The combo of these two things is probably something that bring about world peace.... Well, it could! Imagine everyone sitting down and eating creamy sour cream and salsa with tortilla chips....smothered over baked potatoes...NACHOS.
I'm telling you- World Peace.
I don't foresee any of us being invited to the next United Nations or International Peace Conference anytime soon so maybe we can just focus on peace at our next meal or family dinner.
This dish is kind of like a take on potatoes au gratin, but not baked. It's creamy and has a lot of flavor. Works well as a side dish or even stuffed in a potato taco or for breakfast potatoes.
I looked in my fridge and pantry and I had these items so my brain and stomach started working overtime to come up with a way for my mouth to eat all the ingredients.
You will need:
2-3 medium potatoes (washed and scrubbed)
sour cream
milk or cream
onion
bell pepper
any kind of salsa
salt and pepper to taste
water
I started off with 3 russet potatoes that I scrubbed and washed. I left the skin on because I couldn't be bothered to peel them. The peels go everywhere and I hate cleaning them up. I also like the idea of a little extra fiber, but you can peel them if you had the patience or don't like potatoes with skin on.
You can cut them anyway you like. I diced them for this dish because I have one of these things:
My friend Lani gave it to me. Usually, I like to do all my cutting and chopping by knife. I find it relaxing. Sometimes, when I'm in a rush to eat, I pull this sucker out and bang the potatoes through and I get a little bit of therapy while I'm cooking. It's got two sizes for cubing. This is the larger one. Remember, you can cut any shape or size you want but you'll want to keep in mind to keep your pieces uniform for even cooking time and the larger you cut, the longer you'll need for cook time. Don't feel like you have to cube the potatoes for this dish. You can even do slices or julienne the pieces. It all works.
I also diced my onion and bell pepper. I used one half of an onion and half a bell pepper for this. Usually I use more, but today I was using left overs. I think onions and peppers are yummy and good for you (and a good way to get the guy I live with to eat veggies) so I usually go heavy on them.
In a skillet over medium heat, I added a little bit of olive oil.
You don't need to add too much because we aren't frying the potatoes and onions. We're actually going to cook them in the salsa and sour cream. You just want enough to get your onions and bell peppers a little bit of softened.
I like to add Lawry's seasoning salt
and plenty of black pepper.
I'm big into seasoning as you cook. Add your diced potatoes.
Give everything a nice stir to coat everything with the seasonings.
Then I turn the heat down to medium low and add about 1/4 cup of water.
Cover with a lid and walk away.
I gave it about 10 minutes to steam and soften the potatoes.
Then I added 1 cup of salsa and about 3 tablespoons of sour cream with a splash of cream into a container. You can use milk if you don't have cream. I just needed a little liquid to make the salsa and sour cream mixture a little thinner. I used Pace Picante for this one. I think cooking with Pace is great because it's so chunky. For chips and salsa, I LOVE the red salsa from Trader Joe's.
Like this:
Then I used a spoon to mix it all up.
Pour over your potato mix. Try not to lick the spoon. I dare you.
Stir it all up.
Cover again with a lid. We're still on medium low heat.
I walked away and came back about 10 minutes later. You may need more or less time depending on how big or small you diced your potatoes. Check for tenderness using a fork.
You can eat it now or if you'd like to have them be a little less "soupy" or wet, you can turn up the heat to medium and cook uncovered for another 5 minutes or so.
Like this:
You can even get a nice crust on the bottom if you continue cooking uncovered.
Remember, potatoes are starchy and eventually the liquid gets sucked up and the potatoes will become less soupy. I like to eat these as a side with meatloaf. The salsa goes well with meatloaf. I also like to stuff cold leftovers into tortillas and carefully fry them for Tacos Dorados de Papa. On this particular morning, I added a slice of ham and a over medium egg to make sort of a reverse Huevos Rancheros.
World. Peace.
By the way, you can use salsa and sour cream all mixed up together for salad dressing for taco salads. Mmmmm. This recipe makes a lot and can be used to feed 6-8 people as a side dish. The leftovers keep well and can be refrigerated to use in breakfast burritos or quesadillas.
