Roasted Fall Vegetables

• 2 pounds (about 1 medium) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 pounds red new potatoes (12 to 14), well scrubbed and quartered
• 1 pound medium red onions (about 2 to 3), peeled and quartered
• 1 pound carrots (6 to 8 medium), halved lengthwise, if thick, and cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
• 4 to 6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Divide vegetables and garlic between two rimmed baking sheets (or line with parchment paper, if desired, for easy cleanup); dividing evenly, toss with oil, 2 teaspoons coarse salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
2. Roast until vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, 40 to 50 minutes, tossing them and rotating sheets from top to bottom halfway through. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Blackened Hatch and Tomato Salsa

from A Cedar Spoon

makes about 2 cups

super delicious and inspired by Kitchen Konfidence

Print this Recipe!

3 hatch chile peppers

1 small red onion, peeled and quartered

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1 pound cherry tomatoes

salt, fresh cracked black pepper and a good drizzle of olive oil

juice of 1 or 2 limes

small handful fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

splash of water, to thin it out a bit

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Place whole hatch chiles, quartered onion, whole garlic cloves, and whole cherry tomatoes on an unlined baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Place in the oven and allow to roast for 20 minutes, or until tender.  Remove from the oven and toss the vegetables together.  Place the oven on t he broiler setting to char the vegetables (this works best in a gas oven).  Place the vegetables as close to the broiler as possible and keep an eye on the vegetables as they begin to char.  Remove from the broiler and toss as necessary until the desired char is reached.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest until cool enough to handle.  Place the onion, garlic,and tomato in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment.

Place chiles on a cutting board.  Use a knife to remove their tops and cut lengthwise down the center.  Use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and discard. Coarsely chop the chiles and add to the bowl of the food processor.  Add lime juice and a few tablespoons of water.  Blend until combined.  Stir in cilantro if using.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Chill until ready to serve. 

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

from the Smitten Kitchen

Adapted from several places, but my favorite version is Alton Brown’s

To hard-boil eggs, well, there are a million approaches out there (see this comment section if you don’t believe me). Mine is to cover a large egg with cold water and put it on the stove and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, set a timer to exactly 9 or 10 minutes, and reduce the heat to medium. Once it’s done, I often plunge it in icy water so that it will stop cooking immediately and also chill quickly. At 9 minutes, large eggs will be a little tender in the center, as you can see in the top photo. At 10, it will be a fully-cooked (but not overcooked) egg.

If you’re freaked out by raw red onion, you can actually add it to the dressing in the skillet for the last 10 seconds to soften it and remove more of the bite, and pour the onions and dressing over the salad together.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces baby spinach
• 2 large white mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/4 small or medium red onion, very thinly sliced
• 1 large egg, hard-boiled (see above), chilled, peeled and thinly sliced
• 4 pieces thick-sliced bacon (about 4 ounces), finely diced
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon honey or sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon smooth Dijon mustard
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Place spinach in a large, wide salad serving bowl. Scatter with mushrooms, red onion (see above for a different, mellower way to add the onions) and coins of hard-boiled egg. In a large skillet, fry bacon bits over medium-high heat until they’re brown and crisp and have rendered their fat. Use a slotted spoon to scoop them out of the skillet and spread them on a piece of paper towel briefly before sprinkling them over the salad. Pour out all but two tablespoons of hot bacon fat from the skillet. Reheat over medium and quickly whisk in the red wine vinegar, honey and Dijon. Pour over entire salad and season salt and pepper. Toss gently and serve hot. Repeat tomorrow night. Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 spinach salad enthusiasts.

Fresh Salsa

From Katherin Deumling of Cook With What You Have

You have many of the ingredients for the sweetest, freshest and most savory salsa in your share this week. I made this recently for a crowd and it was devoured and enjoyed even by those who purportedly don’t like spicy salsa. The jalapenos are so flavorful and subtly spicy.

2 large tomatoes, washed, cored and finely chopped or diced (or if using cherry tomatoes, quartered)

½ - 1 jalapeno, finely minced (de-seed the pepper if you’re unsure of your comfort with the heat level—my guess is that you can leave the seeds in, for at least part of it)

2 tablespoons, finely chopped red onion

1-2 tablespoons chopped, roasted poblano pepper (see note below) (optional)

¼ cup cilantro, well washed and dried and chopped

1 small clove garlic, minced and then mashed with some coarse salt and the side of a chef’s knife into a paste (or just mince)

Sea salt

Mix everything together well and adjust seasoning with salt. Serve with chips or with fish tacos or any kind of tacos or with quesadillas or as a side for grilled fish or vegetables or pretty much anything. 

Beet & Sugar Snap Pea Salad

Ingredients

• 1 lb. beets, scrubbed or peeled and quartered or sliced (I would grate, Cuisinarts work well if you have one).
• 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 sm. red onion, halved & thinly sliced
• [grate fennel raw and add if you like flavor]
• 3 Tbs. rice vinegar
• 1 tsp. ground coriander, lightly toasted
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 lb. snap peas, trimmed
• 1 tsp. salt

Directions

Soak onion in cold water for 10 min.; drain. Whisk together vinegar, coriander, sugar and salt in a salad bowl, then add oil in slow stream, whisking. Toss onion and beets with dressing.  Steam peas over boiling water, covered, 2 min. then transfer to ice water. Drain well & toss with beet mixture.

Hearty Cook-With-What-You-Have Salad with Beans

From Katherine Deumling of Cook With What You Have

I am a bit of a bean evangelist (delicious, inexpensive, shelf stable, etc.) I love adding whatever cooked beans I have in the fridge to salads made of whatever I happened to have around. This is my favorite lunch or quick addition to dinner. This is less of a recipe and more of a general guide for you to use with what you have on hand and your tastes. You can use most any kind of bean and any salad green or tender, raw kale.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked, cooled beans (chickpeas, black beans, pinto or white beans or lentils—see bean cooking instructions below), well-drained
• 4 cups chopped lettuce(you don’t want huge pieces of lettuce so chop it a bit smaller than you might normally and that way the beans and all the other treats in this salad don’t fall to the bottom as readily)
• 2 tablespoons very thinly sliced red onion
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped green garlicor a bit of minced regular, mature garlic
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• About a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar (red wine, champagne and sherry vinegar are my favorites)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1-2 hardboiled eggs, roughly chopped (optional)
• 2-3 tablespoons toasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds

Directions

Put beans and lettuce in a large bowl. In a small bowl mix garlic, lemon juice (or vinegar), salt, pepper, honey and olive oil. Toss everything together well. Taste and adjust seasoning and then gently toss in egg and seeds, if using. Serves 2-4 depending on whether it’s a side or main dish and of course how hungry you are. I can easily eat half this salad myself.

Basic Dry Bean Soaking/Cooking Instructions

If you aren’t in the habit of soaking and cooking dry beans here are the basic steps. The flavor of the beans is very good this way and they are much, much cheaper than cans. Once in the habit, it’s not much work at all. And I always soak and cook more than I need for any given recipe and freeze the rest in some of the cooking liquid. I also rarely cook beans for use in the moment. They improve so much if you can let them sit in their cooking liquid for an hour or so, or up to 8 hours. I usually cook them while I’m doing something else in the kitchen and then have them on hand for the next few days and/or freeze them for later use. 

3-4 cups dried beans (garbanzo, white, black, pinto. . . ) Rinse beans if they look dusty and pick out any stones. Usually I don’t find anything like that. Place in a large bowl covered by about 4 inches of cold water. Soak over night or 6-8 hours. Drain and rinse beans.

Place soaked beans in a large pot and cover with cold water by several inches. Add a few whole, peeled garlic cloves, a bay leaf and a big chunk of peeled onion. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and let cook covered until the beans are tender, stirring occasionally (this helps prevent some beans from softening before others.) If your beans are old (hard to tell!) salting them at the beginning can prevent them from cooking properly, so salt mid-way through or at the end. When you do add salt, be generous, as in at least 3 teaspoons kosher salt to start if you’re cooking 4 cups or so of dried beans. They’ll probably need more still. The time it takes for the beans to cook will vary depending on the kind of bean and the freshness of the dried beans. Garbanzos take the longest, usually about 45 minutes.  Black, white and pinto can be done in 20-40 minutes. Let beans cool in their liquid (if you’re not in a rush) and then use, freeze, etc. If you’re freezing some, fill your container with the beans and then ladle in the cooking liquid until the beans are almost covered. Cooked beans also keep in the fridge for 5-6 days and for several months in the freezer.

Chicken with Mustard Greens, Olives and Lemon

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 bone-in, skinless chicken breast halves, halved crosswise
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 cup dry white wine, such as sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio
• 1 1/2 pounds mustard greens (about 2 bunches), stalks removed, leaves coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus lemon wedges, for serving
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives

Directions

In a 5-quart Dutch oven or large heavy pot, heavt 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Seson chicken with salt and pepper. Add half of chicken to pot and cook until browned on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a place. Repeat with remaining oil and chicken.

Add onion and garlic to pot (reduce heat if browning too quickly) and cook, stirring, until softened, 4 to 6 minutes. Add wine and chicken (along with any accumulated juices) to ot and bring to a boil. Cover pot; reduce heat to medium and cook 5 mintes.  

Place greens on top of chicken; season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until chicken is opaque throughout and greens are wilted, 3 to 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and olives. Serve greens and chicken drizzled with pan juices with lemon wedges on the side.

Roasted Potato Salad with Bell Peppers, Roasted Corn, and Tomatoes

From Fine Cooking

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup plus 1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 2 cups red, yellow, or orange cherry tomatoes (or a combination), halved

• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice

• 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice

• 1/2 small red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

• 2 small cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 1 recipe Simple Roasted Potatoes

• 3 Tbs. red-wine vinegar

Tip: Roast the corn while you roast the potatoes.

Directions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 450°F. Remove the husk and put the corn on a small baking sheet. Drizzle 1 tsp. of the oil onto the corn and rub it over all the kernels. Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Roast, turning the cob occasionally, until the corn kernels are light brown in a few spots, about 20 minutes. Let the corn cool. Cut the kernels from the cob.

Add the corn, tomatoes, red, green, and yellow peppers, onion, basil, and garlic to the potatoes. Toss gently. Whisk the remaining 1/4 cup oil and the vinegar together and add to the salad. Toss again. Season with kosher salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Roasted Chicken with Celery Root and Red Onion

1 whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 pounds), patted dry 
Coarse salt and ground pepper 
1 large red onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges, root end left intact 
1 medium celery root (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wedges 
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes 
4 teaspoons lemon zest, plus 4 teaspoons lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Season chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. Tuck wing tips underneath chicken and tie legs together with kitchen twine. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and roast 20 minutes. 2. Remove sheet from oven and arrange onion and celery root around chicken, turning to coat with drippings. Top vegetables with red-pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper. Roast until vegetables are tender and juices run clear when chicken is pierced between breast and leg (an instant-read thermometer should read 165 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of a thigh, avoiding bone), about 30 minutes, flipping vegetables halfway through. Let chicken rest 10 minutes before carving. To serve, sprinkle chicken and vegetables with lemon zest and juice.

Chopped Miso Salad

from 101 Cookbooks

I used Westbrae Natural Organic Mellow Brown Rice Miso for the dressing. If you like the flavor of sesame oil - go ahead and add it to your dressing in fact you can go ahead and add it "to taste" - although sometimes I like to go a bit more neutral and skip rhe sesame oil altogether. I also had two small heads of little gem lettuce so I threw them in here as well. You can use any kind of extra-firm tofu you like here - this salad works well with baked tofu or plain. Tofu cooked in a skillet for a few minutes to take on some color is great - I cheated a bit and used Soy Deli baked tofu (savory) for the salad pictured up above.

1 1/2 cups shallots, skinned and thinly sliced
splash of extra-virgin olive oil
pinch of salt

2 tablespoons miso
1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard (or a bit of whatever mustard you have around)
2 tablespoons brown sugar (or honey or agave)
1/4 cup (brown) rice vinegar
1/3 cup mild flavored extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon pure toasted sesame oil (optional)

1/2 of a medium-large cabbage
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 medium red onion, sliced
3/4 cup chives, minced
8 ounces extra-firm tofu (see headnotes), room temperature

Stir together the shallots, splash of olive oil and big pinch of salt In a large skillet over medium heat. Stir every few minutes, you want the shallots to slowly brown over about 15 minutes. Let them get dark, dark brown (but not burn). if needed turn down the heat. Remove them from the skillet and onto a paper towel to cool in a single layer. they should crisp up a bit.

Make the dressing by whisking the miso, mustard, and brown sugar together. Now whisk in the rice vinegar and keep whisking until it's smooth. Gradually whisk in the olive oil, and then the sesame oil. Two pinches of fine grain salt. Taste and make any adjustments if needed.

Cut the cabbage into two quarters and cut out the core. Using a knife shred each quarter into whisper thin slices. The key here is bite-sized and thin. If any pieces look like they might be awkwardly long, cut those in half.

Gently toss the cabbage, shallots, almonds, red onion, chives and tofu in a large mixing/salad bowl. Add a generous drizzle of the miso dressing and toss again - until the dressing is evenly distributed. Add more a bit at a time if needed, until the salad is dressed to your liking.

Serves 3 - 4 as a main dish, 6 - 8 as a side.

Classic Minestrone

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart's recipe actually uses quite a bit of fall vegetables- carrots, cabbage, celery.... Substitute the green beans for our dried Jacob's cattle beans (or canned Cannellini's or Great Northern beans) and this is a wonderful fall soup.  

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving (optional)
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 large celery stalk, diced
• 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary, or 1/4 teaspoon dried
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
• 1 large potato, peeled and diced
• 1/4 head Savoy or green cabbage (1/2 pound), cored and thinly sliced
• 1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 garlic clove, minced (optional)
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil, plus torn leaves for serving (optional)
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan, for serving

Directions

In a large pot, heat oil over medium. Add onion, carrots, celery, red-pepper flakes, rosemary, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to turn golden, 5 to 8 minutes.

Add tomatoes; cook until some of the liquid evaporates, 1 minute. Add potato, cabbage, cannellini beans, and 7 cups water; bring to a boil. Stir in green beans.

Reduce to a simmer, and cook until all the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; stir in garlic, if using, and basil. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan and, if using, torn basil. Drizzle with more oil, if desired.

Penne Rigate with Brussels Sprouts

  2 tablespoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil

  1 small red onion, thinly sliced

  1 pound(s) brussels sprouts, trimmed, loose outer leaves reserved and sprouts thinly sliced

  1 long red fresh chile, halved, seeded and sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick

  1 teaspoon(s) chopped thyme

  Salt and freshly ground pepper 

  1/2 pound(s) penne rigate

  4 ounce(s) Gorgonzola cheese, preferably dolce latte, crumbled

In a large, deep skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the sliced brussels sprouts, chile and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the sprouts are just tender, about 3 minutes. Add the reserved sprout leaves, cover and remove from the heat.

2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the penne until al dente. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup of the pasta water. Add the penne to the skillet along with the pasta cooking water and cook over moderate heat, stirring to coat the pasta with the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the pasta to bowls, top with the Gorgonzola and serve right away.

Beet & Sugar Snap Pea Salad

Ingredients

• 1 lb. beets, scrubbed or peeled and quartered or sliced (I would grate, Cuisinarts work well if you have one).
• 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 sm. red onion, halved & thinly sliced
• [grate fennel raw and add if you like flavor]
• 3 Tbs. rice vinegar
• 1 tsp. ground coriander, lightly toasted
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 lb. snap peas, trimmed
• 1 tsp. salt 

Directions

Soak onion in cold water for 10 min.; drain. Whisk together vinegar, coriander, sugar and salt in a salad bowl, then add oil in slow stream, whisking. Toss onion and beets with dressing.  Steam peas over boiling water, covered, 2 min. then transfer to ice water. Drain well & toss with beet mixture.

Russian Borscht

From Olga Murray

Chef's tip: Don't be afraid to add any sort of root vegetable. Generally anything goes well in a borscht. 

Ingredients:

• 2 russet and 2 purple or red potatoes, peeled
• 4 carrots, peeled
• 5 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 large red onion
• 2 small white onions, one diced and one quartered
• 1 bunch baby turnips, scrubbed and trimmed
• ½ large green cabbage (equates to about 4 cups when shredded)
• 2 T butter
• Salt and pepper
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 ¼ lbs of beets, peeled
• 1 1/2 lb whole tomatoes
• 1 T sugar
• 8 cups vegetable stock (recipe below), water, or some combination
• 6-10 sprigs parsley, half chopped, half whole
• 1 T red wine vinegar
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 T horseradish
• 1 celery stalk
• ½ kohlrabi, peeled and chopped
• 1 large eggplant, cubed
• 2 Shiitake mushrooms

Directions:

1. Vegetable stock: Wash and scrub the soup vegetables.  Place peels from the carrots, beets, and two potatoes in a pot with three of the garlic cloves, two bay leaves, two teaspoons of salt, celery, kohlrabi peels, some parsley sprigs, the quartered white onion, and the Shiitake mushrooms.  Other combinations of vegetable trimmings will work too.  Cover with 10 cups of water; bring to a boil, then simmer while you prep the other vegetables, about 45 minutes.

        2.     Chop these vegetables: onions, eggplant, kohlrabi, carrots, turnips, potatoes, cabbage, and the rest of the garlic.

3.     Melt butter in a large soup pot.  Add onions, carrots, turnips, potatoes, cabbage, and garlic.  Toss with 1 T of salt, cover and cook over medium heat until the vegetables have wilted, ~ 25 minutes.

4.     Meanwhile, dice the beets.

5.     When the onions, cabbage, etc. are soft, add the beets, kohlrabi, eggplant, and tomatoes and 1 bay leaf.  Keep the heat on medium and gently break up the tomatoes on the side of the pot.  Strain the stock and add it to the soup plus enough water to equal about 6 cups.  Once the soup is boiling again, reduce heat to a simmer and cook an additional 25-30 minutes or just until the beets are tender.

6.     Add salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat and stir in 1 T vinegar and sugar. Sprinkle chopped parsley on top. Can also use chopped fresh dill.

7.     Combine the sour cream and horseradish.  Serve soup hot, warm or cold with a spoonful of the sour cream-horseradish on top.

Skirt Steak Salad with Arugula and Blue Cheese

from Smitten Kitchen

I attempted an interesting-sounding retro salad dressing from this recipe and found it… inedible. I then made it a second time with no lime juice, a little bit of lime zest, half the balsamic vinegar and half the sugar and we found it… passable. (Well, I found it passable, my husband liked it.) If you’d like to make Catalina-ish dressing, that’s how I’d suggest going about it. However, to my taste, next time I will make this with a sharp mustard vinaigrette with a dash of Worcestershire sauce, a little steakhouse touch I love in salads like this, recipe below.

Serves 4

• 1 pound skirt steak, trimmed of excess fat if necessary, halved crosswise, at room temperature
• 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pint (2 cups) cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup (about 4 ounces) crumbled blue cheese
• 1/2 pound baby arugula
• Vinaigrette (below)
• 3 tablespoons minced chives, 2 thinly sliced scallions or 3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion, for garnish

Pat steak dry and season on both sides 1/2 teaspoon salt and many grinds of black pepper.

In a cast-iron skillet: Heat skillet on medium-high to high and add olive oil. When oil begins to shimmer, place steak in skillet and do not move it for 5 minutes. Turn it once, and cook for another 3 minutes for medium-rare. You may need to cook your steak halves separately, depending on the size of your pan.

On a grill: Prepare grill for direct-heat cooking over hot charcoal or high heat for gas. Oil grill rack, then grill steak, covered only if using a gas grill, turning once, 4 to 6 minutes total for medium-rare.

Transfer steak to a cutting board and let rest, loosely covered with foil, for five minutes. Arrange arugula on a large platter. Thinly slice steak on the diagonal, across the grain. Arrange over arugula, then toss halved cherry tomatoes and blue cheese over platter. Add vinaigrette to taste, then sprinkle with chives, scallions or red onion. Serve with additional vinaigrette on the side.

Steakhouse Mustard Vinaigrette

• 1 tablespoon coarse Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1/3 cup olive oil

Whisk ingredients. Season with salt and pepper and adjust ingredients to taste (usually more Dijon and vinegar for me).

Pasta with Potatoes, Arugula and Red Onions

--from smittenkitchen.com

• 1 pound yellow finn potatoes, well scrubbed but no need to peel
• About 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• about a half pound arugula, thoroughly washed and dried
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 – 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 pound penne or other tubular pasta
• 1/2 lemon

Preheat the oven to 400°. Slice the potatoes about 1/3 inch thick and toss them with a small amount of the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them in a single layer in an ovenproof dish or on a baking sheet and roast in the oven until they are golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes. (Mine took a bit longer.) 

When the potatoes are done, remove them from the oven and put the pasta on to boil in a large pot of salted, boiling water. Heat a saute pan, add some of olive oil, and saute the sliced onion until it is soft and translucent and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the arugula and garlic, and saute both until they just begin to wilt and soften. Lower the heat, add the potato slices and toss together for a minute or two. When the pasta is done, drain them and add them to the potatoes and onion. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and toss everything together. Drizzle with a little olive oil and serve. You could certainly toss with grated Parmesan as well.