrots with herbs

There are very few people on this planet who don't like potatoes. Almost all cultures, cuisines have potatoes as a staple or use it in one form or the other. It can be had for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It can be a side or a main dish. Roasted potatoes is  a very popular side in the western world. The version I am sharing with you today is the quick, cheat version. This version was taught to me by my host-family when I first visited this country. Barbara is a girl after my own heart! She rustles up quick healthy meals without spending too much time in the kitchen! This dish is great when you are having people over or have to take a dish for some potluck. It could be a side at a grand meal or be perfect for a simple meal. You could make it rich by topping it with shredded cheese just before serving or keep it simple and serve it as is straight out of the oven. You could add carrots as I did or make potates alone. The choice is yours. Either ways, this recipe is a no-brainer, fool-proof and a keeper!

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

Lipton onion soup mix: 1 packet
Potatoes: 4-6 medium potatoes
Carrots: 2 medium
Onion: 1 big, cut into quarters , and layers separated.
Italian herbs: 1 tbsp ( fresh, chopped or dry)
Olive oil: 1/4 cup
Salt: as needed( if needed only as the soup mix has salt in it.
Black pepper: 1/4 tsp( freshly ground).
Grated mozzarella cheese: 1/2 cup( optional).

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 deg F.

Grease a baking tray and keep ready.

Wash the potatoes well, scrub the skin lightly to ensure all the dirt has been removed.

Cut it into quarters and put it in a bowl. 

Peel the carrots and slice it into big chunks.Add this to the bowl along with the chopped onions.

Drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes, add the soup mix powder and the fresh/dried herbs, black pepper powder and mix well.

Transfer the contents of the bowl onto the greased baking tray.

Place it uncovered on the middle rack of the oven for 40-45 minutes or until it turns golden brown, tossing once halfway through the baking time.

Sprinkle shredded cheese if you wish.

Serve hot.

Cooking made easy:

This dish is pretty versatile. You could add fresh herbs or dried herbs. Whenever possible, I use fresh herbs but I always keep a bottle of Italian herbs handy in my pantry. This is very useful as the addition of it makes any dish flavorful. Of course, for this particular dish, you could skip the addition of herbs entirely!

Tip for healthy living:

Whenever possible use organic potatoes as potatoes are reported to have the highest level of pesticides in them. It's like double whammy! Being a root vegetable, they already absorb the pesticides present in the soil and they also receive a fair share from the pesticide sprayed on the plant.

Food for thought:

Experience is the teacher of all things. Julius Caesar