I heart Mondays & a new buzzword

First, here's the heart of the day ....

can you believe it? a heart-shaped potato.

Second, the new (to me) buzzword I have to discuss is "upcycle." It seems like recycling was for tree-hugging, granny-glasses wearing 1970's activists. The environmentally conscious eco-aware, savvy 2009 citizen is more about up-cycling and free-cycling. We're not only going to protect the Earth and free the landfills, we're going to do it in a way that produces a better, hipper result!

What's the tie in to my heart-of-the-day? I came across this potato as Haley and I were preparing a recipe from Food & Wine that pitched itself as "upcycling" kitchen waste (I kid you not) into edible hors d'oeuvres. We decided that the recipe as published had too much fat (and no solution to "upcycling" the quart of oil that was leftover after cooking). However, we've since modified it to our liking.

Here's our version:

1. Scrub potatoes until skins are clean.

2. Peel skins with a paring knife. You want thick peels with some white potato attached. Reserve potatoes for another use, such as mashed.

3. Toss peels with olive oil, cracked pepper, and coarse salt.

4. Bake at 400 degrees until skins are crispy and the white parts are soft.

5. Serve with sour cream (or our preference, plain Greek yogurt mixed with chives).

Look for more recycle-freecycle-upcycle projects to come, and feel free to share your favorites with me.