Steak, Spaghetti Squash Fritters and Roasted Potatoes - oh my!

I was really looking forward to dinner tonight - all day I plotted and planned knowing the one thing I was making was the Spaghetti Squash Fritters, Michael Symon's recipe naturally. From there, I decided on adding roasted fingerling potatoes and grilled flank steak. I bought the potatoes and squash at the local Farmer's Market and the steak at Whole Foods so everything was fresh and all natural.

The fritters I've made and blogged before but I'm doing it again because they are so yummy AND this time, they came out much better!

Chef Symon's recipe can be found on the Chew's website (http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Michael-Symon-Spaghetti-Squash-Fritters) which I tried to follow thinking I had all the ingredients...I didn't so I mixed it up just a bit. I started by roasting the squash on a 400 oven for about 45 minutes. In the past, I have cut the squash in half, giant pain in the butt, scooped the seeds and then roasted. This time, on the advice of a co-worker, I put the squash on a pan and roasted it as is - no cutting, no seeding. Once it cooled, I cut it in half (a LOT easier), scooped out the seeds and shredded the squash. It's very important to get all the moister out of the squash so I scooped that meat into a dish towel and gave it to the hubs to wring it out. Then added 4 ounces (or about that) of blue cheese, some garlic, chives (since I didn't have green onions), the zest of an orange and salt and pepper. Also added three tablespoons (maybe a bit more) of flour and one egg. Mixed it well and fried in canola oil then sprinkled with sea salt and more orange zest. In hind site, I could have skipped the chives because I couldn't taste it over the orange and blue cheese.

I bought red, white and purple fingerling potatoes at the Farmer's Market last week and wasn't too sure how I wanted to prep them. Ultimately, we decided roast them in olive oil, garlic, onions and salt and pepper. Mixed it so that the oil covered the potatoes and roasted in a 375 degree oven for 30-45 minutes; truth be told, I didn't really watch the clock, we don't mind the potatoes being over cooked. One thing about purple potatoes...they look funny but taste the same as a red or white potato. Plus, kids think they're fun!

I am still working on adding beef, good quality beef, into my diet. This is not easy for me by any means and I know the Hubs and L are very tired of chicken! I splurged on a flank steak at Whole Foods and attempted to grill it - still working on mastering the grill, too. I put some olive oil on it, salt, pepper, onion and garlic on both sides. Then I put it on a medium heat grill, roughly 6-7 minutes per side and got a nice medium steak for dinner.

The hubs and I were REALLY happy. This was the first meal I've worked on in quite a while.

All that was missing was a glass of wine for me and an Amstel Light for the hubs!

I hope you'll give the fritters a try, they are a good amount of work but worth it!

Enjoy - be well!