I did end up getting a couple of beautiful braided loaves out of this recipe in the end. But it was touch-and-go for a while. I had to add so much extra flour that I started to wonder if I'd misread the scale when I was measuring it out. I'm not sure exactly how much extra flour I added, but I'd guess it was close to 300g!

This is a fairly mild and unassuming bread flavour-wise, but it looks very pretty with its plaits and its egg washed crust. And the lack of strong flavours means that it works beautifully in sandwiches as well as toasted with a bit of cinnamon and sugar. It might be interesting to try incorporating different flavours in the dough at some point, but I think it makes a great bread as is.

Whole Wheat Egg Bread

Slightly adapted from Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 900-1200g hard/strong/high grade/bread whole wheat flour¹
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 4 large eggs + water to make 2 3/4 c.
• 1/4 c. oil
• 3 Tbsp. honey
• 1 large egg + 2 tsp. water (for egg wash)
• Sesame seeds or poppy seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Add the yeast to the warm water and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Combine flour and salt, mix well, and set aside.
3. Place the eggs in a large measuring cup and add water to bring the total volume up to 2 3/4 c.
4. Add the oil and the honey to the egg mixture and whisk well.
5. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the yeast mixture and the egg mixture.
6. Stir to combine, working from the centre out.
7. The dough should be fairly soft, but if it it's very runny, then it'll need extra flour. Possibly quite a lot of extra flour. I normally wait until at least 10 minutes into kneading to make any amendments, but this one was so runny, that I made an exception. Use your judgement.
8. Knead very well. Especially if you end up adding more flour during kneading. If you have very efficient kneading technique, you might be able to get away with only 20 minutes. I went with 40 minutes of not terribly vigorous kneading.
9. Set the dough in a covered bowl to rise. It'll probably need a good couple of hours.
10. Knock the dough back and set to rise again. One to one-and-a-half hours should be sufficient this time.
11. Knock back again and divide into six equal portions.
12. Round each portion into a smooth ball, cover, and set to rest for 10 minutes.
13. Take three of the balls and roll each one into a rope about 14-16" (35-40cm) long for pan bread, a bit longer for free-form loaves.
14. Lay the three ropes side-by-side and plait, working from the middle out to each end.
15. If making pan bread, place the plaited loaf into a greased loaf pan, cover, and set to rise. Otherwise, place on a baking sheet to rise (covered so it doesn't dry out).
16. Repeat with remaining three balls of cough.
17. Allow to rise for ~45 mintues. (The proof might take more or less time depending on how warm the room is.)
18. Whisk the remaining egg with water and very gently brush the mixture onto the risen loaves. The brush used should be very soft as stiff bristles will damage the dough. Put on just enough egg to fully cover the surface without letting it pool in any crevices or valleys.
19. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds if desired.
20. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 35-45 minutes.

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¹ The recipe calls for 900g of flour, but with this amount I didn't have a dough so much as a thick batter. I could pour it. Even after adding quite a bit of extra flour (I'd guess ~300g), the dough was still quite sticky. The proportions seemed so off that I do wonder if my scales were malfunctioning or if I misread the numbers. If you're making this, proceed with caution and be prepared to add quite a bit of extra flour. ^Back

Last week kind of got away from me. I realized on Thursday evening that I'd forgotten to cancel my HelloFresh box for this week. I'm sort of cringing at the extra expense, but I suppose it's not that bad and it does save me from having to worry too much about meal planning this week.

Monday night was teriyaki chicken with bok choy and coconut rice. The chicken and bok choy were excellent. I'm not 100% sold on the coconut rice as the substrate though. The rice was nice, but it just felt somewhat flat and... a bit of a let-down next to the tasty teriyaki. I think it would've been improved by the addition of peas. And using a nice long-grain brown rice would've been my preference over the white basmati in this case. If I were going to do this again, I think I'd try adding some kaffir lime leaves and a couple handfulls of frozen peas to the rice during cooking. And maybe a few whole peppercorns as well. Either that, or switch it up completely and do a fried rice with salt, pepper, onion, garlic, Szechuan peppercorns, scallions, sesame oil, and maybe a few eggs. (I might toss a few peas into the fried rice as well. I really like peas with rice.)

Teriyaki Chicken

Slightly adapted from HelloFresh

Ingredients

Stir-Fry

• 450g Shanghai bok choy^{1, 2}
• 680g chicken tenders (or skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut in half horizontally then cut vertically into short strips)
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 c. soy sauce³
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. grated ginger (or 1 Tbsp. ginger paste)
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch (corn flour)
• 1/4 c. honey⁴
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 50-60g roasted cashews, chopped

Rice

• 1 (160mL) can coconut milk
• 2 c. water
• 1 1/2 c. Basmati rice
• 4-5 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
• 6-8 whole black peppercorns (optional)
• 1 c. fresh or frozen peas (optional)

Directions

Stir-Fry

1. Wash the bok choy and separate the leafy bits from the stems.
2. Cut into 2-3cm chunks, keeping the celery-like stems separate from the spinach-y leaves. Set aside.
3. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Set aside.
4. Combine the soy sauce, ginger, garlic, cornstarch, honey, and water to make the sauce. Set aside.
5. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat.
6. Add oil to pan followed by chicken. Cook to internal temp of 165°F (74°C). Cook time will vary depending on thickness of pieces. For tenders, it should take 4-5 minutes.
7. Add bok choy stems to pan and cook for 1-2 minutes⁵
8. Add sauce and bok choy leaves and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Rice

1. Combine coconut milk with water and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low and add rice.
3. If using, stir in lime leaves and black peppercorns along with rice.
4. Cover and simmer for 12-14 minutes.
5. If peas are frozen, allow them to thaw while rice cooks.
6. When rice is done, fluff with fork and toss in peas.
7. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside for 5-10 minutes.

Assembly

1. Put some rice in a bowl and top with stir-fry.
2. Garnish with cashews.

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¹ I honestly felt like this recipe could've used a lot more greens. Personally, I wouldn't be afraid to double the vegetable quantity. If you do this, you might want to scale up the sauce slightly. ^Back
2 There are lots of different vegetables that will work here: bok choy, Shanghai bok choy, broccoli rabe, gai lan... Kale would probably work decently well too. If you're not looking to incorporate the veggies into the stir-fry itself, steamed broccoli makes a lovely side. ^Back
3 The soy sauce that came with the meal kit seemed a bit darker and more viscous than your typical light soy, but it wasn't anywhere near dark soy levels. If I were making this again, I think I'd try mixing 3 Tbsp. light soy with 1 Tbsp. dark soy. In a pinch, I think using all light soy would work fine though. ^Back
4 The recipe card says "3 Tbsp." for the honey, but we got two 30mL jars and I just put all of it in when making the sauce. I was happy with the results -- and the Kidlet loved it! -- so I'd probably just do it the same way again next time. That said, if you prefer a less sweet sauce, cut the honey back to 2 or 3 Tbsp. and see how it tastes. ^Back
5 HelloFresh has you cook the chicken in two batches and then remove it from the pan before cooking the bok choy. I don't like having to remove things from the pan once they go in and I have a very large pan, so I just did the chicken all at once and left it in the pan. It's probably technically overcooked, but it was tasty and didn't seem dry or anything, so I'm not too worried about it. ^Back

I've been slacking on the bread baking lately. We haven't actually had bread in a couple of weeks because I just haven't quite gotten around to baking it. It just seems like all my time keeps disappearing on me! The Kidlet has been asking for bread though and I really didn't want to resort to store-bought, if for no other reason than the fact that it'd break my streak. So, after a busy day on Saturday, I turned to the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book Sunday morning to see what sang to me.

The Golden Date bread won my pick by virtue of hitting the trifecta of being a recipe I haven't tried yet, have all the ingredients for, and not being overly complicated or onerous. It is very similar to the Basic Whole Wheat Bread, but uses dates, rather than honey as the sweetener. The sort of melt into the dough to produce a relatively sweet, moist loaf. They certainly have a very noticeable effect, but not much... presence? You definitely wouldn't bite into a slice and go, "Yum! Dates!" It's more of a subtle, "Oh, this bread is just slightly denser and sweeter than a plain whole wheat loaf."

Golden Date Bread

Slightly adapted from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 1 c. pitted dates, cut into large pieces
• 1 c. water, plus extra (see recipe)
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 900g hard (strong/high grade/bread) whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Directions

1. Simmer the dates in 1 c. of water until very soft. Remove from heat and pour into large measuring cup. Add cold water to bring the total volume up to 3 c. Set aside.
2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes.
3. Combine the flour and salt and mix well.
4. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture (after its 10-minute rest).
5. Check to make sure the date mixture isn't too hot for the yeast (it should be about body temperature) and pour that into the well also.
6. Mix everything together working from the centre outward.
7. Once most of the flour has been incorporated, turn the dough out onto your work surface along with the remaining flour and begin to knead it. It will be quite wet and soft and sticky at this point, but will become less so as the gluten is developed.
8. After 5-10 minutes of kneading, check the consistency and see if more flour or water needs to be added. Resist the temptation to add a lot of flour and make the dough too tight. It will probably still be a little sticky at this point and that's okay.
9. Knead for another 10 minutes, then smear the butter on the work surface and place the dough on top of it. Continue to knead for another 5-10 minutes until butter is well-incorporated and dough is silky and elastic.
10. Form into a ball and place in a covered bowl to rise. Check after an hour, but it will probably need at least 90 minutes for the first rise. To check, press a wet finger ~1cm into the dough and see if the hole fills in. If it does, give it some more time to rise. If the hole doesn't fill or if the dough sighs and/or sinks back around your finger/the hole, then it's ready to be knocked back.
11. Knock back the dough, pressing out any gas pockets and large bubbles. Knead it a little bit if you feel like it (just a minute or two). Form it into a ball again and place it back in the bowl, covered, for its second rise. Check after 45 minutes, but it may take an hour or more.
12. Knock the dough back again, then divide it into two equal portions and shape each one into a ball. Stretch the gluten taught to form a smooth surface across the top. Cover the balls and rest for 10 minutes.
13. Working with one dough ball at a time, turn over so the smooth side is down and press into a large, flat round. Fold the round into thirds to form a long (roughly) rectangular shape. Grab a short side and roll the dough up to form a cylinder. Place seam-side-down into a greased loaf pan.
14. Cover filled loaf pans and set aside to rise for at least 30 minutes and up to 60 minutes. This rise is finished when a 1cm hole very slowly fills in. If you wait 'til it no longer fills in at all, then the loaves will be over-proofed by the time they get up to temperature in the oven.
15. If the loaves have risen very well, you may wish to slash the tops to give them room to spring in the oven.
16. Bake at 325°F (160°C) for ~1 hour.

This recipe comes courtesy of The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen. It did indeed make a lovely pound cake (that was quickly devoured). I did find myself wishing that the sour cream came through a little more though. I wonder if it would be possible to cut back the butter slightly and up the sour cream a bit. Even if that doesn't work though, this still makes for a great cranberry pound cake. And it's a nice way to use up that last bit of sour cream languishing in the fridge.

Cranberry-Sour Cream Pound Cake

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 5 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour¹
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 c. sour cream
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 14 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 c. frozen cranberries, chopped coarse
• 1 Tbsp. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, preheat oven to 300°F (150°C), and grease and flour a loaf tin (preferably 8.5"/22cm by 4.5"/11cm).
2. Whisk eggs and vanilla together in a large measuring cup.
3. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder into a medium-sized bowl.
4. Whisk sour cream and milk together in a small bowl.
5. In a large bowl, beat butter on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy (2-3 minutes).
6. Reduce speed to medium and gradually add sugar.
7. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until pale and fluffy (3-5 minutes).
8. Reduce speedto medium and gradually add egg mixture.
9. Scrape down bowl and continue to mix on medium speed for ~1 minute.
10. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with sour cream mixture in two additions.
11. Toss cranberries with icing sugar until evenly coated.
12. Gently fold cranberries into batter.
13. Pour batter into prepared tin and tap/drop a few times to release air bubbles.
14. Bake at 300°F (150°C) for 1 hour 45 minutes to 1 hour 55 minutes. (Toothpick inserted in centre should come out clean.)
15. Let cook in tin for 15 minutes.
16. Remove from tin and transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.

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¹ In the preamble to the recipe, ATK notes that they didn't want this cake to have as tight a crumb as a classic pound cake, so they switched the cake (soft/plain/standard) flour out for all-purpose flour. If you're not in a region that has all-purpose flour, I think whatever hard/strong/high grade/bread flour you can get locally would probably be fine. If you don't mind the tighter crumb, you could also simply go with a soft/plain/standard/cake flour. If you want to get really precise about it, you could always try mixing hard and soft flours to get something approximating all-purpose flour. All-purpose flour is still relatively hard, so I'd probably only use 1/4-1/2 c. of soft flour for this recipe and make the balance hard. ^Back

Pineapple Upside-Down Pudding (Cake)

Pineapple upside-down cake is a well-known classic here that I have somehow never made nor even tasted. Edmonds has a recipe for it though and I've been craving sweets lately, so I decided it was time to take a crack at it. There's also a recipe for it in The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen. It uses fresh pineapple cut into small pieces though. And I'm sure it's absolutely lovely. That said, I really wanted that classic look with the pineapple rings and cherry centres for my first time through, so I went with the Edmonds recipe. Maybe I'll try the ATK one next time.

I'm very pleased with how this came out overall. It tastes lovely. It looks great. The mixed spice works really well in the topping! I was worried that the cake part would be too bland, since it doesn't have any flavouring in it, not even vanilla, but it's actually fine. The fruit and spices in the topping are enough. That said, I don't think you'd go wrong with a little vanilla in the batter. If I were to make the pear version at some point I'd be tempted to add a little crystallized ginger to the batter as well. It'll be interesting to see how the flavours in the American version compare if I end up making that one at some point.

One thing I should point out: Don't try to be clever like me and bake it in a springform pan. I thought it would make it easier to unmold since I could just take the sides off and then invert it onto a plate without having to worry about getting it out of the tin or having it stick to the sides. Once it was upside down, I could then just lift the flat metal disc off to reveal the pineapple-y goodness. To be fair, this did, in fact, work. The issue was all the brown sugar topping leaking out the bottom and burning on the bottom of the oven. That part was less good. Next time I'll just bake it in a regular cake tin and trust that it won't stick.

Pineapple Upside-Down Pudding

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

Topping

• 25g (~2 Tbsp.) salted butter, melted
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. mixed spice
• 1 tsp. corn syrup or golden syrup (optional)¹
• 6-8 tinned pineapple rings, drained²
• 6-7 glacé cherries³

Pudding (Cake)

• 125g (~9 Tbsp.) salted butter, softened
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 large eggs⁴
• 1 tsp. vanilla (optional)
• 1 c. soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 Tbsp. milk

Directions

Topping

1. Combine the butter, brown sugar, mixed spice, and syrup (if using).
2. Spread the mixture over the bottom of a greased 20cm (8") round cake tin⁵.
3. Arrange 6 or 7 pineapple rings on top of the brown sugar mixture. If you're using a 20cm tin, you'll probably only fit 6 rings. If you've got a 23cm pan, you can probably get 7. I also chopped up an 8th ring and used the pieces to fill in any gaps.
4. Place a cherry in the centre of each pineapple ring.

Pudding (Cake)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Vanilla (if using) may also be added at this point.
4. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold⁶ into the creamed mixture.
5. Stir in the milk.
6. Pour the batter over the pineapples and cherries in the tin and spread to form an even layer.
7. Drop the tin a couple times to knock out any air bubbles.
8. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 40 minutes. (Less if you're using a 23cm/9" tin.)
9. Invert onto serving plate so the pineapple and cherries are on top.
10. Serve warm with cream and/or custard.

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¹ I ended up using a 23cm (9") round tin rather than a 20cm (8"). I added just a touch of corn syrup to the topping just to give it a little more volume and make it a bit easier to spread. ^Back
2 You can make it a pear upside-down cake/pudding by substituting tinned pear halves for the pineapple rings. Edmonds suggests a 425g can of pear halves. ^Back
3 Edmonds calls for glacé cherries. I prefer maraschino, so that's what I used for mine. Feel free to use either. ^Back
4 Our eggs were on the small side, so I tossed in an extra one. ^Back
5 You can also use a 23cm (9") round tin, just don't bake it for quite as long. I ended up taking mine out of the oven after only 20 or 30 minutes. (I lost track of time slightly, so I'm not sure exactly how long it was in.) ^Back
6 Edmonds says to fold the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, which is what I did. Next time I think I'd probably just use the electric mixer on low to mix them in. Possibly there's some reason why I shouldn't do this. Maybe they're trying to prevent air from being knocked out of the butter so they want the dry stuff mixed in extra gently. But I haven't had any problems with using the beaters to mix flour into batters using the creaming method in the past, so hopefully it shouldn't be an issue. ^Back

Almond Crusted Pork with Couscous and Peas

Another Hello Fresh recipe, this one turned out great and I would make it again without modification.

Ingredients

• 2 pork tenderloins, ~350g each
• ~50g sliced almonds, crushed or coarsely chopped
• 16mL fresh thyme leaves
• 64mL panko
• 32mL dijon mustard
• 1L chicken broth
• 1 shallot, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 384mL dry israeli couscous
• 250g green peas
• 32mL unsalted butter
• salt and pepper
• canola oil
• fresh parmesan

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine the almonds, thyme, panko, ~1mL salt and an equal amount of freshly ground black pepper on a plate.
3. Arrange the tenderloins on the parchment paper. If they are particularly large, butterfly them. Brush the top and sides with mustard.
4. Press them, mustard side down, into the almond mix to get a nice thick crust, then return to the baking sheet, crust side up.
5. Drizzle each one with ~5mL oil and then bake, on the middle rack, until cooked through to 165°F, ~20-25 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, bring the broth to a gentle boil over medium heat (if making it with chicken cubes or chicken glop, do so now).
7. Sautee the shallot in a large, deep pan over medium-high heat, until just starting to soften, 1-2 minutes.
8. Add the garlic and couscous and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant and the couscous toasted, another 1-2 minutes.
9. Add 250mL of the broth and cook, stirring frequently, until the broth has been absorbed by the couscous.
10. Repeat, 250mL at a time, until all the broth has been absorbed and the couscous is tender.
11. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, peas, a generous amount of grated parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste.
12. Slice pork thinly and serve over couscous with additional parmesan.

The mushrooms for this were great. My only complaint was that there weren't nearly enough of them! And, although the potatoes smelled delicious, they weren't quite as flavourful as their aroma implied. I mean, they were still tasty, they just didn't quite live up to expectations. Next time I think I'd double the garlic and onion and add a touch more salt. (I'll make these changes to the recipe below.) And, if you happen to have any roasted garlic paste on hand, I wouldn't hesitate to add a generous teaspoon of that either instead of or as well as the garlic powder.

After tasting the potatoes and mushrooms (and seeing all the delicious, delicious mushroom residue in the bottom of the roasting pan) I decided that a pan sauce/gravy would go a long way toward giving this meal a little more oomph. A bit of water, flour, butter, and heat produced a lovely dark and aromatic gravy. I'm excited to try it with the leftovers tonight!

Balsamic Roasted Mushrooms with Kale Mashed Potatoes

Adapted from Budget Byte$

Ingredients

Mushrooms

If you like mushrooms as much as I do, I recommend doubling all these quantities.

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 450-500g cremini mushrooms, quartered
• 1 small red onion, sliced (optional)

Mashed Potatoes

• ~1kg russet (or other starchy) potatoes
• 150-175g black kale¹, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 Tbsp. fresh (or lightly dried) flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. fresh (or lightly dried) basil, chopped²
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder (or 1 tsp. dried chopped onion)
• 1/4 c. Parmesan (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• pepper, to taste

Gravy

• 1 1/2 c. water, divided
• 2 Tbsp. salted butter
• 2 Tbsp. flour (any type)

Directions

Mushrooms

1. Combine olive oil, balsamic, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and thyme and mix well.
2. Place mushrooms and onion (if using) in roasting pan and toss with balsamic mixture to coat.
3. Roast at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes, stirring and turning halfway through.

Potatoes

1. Cut potatoes into 1" cubes, place in pot and cover with cold water.
2. Bring to a boil and boil until tender. (~7-10 minutes)
3. Drain potatoes, reserving 2 Tbsp. of the water.
4. Add kale to (now empty) pot with the reserved water and olive oil.
5. Cover and cook on medium-high for 3-5 minutes.
6. Remove from pot and set aside.
7. Return potatoes to empty pot and add sour cream, milk, parsley, oregano, basil (if using), garlic powder, onion powder, Parmesan (if using), salt, pepper, and any other desired seasonings.
8. Mash potatoes to desired consistency, making sure to mix everything well.
9. Stir in kale.

Gravy

1. Remove mushrooms (and onions) from roasting pan and set aside.
2. Place roasting pan over medium heat and add 1/2 c. of water and scrape to deglaze the pan and release any stuck on bits.
3. Add butter, continuing to scrape and stir to lift as much as possible from the pan.
4. Sift in 2 Tbsp. of flour.
5. Allow to cook for a minute or so.
6. Stir in remaining cup of water. Keep stirring and mixing to help break up the lumps and clumps that will have likely formed.
7. Continue to cook (and stir) until gravy reaches desired consistency.

Assembly

1. Scoop 1/4 of the potatoes into a bowl.
2. Top with 1/4 of the mushrooms.
3. Pour a little gravy over and enjoy!

I've already noted my doubt about the basil in the footnotes. In thinking about it though, I think I'd like to experiment with adding more herbs and seasonings to these potatoes in general. I think the parsley, oregano, onion, and garlic work well, but there's room for improvement. I think next time I'd like to try adding 1/4 tsp. each of dried rosemary and thyme. And maybe a tsp. or so of fresh tarragon. I think the tarragon would go particularly well if you were including carrots in the mash. If you're having the potatoes on their own, without the mushrooms, I think fresh chives and parsley would be very nice in them. There are lots of different options here. Just a few tweaks could give you something that tastes completely different!

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¹ I only had one small bunch of kale left. I didn't bother weighing it, but I doubt it was anywhere near 150g. I decided to stretch it by mixing it with some chopped cabbage. I ended up using one small bunch of kale + 1/4 of a small head of cabbage. I'm pretty happy with the results. The cabbage works well with the potato. It definitely has a little less presence than the kale, but I actually like the mix of textures and flavours. I think it would be interesting to experiment with mixing other veggies in either instead or as well. I think carrots, sweet potatoes, and rutabagas/swedes would all work pretty well. I could also see creamed corn being a nice inclusion. Maybe even a bit of cauliflower. There are all sorts of options! Use what you have on hand and experiment. ^Back
2 I'm not entirely sold on the inclusion of basil here. It just doesn't feel like it jives with the rest of the dish and basil + potatoes is not a combo I'm used to seeing/tasting. I think maybe next time I'd experiment with adding a little dried rosemary (maybe 1/4-1/2 tsp.) to the potatoes instead. ^Back