Sweet Potatoes!

I'm back to a recipe I found in my VT magazine this month. Evidently the mag had a contest - create a recipe with 7 ingredients or less.  I love this contest - so far I'm 2 for 2 in what I've tried from this contest. The biggest plus is that the recipes are simple and I've had most of the ingredients already.  I thought this was really good - although was skeptical at first - cumin can be so over powering. But in my opinion the flavors are really well balanced. I prepped the whole thing in the morning and kept  it in the fridge until it was time to pop it in the oven. Viola- Dinner!

Here's a new one by Jennifer Plantenberg of San Mateo CA.

Cumin & Lime Roasted Sweet Potatoes

1 large sweet potato peeled amd cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 t safflower oil (I just used canola oil)
1 t ground cumin
1 t paprika
1 lime, halved.
1/2 C chopped cilantro

preheat oven to 425. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or cooking spray (I used an 8x8 pan). Toss potato and onion with oil on prepared baking sheet. SPrinkle with cumin and paprika and season with salt if desired. Squeeze juice of 1/2 lime over the top and roast for 45-60 minutes. Toss half way through cooking time.

Remove veggies from oven squeeze juice of remaining 1/2 lime over top and sprinkle with cilantro.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burritos

I'm not trying to steal Shannon's thunder here - really I'm not. But she made these for me just after I had my baby and I LOVED them. Now I make them quite frequently. They freeze really well and heat up easily for a low-effort dinner. The filling is not exactly a cinch to make, but this recipe makes a ton, and its nice to have all those extras to freeze for later. They are from the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites Cookbook.

Try them here.

Quinoa, Avocado and Sweet PotatoTimbale

I have been hanging onto this recipe for a while. The picture made it look so yummy and I had been eager to try it. Honestly I was a little intimidated because I thought it looked really labor intensive. It really wasn't as difficult as it appeared. Nick and I each had two timbale and we felt satisfied. As in hara hachi bu (the Japanese philosophy of eating until you are 80% full).  These were good and really I don't have any serious complaints, but the recipe didn't send me over the moon. I'm not sure I'd make this again, but I still liked it.

In the event you'd like to try it, I do have a couple of notes:

1) This recipe has 4 basic parts. Each part can be done in advance, then assembled when its time to eat.

2) I would use the full jalapeno instead of half to prepare the Quinoa.

3) I roasted the tomatillas along with the sweet potatoes - just got it done faster and everything was fine.

4) I didn't have avocado when I made this (I forgot to pick one up), but I think it would be really scrumptious had I used it.

5) No need to use a mold to create the nice neat little stack. You could very well just pile it on the plate - it all will fall apart once you dig in anyhow. But on the other hand, the presentation is nice when you go the extra mile. I have to admit I actually felt a little special when I made it look really pretty - like I was eating something that would be served in a fancy restaurant. I used a large biscuit cutter as a mold.

This recipe is from a new chef I hadn't used before Tal Ronnen. His cookbook is called The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless Recipes to Change the way you eat. Find the recipe here.