Happy Halloween! I love Halloween; it’s hard not to love a holiday that encourages dressing up and accepting candy from strangers. But since you can’t really make a meal out of candy corn and Reese’s(well, you can, and that would be my idea of heaven, but I won’t) I was cooking a lot through the relaxing weekend including these potatoes I had to use up.

I picked up red potatoes from my farmers’ market. After having them baked plain one night, I remembered I really wasn’t a fan of red potatoes. They don’t seem as starchy as other varieties, and if I’m having a potato I’m looking for that warm, starchy comfort food.

Since I had almost a pound to use up, I knew I’d need to find a way to make them taste irresistible. This method of soaking + roasting with garlic makes the potatoes soft, crispy, and full of flavor. Red potatoes still aren’t my favorite, but this recipe makes me like them a whole lot more.

The Best Red Potatoes

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1lb red potatoes
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• Diced chives(optional)

Method:

1. Wash the red potatoes thoroughly but keep the skin on.
2. Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters depending how big they are into bite-sized wedges.
3. Soak the wedges in hot water for 20-30 minutes
4. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
5. Drain the potatoes from the water but don’t dry them. Toss with the olive oil, garlic, and salt until evenly covered.
6. Lay the potatoes out on a roasting tray and roast for 45 minutes or until the potatoes have started to brown and wrinkle.
7. Remove from the oven and serve hot. Garnish with chives if desired.

Most of the garlic burns by the time the potatoes are ready. You can pick them out and discard them; by now the garlic flavor has totally soaked in. I’ll admit: It’s a lot of garlic. If you have plans to be in public later or dress up like a vampire, you may want to save this for another time.

Luckily I wasn’t a vampire. Who was I? Ron Swanson.

This may be hard to believe, but that’s not my actual facial hair(I know—absorb the shock). And now I have 10 extra fake mustaches to wear whenever I feel like it. Cool beans. I also like to think Ron Swanson would enjoy these potatoes, even if he wouldn’t care at all how they’re made and insist on eating them with all the bacon and eggs he has.

What were you/will you be for Halloween?

Last week I watched Forks Over Knives one night during dinner(it’s streaming on Netflix). Have you seen it? It’s a documentary that follows the careers of two scientists studying the effects of a plant-based diet on humans and sharing the comparative data from around the world. It’s a lot of information to take in at once, but a very compelling and thought provoking film.

The movie left me with a lot to think about. I already eat vegetarian and mostly dairy-free, both of which the film promotes. But it had me thinking more about the other parts of my diet that I don’t tend to question, specifically protein. I like most people grew up with an emphasis on protein with every meal; even now I almost always make sure my meals revolve around eggs or tempeh. But the film makes the point that, if eating a whole foods diet, a person doesn’t have to worry about a protein deficiency since all whole foods have some amount of protein in them. It’s only since we’ve started eating processed and refined food that protein has become a problem.

While I’m not quite sure what to do with all the information from the film, I think it has a good point about protein and what “needs” to be on our plates at meal time. Since watching I’ve tried eating alternative meals that fit the Engine 2 Diet, like this quinoa bowl. It would make a great side dish to chicken or tofu, but it also makes a hearty and satisfying meal by itself.

I made this using leftover quinoa and pre-cooked butternut squash. Expect for the time to be longer if you’re starting with raw ingredients.

Quinoa With Butternut Squash, Craisins, and Almonds

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 4 side servings or 2 entrees):

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 cups cooked and diced butternut squash
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup crushed or sliced almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon honey or agave nectar
• 1/2 Tablespoon white vinegar

Method:

1. Combine all of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.
2. Serve hot or at room temperature.

I ate mine cold with some kale and avocado and it was a perfectly satisfying meal.

Is it too soon to start dreaming about Thanksgiving side dishes? We only have a little more than a month to go so I’m going to say not.

The truth is, warm, comforting Holiday dishes are so good there’s no reason not to eat them all season long, except that they might fill you out a little too fast. Mashed squash is a great healthy substitution for mashed potatoes when it’s not loaded with too many sticks of butter(I’m looking at you, Pioneer Woman).

This recipe calls for a very specific type of squash: Buttercup squash, otherwise known as kabocha squash or Japanese pumpkin. This variety cooks softer and starchier than most other varieties so that it mashes more like a sweet potato but still has that distinct squash flavor to it. You can find buttercup squash at most grocery stores; I find mine at the farmers’ market where it’s probably cheapest at $4 a squash.

Creamy Mashed Squash

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients(Makes 4-6 servings):

• 1 medium-sized buttercup squash
• 6 Tablespoons butter*
• 2 Tablespoons cream or milk*
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of nutmeg

*You can also use dairy-free alternatives in place of both of these and make the dish vegan.

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut the squash in half and remove the filling and the seeds.
3. Roast the flesh of the squash skin-on until it’s soft and scoopable—about an hour.
4. Remove the halves from the oven and wait until they’re cool enough to handle.
5. Carefully scoop the flesh away from the skin and combine it in a mixing bowl. Discard the remaining skin.
6. Add the butter, cream, salt, and nutmeg to the squash and mash it with a potato masher until smooth. For an even quicker and smoother method, put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.
7. Transfer the squash to a serving bowl and serve hot.

My favorite part is the pat of butter on top. It reminds me when growing up I would steal the cold foil-wrapped slices of butter from the bread basket at restaurants and eat them plain. This recipe—I hope–is a little more appetizing than that, though.