Revised Home Fries

I never understand how people can skip breakfast so easily. The minute I wake up in the morning, I immediately think "FOOD." I am by no means a morning person. It is the metabolic clock inside me screaming "Break the fast!" that gets me up and out of bed. On weekends when I have a little extra time to prepare breakfast, I like to try new breakfast and brunch recipe ideas. Today was a switch up with home fries. These go great with sliced fruit and some protein, like a veggie omelet, scrambled egg whites, or chicken sausage. When I suggest "veggies at every meal" my clients usually say "Well that is just silly at breakfast... I won't be chomping on carrots with my bowl of oatmeal," but home fries is a tasty way to get a serving of vegetables in as your first line of business for the day. There's just one little problem... typical home fries recipes can lead to overload of salt and oil, which can clock in at 360 calories, 19g Total Fat, and 600mg sodium per 1 cup serving. Well that's no good... I think we can do much better than that.

Revised Home Fries
Ingredients
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes
Olive oil in an oil mister* (1.5 tbsp)
1 tsp Black Pepper
½ tsp Paprika
¼ Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp Onion Powder
½ tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Dried Rosemary
2 tbsp Parmesan Cheese, grated
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper 
1/4 cup diced white onion

*If you don't have an oil mister at home, use a cleaned out spray bottle (one you may use to water house plants) and fill with oil for spritzing during cooking
*The recipe will work with really any white (or even sweet) potatoes, but Yukon Gold will have a buttery texture so you can get away with using less fat in preparation. 
Wash the potatoes under running water by just brushing the skin with your hand and dry them well. Leave the skin on- not only will this boost up fiber for satiety, but it will crisp well when cooking. Cut the potatoes into cubes. If you like your home fries soft with a crisp, you can pre-cook the potatoes in the microwave, or boil them. If you like them with a firmer crunch, then no need to pre-cook. Next, line a baking pie pan with tin foil. The pie pan will keep the potatoes close together so they stick to each other like they would if you were cooking them on the skillet. Mist or spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray. Put the cubed potatoes, chopped pepper and chopped onion in the lined pan and mist with olive oil. In a bowl, mix the black pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and dried rosemary then sprinkle evenly over pan. Sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan over the top. Place under broiler. If you didn't pre-cook the potatoes, broil for 7 minutes, then flip potatoes over and broil for another 4 minutes. If you pre-cooked the potatoes, then broil for 6 minutes. If you like them REAL crispy, mist again with olive oil and broil 2 more minutes. Keep an eye on them after 6 minutes to make sure they do not burn. Cooking times may vary.

Makes 2 servings.
Per serving: 261 calories, 12g Total Fat, 2g saturated fat, 4mg cholesterol, 34g carbohydrate, 5g dietary fiber, 0g added sugars, 6g protein, 88mg sodium

Who says healthy home fries only belong on the breakfast table? Pair them with grilled lean meat, skinless poultry, or fish at dinner with steamed green beans for a complete meal. Or, keep leftovers chilled in the refrigerator, toss in some fresh rosemary and chopped red and green bell pepper with an oil, vinegar and dijon mixture for dressing and serve as a mayo-free potato salad! If you are serving gluten free guests at a BBQ or dinner party, and you're not experienced with gluten-free starchy sides- here's an easy one for those skipping dinner rolls and pasta salad.