Salt Roasted Rosemary Potatoes with Roasted Garlic Rosemary Butter & Arugula Salad...[gasp]

Hi, folks.

I made this dinner a few weeks ago for my parents and some of their friends.  

It all started because I made a chicken recipe {found on Pinterest} for my parents & my mom liked it so much she had me make it for all of her friends that she raved about it to.

I have made this chicken so many times...well, more on that later.

Right now I want to tell you about the sides that I made for this dinner.

First, I salt roasted some baking potatoes. 

I first heard about salt-roasting when Brian & I were over on the Gulf Coast visiting my cousin, Grove, & her husband, Adam.

They made these for us and I thought it was so cool but also seriously delicious.

The potatoes turn out so moist & fluffy that you really don't even need to put butter on them...but I did, because everything is better with butter.  

And because I found a recipe for Roasted Garlic Rosemary Butter.  

Puh-lease.  Just try to stop me.

{this recipe is from Cook's Illustrated magazine}

Scrub your potatoes to get rid of any dirt or grime...ew.

Fresh rosemary...yum.

Thoroughly cover the bottom of a 9x13
inch baking dish with table salt.
Remove outer paper from a whole head
of garlic and cut the top off.

Nestle the dry potatoes,
4 or 5 sprigs of rosemary,
& the garlic {cut side up} in the salt
leaving space between the potatoes...

...like this.
Cover with foil & bake in a pre-heated, 450 degree oven for
an hour to an hour & 25 minutes.
Carefully remove the foil, take the garlic out & brush
the potatoes with a little olive oil.
Increase the oven's temperature to 500 degrees
& bake the potatoes, uncovered, for an additional 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine an 1/8 teaspoon of salt
& a 1/4 teaspoon of fresh, minced rosemary...

& once the garlic is cool enough to handle, gently squeeze
the garlic out of the paper & mash it on up.

Add the garlic to the bowl with the salt & rosemary
& 4 Tablespoons of unsalted, softened butter
& mix well!
{Hey, Vegans, use Soy-Free Earth Balance!}

I really hope y'all will try this...the potato turns out crispy on the outside & moist & fluffy on the inside. 

Plus, they're infused with the garlic & rosemary flavors.

& with the Roasted Garlic Rosemary Butter...umm, yea.  Yum.

So, next I made this really delicious salad.  

My friend Ashley made it for us one night when we were cooking out.  It is just a baby arugula salad with a basic vinaigrette, {from Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basics Cookbook.}

I used a bag of baby arugula...

the juice of 2 lemons, a 1/2 cup of olive oil, a 1/2 teaspoon of salt,
a 1/4 teaspoon of pepper & freshly grated parmesan cheese.

{I asked Brian to stir the dressing while I was finishing up the potatoes & about 10 minutes later I realized he was still stirring...he's cute.}

Mmm.

Mmmm.

Mmmmmmm.

So, this dinner turned out preeeeeetty well.  It was delicious & really very easy.

I'll tell you more about the chicken later...

Until then, enjoy your Thursdays everyone, Brian & I are trying out a new recipe tonight at my parents' house for the White Sox v. Red Sox game.  Go White Sox!