Roasted Potatoes and Onions

Ingredients:
4 baking or all-purpose potatoes (about 8 oz each), left unpeeled, but washed and any dark or damaged spots removed
4 medium onions (about 5 oz each), left unpeeled (Vidalia or Maui onions are a good choice)
1 1/2 tbsp peanut or safflower oil
1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Split potatoes in half lengthwise, and cut the onions in half crosswise.

3. Pour the oil on an aluminum jelly roll pan. Sprinkle the salt over the potatoes and onions, and place them cut side down in one layer on the oiled pan.

4. Place the pan on the bottom rack of the 400-degree oven (or, if you want the underside of your vegetables very crusty, on the oven floor). Bake for 40 min until the potaotes and onions are tender when pierced with a fork, lightly browned on top, and dark brown on the underside.

5. Set the potatoes and onions aside to rest for 10 min., lift with a spatula and serve.


This is a pretty straightforward recipe, just cut everything in half, season and place cut side down on an oiled pan. One caveat though - make sure you put down some foil or parchment first. I've positively RUINED some of my nice nonstick baking sheets doing this in the past.

Cheats & Changes:
I used several smaller potatoes that I already had in the house instead of the large baking potatoes. I also ran out of room on my pan and only cooked one onion (a Texas 1015), since I knew that neither Troy nor I would really want to eat one whole onion each. I also realized after the fact that I'd cut in half lengthwise instead of crosswise, meaning that instead of having rings, I had "petals." No big deal, really, it just wasn't as pretty. I baked this on the bottom rack underneath my soda bread, so it took a little longer than the 40 minutes stated in the recipe. Not all the potatoes got as brown as I would have liked, but they were all cooked through and tasted fine. I made extra to use for hash browns or whatever later.

The Verdict:
T and I both loved this dish. I think we both tend to favor food that's simply cooked. The potatoes were a no-brainer since we both love potatoes in any form, but the onions were a bit of a surprise. They were nicely cooked through, sweet (definitely use a sweet onion if you can) and the carmelized bottom gave it a little more depth of flavor. Both of us thought that the dish did need more salt, but then again, we like our food salty. I'll definitely make this again as an easy side, especially if I already have the oven on for something else.