Vanilla Spiced Sweet Potatoes

all that was left at the end of dinner

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hosted my very first Turkey Day this year, but not completely.  I did the turkey, the stuffing, the gravy, this sweet potato recipe, and a Bavarian Cream Apple Pie.  We had 14 people at our table (plus a card table), and all the guests brought the rest of the fixin's.  It was a feast of epic proportions!  This dish got very high marks from all the guests, and many said they'd rather have their sweet potatoes this way next year, instead of the traditional marshmallows on top way.  I have to agree.  I think I've found a new favourite.  
[Note: The inspiration for this recipe came from Heidi Swanson at 101cookbooks.com, but I tweaked it according to what I had on hand.  See the original recipe here.]  

Vanilla Spiced Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes, cleaned and left a bit damp
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla *
2 tsp grated orange zest
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
salt/ pepper (to taste)
ground cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Put the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake in the oven until tender to a fork tip, about 1 hour. (Or prick all over with fork or knife, and microwave for 5-8 minutes, turning at least once mid-way through, until soft.) Remove from oven (or microwave) and let sit until cool enough to handle, 10 to 15 minutes. Peel and discard the skin. Put the potatoes in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, or in a large bowl (if you want to use an immersion blender).
Meanwhile, pour the cream into a 2-quart pot, add the vanilla and orange zest, and set it over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, whisking frequently. Remove from heat. Pour the mixture over the potatoes in the processor (or bowl) and add the butter.
Puree the potato mixture until smooth. Season with salt and 4 grinds of pepper, or to taste. Sprinkle lightly with the "3 Holiday C's" -- Stir to distribute.  Keep covered and warm until ready to serve.

* Heidi's recipe calls for 1 whole vanilla bean, seeds scraped out, that you put into the cream, and then fish out before adding to the potatoes.  I couldn't find the whole beans, so I just used vanilla extract.

Serves four.

Harvest Quinoa Salad

Sweet and savory. Light, yet full of flavour.  This quinoa salad is a tasty combination of harvest flavours with a light lemony vinaigrette dressing.  It was simple to make and well-received, even by people who had never had quinoa before.  I used red quinoa this time.  It has a little more crunch/ nutty flavour to it than the standard quinoa.  I would have liked to do a mix of the two, but red was the only type available at the time in the bulk section of my grocery store.  This makes a great side dish for any type of occasion. (FYI: since I was making this for the ladies at church, I had a few dietary restrictions to accommodate, so I omitted the pecans and used pineapple juice instead of orange.)
[Cook's Note  1: For those of you not familiar with quinoa, it is an ancient grain grown in South America that is chocked full of goodness.  It is not only high in fibre, but also a good source of protein.  It is similar to couscous, in that it absorbs the flavours of whatever it is cooked in, so I always use some sort of broth to cook my quinoa (the type of broth depends on the recipe/ flavours I'm going for).  See my note (*) at the bottom for what I did for this recipe.]
[Cook's Note 2: I learned a great trick when using raw onions in a dish.  To eliminate some of the pungent smell, and overwhelming taste, cut/ chop your onion to desired size for the recipe, then rinse in a sieve under cold water for a minute or two, and drain thoroughly.  This 'softens' the punch of the raw onion, yet retains the onion-y flavour and crunch!]

Harvest Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

FOR THE SALAD:
5 c. cooked quinoa (see Note Below)
2 whole Granny Smith apples
1 c. red bell pepper
1 small red (or sweet) onion, coarsely chopped
½ c. chopped, toasted pecans (optional) 

1 c. corn-- fresh (cut off cob), frozen (thawed), or canned (drained)
½ c. dried cranberries

FOR THE DRESSING:
zest and juice of 1 lemon
⅓ c. apple cider vinegar
½ c. orange juice (or pineapple juice)
⅓ c. oil (not olive)
⅓ c. honey

 

Directions: 

Note: To make 5 cups cooked quinoa, rinse 2 cups of quinoa in cold water for 1-2 minutes.  Add rinsed quinoa to 4 cups of liquid*.  Bring to a boil.  Cook covered for 7-10 minutes, until grain has 'popped' and is cooked to your taste preference  (I like mine a little crunchy).  Drain and cool. 

While quinoa is cooking, core and chop apples, red pepper and onion. Toast pecans and thaw or drain corn. Mix the dressing ingredients together in a mason jar and give it a good shake.  Once quinoa is cool, add all the ingredients together. Stir in the dressing. Chill for one hour prior to serving. Garnish with fresh parsley or mint (optional).

Keeps well in the fridge for up to 5 days.

[*I used 2 c. apple juice and 2 c. water.  I think it would also taste good to make a corn broth by boiling the corn cobs (if using fresh corn) with a good bit of salt, whole peppercorns, and an onion.]

Lemon Ginger Chicken served with a Grilled Veggie and Quinoa Medley

This recipe comes from my Aunt Lynda.  It is very flavourful and is a perfect for those warm, summer evenings, because it requires very little heat in the kitchen.  Most everything is cooked on the grill.  The recipe calls to marinate the chicken for 12-24 hours, but because of scheduling conflicts, mine marinated in the fridge for 2 days, and then in the freezer for 2 days, and then another day in the fridge, defrosting.  I was extremely worried that it would be too strong of a flavour, having marinated for so long, which is why I paired it with quinoa and zucchini.  In the end, it was not too overpowering, but offered a bright, tangy flavour that was complemented perfectly by the veggie medley. 

Lemon Ginger Chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts,  trimmed of any fat
4 Tbsp [about 3 lemons] lemon zest (organic is best when using the zest)
2/3 c. lemon juice, fresh squeezed [about 4 lemons]
4 tsp ginger, peeled & minced [I grated mine]
4 tsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp oil [I use grapeseed oil]
2 tsp salt
a pinch or two of dried chili pepper flakes, or bottled hot sauce [depending on preference]

* Marinate 12-24 hours, grill and enjoy!

Grilled Vegetable and Quinoa Medley:
oil/ balsamic vinegar/ salt/ pepper
3-4 zucchini, washed, ends capped, sliced long-ways in half
Mixed peppers, whole [I used mini bell peppers, which are perfect for grilling]
1 sweet onion, peeled and ends capped, but whole
1-2 stalks green onion, chopped
fresh basil, chopped
1 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken broth

* Bring broth to boil in medium saucepan, add quinoa. Bring back to a boil, and reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 15-18 minutes, until quinoa is tender and liquid is absorbed.  Remove from heat, fluff with fork, re-cover and let stand for 5-7 minutes more (or until your veggies are ready).  Meanwhile, place zucchini and onion in a large bowl, and drizzle with oil and vinegar, salt and pepper-- mix to coat well.  Place zucchini, onion, and peppers on grill when chicken is about a third of the way cooked. Rotate a few times during cooking time.  You should get some good grill marks on all the veggies, and they should be tender-crisp (although you should let the onion get really soft).  Remove from grill, and cut into bite-sized pieces (cutting the top/ seeds off the peppers).  In a large bowl, mix with quinoa, add green onion and basil, salt & pepper to taste.  Mix well. 

My veggie drawers in the summer

I'm taking a quick break from posting a recipe to share some pictures with you.  This is why I love the summer so much.  I can walk to the local Farm Market and get a huge box of produce for less than $20.  This time of year, most of it is locally grown, so it is super fresh, often brought in daily.  And with so much variety and colour, the possibilities are endless! 


I thought I'd give you a quick inventory of my veggies at the moment, and then tell you what I've done recently, or what I plan to do with them...  And I'd be very interested to hear your ideas as well.  :-)

Starting from the bottom:
1. Cauliflower (locally grown):  as evidenced with an earlier post, I've enjoyed turning it into "mashed potatoes"-  adding cottage cheese for both the creamy factor and also some cheesy goodness.  The local cauliflower is so full of flavour, I rarely add much seasoning to it.  I also enjoy cooking it with yellow mustard smeared all over and a little cheese melted on top.  This is the way my mom used to always serve it, so its a little bit of home for me.  I have also just been eating it raw, in my salads or dipped into cottage cheese mixed with salsa (thanks Alli, via Mom, for that idea!)
2. Broccoli:  I've got a recipe for a Double Broccoli Quinoa that I think I'm going to try soon.  Its 'double' because she made a broccoli pesto that looks to die for, and then there is broccoli mixed in with other veggies into the quinoa.  Traditionally, I usually just steam or blanch it, dust with salt and pepper, and serve as a side.  I did mix it into my Grown-up Mac & Cheese, since I didn't have spinach on hand, and broccoli and cheese go so well together.
3. Sweet Tooth Peppers (long red ones):  These are so sweet and so yummy.  I've been adding them to everything lately.  They are great sliced longways and just thrown on the grill, and I've been enjoying them in my scrambled eggs in the mornings lately.

4. Yellow Zucchini:  This is such a fun veggie.  It has a very similar texture and taste to regular zucchini, but its a slightly milder flavour.  I grilled these the other night with red peppers and Alligator chicken and it was such a light, summery meal.  (see below)

5. Bell Peppers (locally grown): Whenever we drive to my in-law's home, we drive past a huge plot of hot houses that grow peppers.  When its hot out, they open the roof vents, and the entire area is filled with the aroma of fresh bell peppers.  Glorious!  Of course, these are a great addition to any salad, adding a crunch and a tang, but I've been enjoying making stuffed peppers for dinner lately.  I'll brown up some extra-lean ground turkey, and make up a marinara sauce (I usually throw in some green onions, celery, even broccoli or cauliflower sometimes to make it nice and chunky).  Then I cut off the top of the pepper and stuff it with layers of turkey and marinara and bake or broil it until everything's nice and hot.  (I also usually 'pre-steam' the pepper in the microwave by adding water inside and into a bowl, place the pepper in the bowl and cook for a minute or two to soften it up.  It speeds up the baking/ broiling time quite a bit).  I sometimes will put a little low-fat mozzarella cheese on top.

6. Radishes:  A fantastic snack, I sometimes just eat them raw with a little bit of salt to dip them in.  :-) I love the peppery bite they add to salads, and I always try to have them on hand when I'm making tuna salad.  

7. Kohlrabi: Looking forward to slicing this up and adding it to my salads.  If you're not familiar with it, its taste is kind of a cross between cabbage and a radish.  It is a fresh crunch in a salad.  I will probably add some finely chopped to my next tuna salad as well.   Would love to use it in other ways, but haven't found any yet.  

8. I also picked up some Swiss Chard, cucumbers, and green beans as well today, which will be readily gobbled up this week, I'm sure.  I always keep lots of lettuces, celery and green onions on hand because they have become such a staple in my diet.

That's a glimpse of my life according to my veggie drawer at the moment.  Hope you enjoyed.  I'd love to hear your ideas for how you've been using or would like to use your veggies!

Throw-Together Tortellini Salad

This isn't what I would necessarily consider a 'recipe' but I thought I'd include it anyway because it was fun to make, and the pictures turned out nice. :-)

We had people over for lunch last Sunday, and I made Tortellini Soup and a green salad. The package of fresh tortellini was large, and had way too much for the soup, so I tossed the extra (uncooked) pasta into the fridge with the hope of using it for something else this week. Well today, I was not in the mood for a sandwich, so I started looking for what to eat for lunch. The following is the end result.

If nothing else, it serves as a reminder that 1) veggies and pasta are an easy and healthy combination, and 2) Italian dressing can liven up the most boring leftovers! :-)

* I had leftover green salad, with carrots, orange bell peppers, and cucumbers that still looked fresh enough, so I picked out all the lettuce and used the veggies. (I think red peppers would have made a nice addition instead of orange, for colour variety)
* I also had a bunch of chicken breasts that I baked up yesterday (needed to be cooked!) that I plan on freezing for future use... I chopped up 2 small pieces.
* I cooked up the tortellini in salty water until they were just done, and immediately rinsed them in cold water until they were cool.

* While they were cooking, I threw the veggies and chicken into a bowl and lightly tossed it with Italian dressing. Then I added the tortellini, mixed until it was all coated lightly with dressing, and put a light dusting of Parmesan cheese over top.

The peppers ended up being a bit dodgy, so I picked them out,

but all in all, it was a nice, light but filling lunch! :-)