Roasted Lemon Pepper Potatoes

Roasted Lemon Pepper Potatoes

Sure, you’ve heard of lemon peppered chicken, but have you ever heard of roasted lemon pepper potatoes?  I hadn’t either until I saw a recipe for something similar in the Food Network magazine a while back, and have been wanting to adopt the recipe a bit and add some fresh herbs.

It’s the middle of the summer, and I have grown fresh dill for the first time in my life.  I originally planted it to accompany my cucumbers, in hopes to make refrigerator pickles, but fresh dill has such a refreshing and bold flavor, and it makes a perfect pairing for lemon, so it’s rapidly becoming one of my favorite herbs.  It tastes like summer and sunshine 🙂 

If you don’t happen to have fresh dill, you can use 2 tbsp of dried dill.  You can even omit it, if you’re not a huge fan of dill.  So long as you keep the fresh lemon juice.  The fresh lemon juice is crucial.  

Roasted Lemon Pepper Potatoes

• 3 cups russet potatoes 
• 1/4 cup olive oil 
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3 cloves garlic, minced 
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice 
• 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Peel and dice potatoes, and set aside.  In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients, and stir until well mixed.  Pour in potatoes, and stir until well coated.  This may start to coagulate, as the temperature rises, but mix it up as best as you can.  It’ll all melt together into a delicious heap of tasty in the oven. 

Turn potatoes out onto a cookie sheet or roasting pan, and bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown.  They can get a bit greasy, so once they’re cooked, you may want to lay them on a paper-towel lined plate for a minute or so, as they’re cooling.