Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Cranberry Chipotle Dressing

A. MAY. ZING!!!! I dreamed about this manna allll night long after we had it for dinner last night. What a crumby photo of a fantastic dish. Don't let the fact that it looks like tandoori chicken in my picture dissuade you from making it. :-)

Chances are, if you get invited to our house for dinner, you'll have to eat this. Because I'm planning on making it a million bazillion more times before I die.

It's rare anymore that a recipe from Cooking Light magazine jumps out at me as something I'd be a freak for, but Mark Bittman's recipe did just that. Bookmarked it the day before, made it last night. There will be no going back.

I used frozen whole cranberries and organic sweet potatoes (love this because we eat the whole nutritious peel too). Didn't make the whole batch (kicking self for not having leftovers), but I'll post the whole recipe that is supposed to serve 8...yeah right! I did toss some feta on after taking the photo, to up the protein a bit, but it's awesome without it too. Served up with braised kale, made for two happy tummies in this house.

Just an fyi, I tend to not use all of the dressing on the sweet potatoes, finding the whole amount makes them a bit too soupy.  Leftover sauce is great on any number of things though!  

Update: I've started just roasting whole sweet potatoes wrapped in foil @400 til soft (~1 hr), then topping with the dressing, pepitas, cilantro, and onions.  Saves using all that oil, if you're needing to eat a little lighter!  Great both ways, regardless.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Cranberry Chipotle Dressing:
(Mark Bittman's recipe in Cooking Light magazine)

2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces (go for organic and don't peel)
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons honey
1 (7-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (you won't use them all so just put the leftover chipotles and sauce in a freezer bag and store for laters)
1/2 cup raw unsalted pepitas (pumpkinseeds)
3/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Preheat oven to 450°.
Place sweet potatoes on a large jelly-roll pan. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Bake at 450° for 30 minutes or until tender, turning after 15 minutes.
Place remaining 1 tablespoon oil, cranberries, water, and honey in a saucepan. Remove 1 or 2 chiles from can; finely chop to equal 1 tablespoon. Add chopped chipotle and 1 teaspoon adobo sauce to pan (reserve remaining chiles and sauce for another use). Place pan over medium-low heat; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and cook 10 minutes or until cranberries pop, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Mash with a potato masher or fork until chunky.
Place pepitas in a medium skillet; cook over medium heat 4 minutes or until lightly browned, shaking pan frequently.
Combine potatoes, pepitas, onions, and cilantro in a bowl. Add cranberry mixture to bowl; toss gently to coat.

Salsa de Tomatillo Asado con Chipotle: Roasted Tomatillo and Chipotle Salsa

On a recent trip, I grabbed a copy of Saveur to read on the flight. Most excited about a 2 page spread of different salsas, I immediately marked at least 3 that I wanted to make upon our return home. This roasted tomatillo and chipotle is the first of those.

I wasn't sure how I felt upon first tasting this salsa. The sour of the tomatillos seemed to clash initially with the smoky chipotle flavor for me (I've made this twice now, and realize I just didn't like too much tomatillo. 0.68 lb of tomatillo :-) and upping the garlic and dried chipotle it was perfect from the get go). Could also be that I was incredibly high off the Doña success and stuck on that flavor profile. That said, this new salsa quickly grew on me and Scott liked it from the get go. Super easy to make, and I gave half of the batch a quick addition of some agave nectar to serve over salmon...keeping the rest as is to eat with chips. Delicious both ways. It doesn't make a whole bunch, but you can easily double. OH and I almost forgot, I added in a minced chipotle in adobo for extra heat, since there really wasn't much to speak of from just the dried chiles.

Salsa de Tomatillo Asado con Chipotle:
(Adapted from Saveur Magazine)

8oz+ tomatillos, husked, rinsed and left whole (I think I used 6 medium to small)
7 cloves of garlic, left whole and you can leave them in their l'il skins til done roasting
4 dried chipotle chiles
1 chipotle pepper in adobo (my addition)
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 cup water
agave if desired...try splitting the batch and only adding to half

Preheat oven to 500.
On a foil-lined baking sheet, roast tomatillos for 10 minutes, flip over, then roast 10 minutes more.
While tomatillos roast, heat a dry cast iron skillet to medium-low on the stove top.
Toast dried chiles and garlic for about 10 minutes, or until there are some charred spots on the chiles and garlic, and the garlic has softened a bit.
Place tomatillos (and any accumulated juices), garlic, dried chiles, 1 chipotle in adobo and 1/2 tsp salt and water into a blender and blend until smooth.

Doctor the salsa with some agave if you'd like...it was very nice served over salmon with black beans and squash with this addition. Without agave it's great just scooped up with tortilla chips.
Great on eggs too.

Spinach and Egg Bread Pudding

If you live in Austin, do yourself a favor and go to Central Market, buy a loaf of the hatch chile sourdough bread (the large sliced boule) while they've still got it and pop it in your freezer for laters. It made this bread pudding extra deeeelicious. But then, I also used my favorite Kaltbach Gruyère cheese in it too and you could make a piece of cardboard taste good with a slice of that on it.

I'm digging cooking without recipes this last week. Just stir stuff together and see what I get.
All winners so far, but I didn't take a picture of the hatch chile chicken stew I made the other night.
The Monster told me to write it down after though...he wanted to make sure he'd get to eat it again sometime. Will post once I remake it as I still have both hot and mild roasted hatch chiles in the freezer.

Ok, so back to this bread pudding. We ate almost the whole thing. Just the 2 of us. :-)
Served with nothing more than sliced tomatoes.

Spinach and Egg Bread Pudding:

olive oil
~3/4 cup red onion, diced small
1 large clove garlic, chopped
~1/4 tsp dried thyme
splash of dry white wine
~10 oz organic baby spinach, chopped
salt, divided
4 eggs
1+ cup unsweetened soymilk, dairy milk, or other non-dairy (I felt I needed to add a bit more soymilk to the final mix and up 3 eggs to 4 for more custard...so just use your good sense)
garlic powder
cayenne
fresh grated nutmeg
black pepper
~1 cup (not packed) grated aged Gruyère (Kaltbach is my favorite)
~7 oz cubed bread, cut to about 3/4" (I used about 4 slices of a boule and a weenie end crust)

Preheat oven to 375.
Butter a casserole dish. I used a 1.5 quart oval enameled cast iron dish.
Saute the onion with thyme and a bit of salt in 1 Tb olive oil over medium heat for ~5 minutes.
Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Add a splash of white wine and cook til no liquid remains.
Add spinach and cook for ~5 minutes til no liquid remains, adding salt and pepper to taste.
Remove from heat.
In a large bowl, mix the eggs, soymilk, a bit of garlic powder, a dash of cayenne, a shower of fresh grated nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.
Fold the cooked spinach, cheese, and cubed bread into the egg mixture until well combined, then pour into the casserole and bake for 25-30 minutes (I went 28).

Kale and Sweet Potato Soup

A clean and pretty mild soup that I like to fire up with a little Siracha love.
Easy to make when you're feeling fuzzy.

Kale and Sweet Potato Soup:
(from Joy the Baker who was inspired by Food and Wine)

1-2 Tb olive oil
1 medium onion; diced
2 cloves garlic; minced
2 tsp finely grated/minced fresh ginger
3/4 tsp turmeric
~1/4 red pepper flakes (I tend to use a little more)
6 cups organic vegetable broth
1 tsp kosher salt
1.5 lbs sweet potato; diced to 3/4" pieces (peel if necessary, I leave the peel on if clean and organic)
3/4 lb organic kale; thick stems removed and chopped
~1 cup coconut milk
pepper to taste
a squeeze of lime juice is nice
2 cups cooked brown rice (you know you can make up a big batch of brown rice, or other whole grain and freeze it to use any old time right? Freeze leftovers in a ziplock bag, flattened out on a cookie sheet til frozen, then break off pieces as needed.)
Sriracha sauce to taste

Cook brown rice and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed dutch oven, then add onion and cook for 5 minutes.
Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, red pepper flakes and stir for 1 minute.
Add vegetable broth and sweet potatoes, bring to a simmer, reduce heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Add kale, return to a simmer, cover and cook for about 8-10 minutes more, or until sweet potatoes have cooked through.
Remove from heat, stir in coconut milk, add some lime juice if you'd like, adjust salt/pepper to your taste.
Serve with a scoop of brown rice and plenty of Sriracha sauce.

Beet and Carrot Slaw with Tahini Dressing

This is another slaw recipe from Coconut and Quinoa's gorgeous blog that I've been making a lot this summer. I go for nut or seed butter-based dressings more than the mayo-based slaw dressings, and everyone I've fed this to, including the once beet fearing Monster, has liked it. Maybe I'm a weirdo (maybe??), but I even enjoy eating the leftovers for breakfast the next day.

I tend to tweak the dressing amounts from the original recipe...tasting as I go, all depending on the quantity of carrots and beets I use. I always use more than the amounts listed (except for olive oil...that I only use 1 Tbs of), but these are pretty good proportions to keep to.

Beet and Carrot Slaw with Tahini Dressing:
(Coconut and Quinoa)

1 Tb tahini
1.5 Tb cider vinegar
1 Tb olive oil
Small amount of pressed minced garlic
Sea salt to taste
Water to thin
Equal amounts of grated raw beets and raw carrots...for C&Q's recipe she uses 2 small beets to 1 medium carrot, but those must have been some tiny beets to equal 1 medium carrot.
Toasted sesame seeds to garnish

Mix tahini, cider vinegar, garlic, a good pinch of sea salt in a medium sized bowl. Thin with a bit of water.Today I used about 1.5 medium beets and 4-5 small to medium sized carrots. I didn't use all the carrots pictured above...those were juiced later. :-)

Shred both carrots and beets in a food processor if you have one.
Add them to the dressing and toss to coat.

Toast your sesame seeds (I used about 1 Tb. today) and add to slaw.
Pop it in the fridge for about an hour or two...adjust seasonings as necessary, and eat!

Green Gold: Wannabe Doña Salsa

Green gold, crack sauce, call it what you will, I fell hard and fast for the Doña Salsa at our Taco Deli here in Austin from the first second it hit my tongue.

If it's too hot for you, you might want to consider moving back in with your mama. ;-)

This version will never keep us from making our weekly Saturday pilgrimage to the big TD, but it tides us over in the meantime. You can take out more seeds if it's gonna make you too painfully aware of how your innards are laid out...if you must. :-P

Oh and need I mention you'd be smart to wear gloves when dealing with the peppers? Specially if you wear contacts.

I'm submitting this to Ricki's Wellness Weekend Roundup on Dietdessertndogs...so make sure you check out the link for this week's collection of healthy, vegan recipes!

Wannabe Doña Salsa:
(Friend Debbie paved the way in knocking off this delicious concoction after we pinned down the ingredients list!)
yields ~3 cups

2 lbs jalapeños
2 large heads of garlic; broken up into cloves, but paper on cloves left intact
~1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup + 1-2 Tbs olive oil
1/4 cup + 1-2 Tbs canola, or grapeseed oil

After you've washed and dried your peppers and separated the cloves of garlic, preheat your oven's broiler to High with the rack in the uppermost position.

Line a heavy duty baking sheet with foil and arrange the peppers on it.
I sprayed the peppers and garlic with a light mist of canola spray, just use what you've got to oil them lightly.
Roast the peppers whole, turning as necessary, until they are sufficiently charred to peel.

You can roast the garlic right along with the peppers...I ran out of room until some of the finished peppers came off the sheet pan, so I started them in a cast iron skillet on the stove top.

Put the peppers in a bowl covered with plastic wrap to steam for about 10-15 minutes once charred.
Remove the garlic from heat once they've softened somewhat, peel and put in blender.

Once the peppers have steamed, peel them and at this point you can seed them. Really, leave a couple of them whole...you don't want a weenie Doña now do you?

Add oil (you can always add less or more oil, just keep tasting it as you go) and salt and blend the heck out it.
Done. Now quick...go find something to slather in it!

A Slight Riff on Ricki's Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Edamame

The Monster and I really enjoyed this dish. I added cubed and sauteed tofu as per Ricki's suggestion and that was our dinner. Nice to have another brussels sprouts recipe in my repertoire...since I usually just roast them whole to nut brown with olive oil and kosher salt.

I was just short on the edamame called for in Ricki's recipe, so I also added in ~3/4 cup of frozen green peas. Use 'em if you got 'em I say. I was also tempted to brave the heat and go pick some basil in the back yard to add in...but dint! The Monster gave his bowl a dousing of Sriracha hot sauce, but I liked it just fine as it was. Next time I make this I'll add in a bit of fresh thyme...I just happened to use all of mine earlier in the day roasting mushrooms. :-)

If you'd rather, you can leave out the tofu and serve just the veggies with an alternate protein source. Fyi, I've since made this dish a second time using finely shredded Savoy cabbage for the Brussels sprouts and it was great.

Ricki's Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Edamame and Tofu:
(only slightly adapted from Ricki Heller's recipe on Diet Dessert and Dogs)

If adding tofu:
~1 Tbs. olive oil
1 block of extra-firm tofu (not silken); drained and pressed in a towel to dry somewhat, cubed and sprinkled with kosher salt and a nice shower of garlic powder

3/4 cup edamame; boiled 5 minutes if frozen
1/2-3/4 cup frozen green peas; thawed

1 Tbs olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic; minced
1 lb brussels sprouts; trimmed, cut in half and shredded

zest of 1/2 a lemon...zest before juicing :-)
juice of half a lemon
salt to taste

Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in non-stick skillet over med-high heat.
Saute cubed tofu until golden on several sides.
Set tofu aside and carefully wipe out skillet if necessary.

Boil your edamame and thaw the peas while the tofu sautes, then set aside.

Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in non-stick skillet over medium heat.
Saute garlic for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add shredded brussels sprouts and a touch of salt and saute until bright green and just starting to soften. Taste some and see if it's done enough for you.

If it is, then add in the edamame, tofu, and peas, stirring to warm through.
Remove sprout mix from heat and mix in lemon zest and juice, adjusting salt if needed.