Veggie Recipe: Roasted Garlic Potato & Leek Patties with Feta

Hi there again!

Alyssa and I have tried going vegetarian before, but we hope that this time we are both committed enough to make it fairly permanent. I recently read Jonathan Safran Foer's excellent book, Eating Animals, and was deeply convicted by his account of the evils of the meat industry.

Growing up, a very close friend of my family's was (and still is) vegan. When she would visit, our family would go vegan for the duration of her stay, and it was through her that I learned to appreciate both the animal rights activists' point-of-view, as well as the excellent vegan cuisine which (in southeast Missouri) often went unnoticed or was consciously avoided. People often fear what they do not know. Too bad, too, because I've found a whole new world of amazing food thanks to my friend.

For Christmas, Alyssa and I got a few vegetarian cookbooks, and we're working our way through some of the recipes. Here for your tasting pleasure is a nice little dish that we made the other day. We've tweaked the recipe a little bit, so if you try it, don't get freaked out if it doesn't turn out like the pictures (plus, the food in the pictures hasn't been cooked yet).

Roasted Garlic Potato & Leek Patties with Feta


Ingredients:
-1 whole garlic bulb
-2 Russet potatoes, cut into small chunks
-1 Leek, trimmed and finely chopped
-1 package crumbled feta cheese
-1-2 tsp. hot sauce
-sea salt & pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Separate the cloves of garlic into a small roasting pan and roast for about 20 minutes or until soft.

Scoop garlic into a bowl and mash thoroughly.

Cook the potatoes in a large pan of boiling water for 15 minutes, or until soft.

Drain and mash, then mix in the roasted garlic.

Add the leek, feta cheese, hot sauce, and salt and pepper to taste, and combine well.

Cover and let chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Shape the potato mixture into 8 small round patties and place on a nonstick baking sheet--we used our fancy-schmancy Pampered Chef baking stones.

Bake for about 20 minutes. Alyssa and I found that the baked patties didn't quite set up right, so we suggest maybe lightly frying them, like you would any sort of potato latke or grit fritter. They taste really great with ketchup and some extra hot sauce.

Bon appetit!

Joshua