{Cooking Light Night} Roast Potatoes with North Indian Spices

I have no idea what led me to the recipe for these potatoes, but it made its way to the top of The List, and I'm glad it did! I'm a big fan of potatoes, especially roast potatoes, which I usually toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and some fresh herbs. I've never seen this combination of ingredients (jalapeno, mustard seed, fresh ginger, garlic, turmeric, dried hot peppers, mint, cilantro, lime juice), and was very curious to see how all those flavors melded.

cook's notes:

- This recipe is very fast-paced, so I'd recommend that you have everything chopped, measured, ready, and in prep bowls.

- I didn't have black mustard seeds, so used the yellow variety. I found that the seeds popped right on time, but that they seemed to continue cooking a bit too much. I'd add the next ingredients after about 30 seconds, instead of waiting for the seeds to pop.

about to pop!

- I used a spatter guard so that the popping seeds wouldn't jump out of the pan.

- Turmeric is highly STAIN-producing. We've actually learned this in various interesting ways over the years, but I thought my blue silicone baking dish would be impervious. I was wrong, and now I have a blue + green baking dish. Use glass or metal bowls and pans for this recipe (unless you have a yellow baking dish already).

- I only had a tiny bit of fresh mint, so I cut the herb/lime part way back. It was great on the potatoes, so next time I'd make sure to have enough.

ready for the oven

the verdict:

- these potatoes are unusual and delicious. You can increase the spice level by adding cayenne pepper powder, or more of the jalapeno.

- I served the potatoes with some lamb chops from the freezer (left over from a catered party), and a simple green salad. The potatoes shone in their starring role.

As always, thanks to Clara (CB) of I Heart Food4Thought for giving permission to use her "Cooking Light Night" logo. I've really enjoyed exploring the Cooking Light archives!

{Note: I'm celebrating my first 100 blog posts with a cookbook giveaway - to enter, go here and leave a comment before December 3}