Sweet Potatoes Three Ways

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I don't have much to say here, short of the fact that sweet potatoes really float my boat.

They are good many ways, so I've chosen to share three with you today: mashed, oven fries and baked. Each is good in its own way and all are a welcome addition to any table.

A lot of my friends are wary when I tout the goodness of sweet potatoes, since their main exposure to them has been in the form of a casserole covered in marshmallows and maple syrup. That makes them sweet in the wrong way, and I understand why my friends are not huge fans of the sweet potato. Generally, once they've tried one of my plain and simple treatments, they are converted.

Enjoy them on their own or integrated into a meal with a salad and a roast.

Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

  • 1 to 4 sweet potatoes, skinned, boiled and diced
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • Salt to taste

Preparation

  • Put boiled potatoes in a bowl, add milk, butter and salt and mash them all up thoroughly.
  • You can also add 2 tablespoons of grated cheese like parmesan or sharp cheddar to the warm potatoes.

Oven-Baked French Fries

Ingredients

  • 1 to 4 sweet potatoes, skinned and cut into matchsticks
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt to taste

Preparation

  • Place potato matchsticks on a rimmed baking sheet and put them into a 425 degree oven. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping the potatoes over halfway through the cooking time. Remove from oven, salt and serve.

Baked Potatoes

Ingredients

  • 1 to 4 potatoes (sweet, russet, new), pierced with a fork

Preparation

  • Bake potatoes for 40 minutes, remove from oven, pop open the potatoes and serve!
  • Serve with butter, sour cream, bacon or grated cheese.

Beet Salad with Oranges

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 Gran Fran knows her way around beets. She would make them for us on a regular basis. Her salad involves only some olive oil and vinegar. And, she also cooks her with the skin on, removing it after cooking. Her method involves roasting the beets in the oven individually wrapped in foil (Gran Fran, let me know if I'm wrong here). Skinning the hot beets made me stay away from beet cooking for a good long time. My hands not only turned red from the juice, but also were slightly burned each time I tried to de-skin one of the beets.

My sister Danielle taught me this method, which turns your fingers red immediately, but leaves you with fewer burn marks on your hands. I think I end up with more beets, too. Using a vegetable peeler allows you to remove just the brown skin and preserve more of the good stuff.

I cook the beets in what will become the dressing for the final product, too, which gives you a really flavorful dressing. And, you are able to eat these hot, if you want to, without having to waste any time peeling off the skin.

The addition of oranges and sunflower seeds to this salad make it the perfect Spring-is-Here dish. It's fruity and earthy with just a little bit of crunch.

Featured on The Fruit Guys website.

Beet Salad with Oranges

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 beets, skins peeled off, greens removed, cut into eighths.
  • 1 small shallot, cut into quarters
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 orange cut into small pieces
  • 1/2 teaspoon sunflower seeds
  • Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Place the beet and shallots onto a rimmed baking sheet, or into a baking pan large enough to allow space between the pieces.
  3. Mix together the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper and pour the mixture over the beets, making sure to coat all sides of the beets.
  4. Roast the beets in the oven for 40 minutes, or until fork tender, turning the beets every ten minutes or so.
  5. In a large bowl, mix together the warm beets with the orange segments.

Anchovy Toast: The 'Chovy Saga Continues On

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Are you sick of me and my anchovies yet? This is likely to be my last post about the little fish that I love for awhile as I seem to have run out of anchovies in my pantry. And, I'd like to feature other ingredients, so will probably take the 'chovies off the list for a bit so as not to bore you (or my taste buds). But, I just couldn't deprive you of this toasty treat.

I often find myself not really eating all that much while I'm shooting and writing. Eventually, I do eat what I'm working on, but I guess I just get so into my work that I kind of forget to eat. Funny, since I'm working with food (I know you got that, just had to say it, too).

The toast pictured above has been fried and covered with onion and shallot marmalade, topped with an anchovy and some black pepper. I know, it's not for everyone, but it certainly made my day.

Fried Toast with Anchovy

Ingredients:

Method:

  1. Heat a small skillet over high heat.
  2. Add the olive oil to the pan and heat up until just before the oil smokes.
  3. Fry the bead on both sides until it's as brown as you'd like it.
  4. Serve by putting the onion and shallot marmalade on the toast and topping it off with the anchovy and some pepper.

If you eat cheese, you can also add some grated Parmesan on top.

Shredded Brussels Sprouts and Potato Salad

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A version of this recipe is featured on The Fruit Guys website.

Please meet my new favorite way to prepare Brussels sprouts: shredded. What a delightfully easy way to make a very healthy salad, using something other than your standard issue salad greens.

I first came across this method in the Bi-Rite Market's Eat Good Food cookbook. Their version (which I made and wrote about here) includes bacon. Which, in so many ways, makes me so happy. But, I've found that I need to cut back on the pork products (oh wait, I have a rack of pork ribs in the oven right now....). Therefore, I've created a new recipe using the shredded Brussels sprouts in not only a vegetarian recipe, but also a vegan one. A girl's got to keep her sleek physique and all of the lovely recipes I've been writing have begun to add up on the I-think-my-pants-shrunk-in-the-dryer meter.

The potatoes are the only cooked item in the whole shebang. You can either roast them, dice them or fry them, just do whatever you prefer. And, I didn't include how many this recipe feeds. Seems that the shredded sprouts really go on for days. I've taken to shredding a while bunch of them and storing them in a zipper bag in the fridge. That way I can make any kind of salad I want whenever I want to.

Please do make this or the other recipe referenced above. It really tastes great and is a nice change in your salad repertoire.

Brussels Sprouts and Potato Salad

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 to 2 cups shredded Brussels sprouts
  • 2 cups potatoes in 3/4 inch dice, steamed, roasted, sautéed, or boiled until tender but not mushy
  • 1 /2 cup fresh chopped carrots
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons red wine or sherry vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic, minced finely
  • ½ teaspoon minced tarragon
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

  • Shred the Brussels sprouts.  You can use either a mandolin slicer or the slicer blade on your food processor. And, cutting them by hand is perfectly fine, just make them as thin as possible.
  • Place the shredded Brussels sprouts, diced and cooked potatoes and carrots in a large bowl.
  • Mix together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, sage, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper.
  • Add the dressing to the vegetables and mix well.

Avocados: Egg Smash-up, Smoothie and Guacamole

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Years ago, when my parents were visiting from New York, I decided to serve them some avocados. Joe, my dad, was less than enthusiastic having only had unripe, unflavorful avocados up until this point.  He remarked upon how he stayed away from avocados at all cost because they were tasteless and held no appeal for him. His opinion was forever changed after I served him a California Haas avocado.

Once it was served up simply diced drizzled with some olive oil, pepper and salt, I thought his head was going to explode. I think he thought I was a magician of some sort because I had picked a perfect avocado.  The teacher in him asked me a million questions about why our avocados were so much tastier than any he had eaten before. And, how did I get that pit out so perfectly?

I figured it was because they are grown here and we are lucky enough to have a year-round variety, the Haas avocado, available at all times. The avocados we've had in New York are a harder, taller variety than the Haas. According to this website, I'm thinking Joe is getting something like a Zutano avocado. The taste is much lighter and not quite as creamy as the Haas.

I eat a lot of avocados. I'm also lucky enough to have a group of friends and co-workers who love food as much as I do. We don't work in the food industry, but we all love it. Whenever I'm trying to come up with a recipe for a particular ingredient, I tend to take input from everyone at work. I spend an equal amount of time working with them as I do working on this site, so it makes perfect sense that if I can make something they'll love to eat, we all win.

The egg smash-up is an Israeli dish, I think, that my friend Anastasia started making for us. It's really a simple mix of equal parts hard-boiled egg and avocado, with some salt and pepper. It's great on everything from toasted baguette to rice cakes. It'll keep you going for hours, too, so no need to worry about getting hungry anytime soon!

My friend Robby suggested the smoothie recipe. I was not always a fan of smoothies, but something about the combination of banana and avocado sounded good to me. You can use either regular milk or almond milk here. The almond milk gives it a nice nutty flavor. I don't recommend using rice milk, though, because it's almost too sweet next to the banana and honey. And, the combination of the almond milk, avocado and banana makes the smoothie smell like the beach.

Lastly, my other friend Ari makes a wonderful guacamole. I don't think mine even comes close. But, it does have a great fresh flavor and nice piquant onions to offset the smooth and tangy avocado.

I know when I'm in New York this summer, if I can find some avocados I'm going to break out these recipes and blow Joe's mind.

Avocado Smoothie

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 avocado, sliced in half and removed from the skin
  • 1 banana, sliced
  • ½ cup milk
  • ½ teaspoon honey
  • Ice cubes

PREPARATION

  • Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until the ice cubes have been completely crushed.

Serves 2. Prep time, 5 minutes; cook time, 0 minutes.

Cook’s note:  You can use almond milk or rice milk instead of regular milk.

Avocado Guacamole

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 avocado, sliced into cubes and removed from the skin
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 1 small tomato, cubed
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

PREPARATION

  • In a large bowl, mash the avocado until creamy.
  • Stir in the onions, tomato pieces, spices and oil.
  • Give the mixture one more run through with the masher.

Serves 4. Prep time, 5 minutes; cook time, 0 minutes.

Avocado and Egg Spread

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 avocado, sliced in half and removed from the skin
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

PREPARATION

  • Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mash well with a fork.
  • Serve on toasted bread.

Serves 2. Prep time, 5 minutes; cook time, 0 minutes.

French Toast for All

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My daughter loves french toast. When she was about 6 years old, she got a kids cookbook for her birthday. I had never successfully made french toast when she asked me if we could give the recipe in her book a try.

I was worried that it wouldn't work out, but she was very encouraging. So I persevered, and we made the recipe. Imagine my delight (and hers, too) when three perfect slices emerged from the pan on the stove. I still remember my feeling of relief (and pride) tha I have managed to master french toast.  Although I do cook a lot, I have certain things that always give me trouble: baking, frozen veggies and, until that day, french toast.

7 years later, I'm an old pro, even breaking out french toast for an early morning school day treat. I've even made it for myself using almond or rice milk and gluten-free bread. Take that difficult recipe....I have triumphed!

French Toast for One

Ingredients:

  • 1 Egg, beaten
  • 1/4 cup Milk (you can use Rice or Almond Milk instead)
  • 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 4 slices Bread (regular wheat bread, or gluten-free rice bread like Udi's)
  • Butter for cooking

Method:

  • In a shallow pie pan, mix all of the ingredients.
  • Heat a flat griddle or pan on high heat.
  • Soak each individual piece of bread until coated in the mixture.
  • Lower the heat to medium, and add a pat of butter to the pan.
  • Once the butter has melted, take one of your soaked pieces of bread to the pan.
  • Cook on each side for about 2 minutes, turning the toast over only once you see the edges of the egg coating beginning to brown.
  • Serve with maple syrup or powdered sugar.

*only the regular bread version is pictured, no gluten-free picture available!

Chili-Mac: Gluten-Free

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I love chili. When my daughter was home sick with a stomach bug, I took the opportunity to break out the chili fixin's for myself.

Weird thinking, I know, but when there is a bonus day off from work (not saying her being sick was a bonus, mind you), I feel inclined to go big with my cooking. She doesn't eat chili and said the cooking smells wouldn't bother her, so I figured since I had to make really bland stuff for her to eat, I'd make myself something extra spicy. I also made oven-roasted jalapeno peppers (recipe will be appearing shortly, needs some adjustments...). Clearly, I was not having any of the bland food myself.

For years now, I've been using a mix for the spices, from Carroll Shelby's Original Texas Chili Kit, which I highly recommend. There are no chemicals or weird fake-foods in the box, just cayenne pepper, corn masa flour, cumin, garlic, ground chili peppers, onion, oregano, paprika, salt. It's just easier to have everything put together for me, especially since I may not have all the ingredients on hand, most importantly, the corn masa which you use towards the end of cooking to thicken the chili.

I'd like to talk about chili-mac now. It's not a dish I grew up with. Maybe it did exist in NY, but it never made its way to me. The first time I encountered it, I was in southern Illinois with my then in-laws at Steak 'n Shake. It seemed to me like an ingenious combination. Why not use pasta as your vehicle of choice for chili? It's a pretty good combination of textures, and the cheese just sinks into the pasta every so nicely.

While I cooked the chili, I looked around for some corn tortillas to serve it with, only to come up empty. Instead, I chose a rice pasta as my base for the chili, making this the first time I've made chili-mac in my own kitchen. There is no cheese in this version, as I'm primarily dairy-free (except for butter, can't leave that behind), but you should feel free to add some nice sharp cheddar and maybe even some sour cream to finish off this great dish.

Gluten-free Chili-Mac

Ingredients:

Method:

  1. Heat a large non-reactive pot over high heat.
  2. Add the olive oil and half of the minced shallots.
  3. Cook for 1 minutes. Add the ground meat.
  4. Brown on all sides, about 15 minutes of cooking time.
  5. Drain the fat from the pan.
  6. Add the tomato sauce, water and spices.
  7. Cook for ten minutes. Add the drained black beans.
  8. Slightly cover the pot. Cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  9. While the chili is cooking, take the masa flour and mix with 1/3 cup warm water.
  10. Add to the chili to thicken it. Make sure the corn masa flour is not clumping in the chili, break it up with a fork as you stir it into the mix.
  11. Cook for five more minutes.
  12. Place the prepared pasta into individual serving bowls.
  13. Top with chili (and cheese, if you're into that).
  14. Serve and enjoy!

 

 

 

Spring = Salad....Salad Dressings Galore

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As  featured on The Fruit Guys website

Salad dressing has been on my mind lately. I think it's a sure sign of Spring, what with all the nice greens beginning to show up in the farmer's markets.

In my head, I keep hearing my brother singing a song he made up "All My Dressings", but I can't remember the rest of it. I think this was something he started singing to one of his many nieces and nephews or his kids as pre-dinner entertainment. Salad dressing and I were never best friends. The reappearance of my brother Chris' song, has, however, prompted me to think some more about dressings. I generally like an undressed (naked, if you will) salad. I'm not sure why I have this aversion to dressing, it certainly has nothing to do with calories. There was a time when I did like dressing. I do remember a good vinaigrette that Gran Fran and Joe would make which I ate when we were kids. That said, I'm beginning to wonder if all of the packaged dressings that people offer me are the turn off. There are too many flavors mixed in that take over the taste of the lovely greens.

I set myself a mission: to find not one, not two, but three dressings that I could rotate through my salads. This coincided perfectly with my recent thinking about how to increase the flavor in my salads. In combination with adding fruits, nuts and sometimes rice noodles to my salads, dressing seems the next logical step to bring up the flavor.

A mustard vinaigrette dressing always plays a part in my Salade Nicoise. I know that I can use that same dressing on any number of salads, or even over some warm boiled potatoes. One down, two to go.

Cole Slaw is a big favorite of mine, especially my homemade version. The dressing doesn't have to be exclusively for cabbage, even though it goes so well with it. I figured I could try it with a heartier green, like spinach, add some cucumbers, nuts and shredded carrots and have myself a great salad. I was right.

Dressing number three came to me in my half-sleep the other day, just waking up after a long night of dreaming about food. Those dreams paid off because I came up with an Asian-style dressing that includes orange juice, ginger and sesame oil. A winner when put over romaine lettuce with rice noodles, almonds and orange slices.

I think the vinaigrette and the Asian-style dressing can double as a good marinade for meats, too. So looking forward to trying them out on a variety of salads and reporting back!

My friends came to dinner the night after I made these dressings. It was really great to be able to say, for once, that I did have not one, but three dressings to offer them. They were all a big hit. I'm going to think up a few more dressings before too long. I think I actually *do* like dressing.

Mustard Vinaigrette

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon mustard
  • 1 clove garlic minced finely
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

  • Whisk together all of the ingredients in a small bowl, using either a small wire whisk or a fork to fully incorporate all the ingredients

Use this vinaigrette on everything from a side dinner salad to a salade nicoise.

Creamy Salad Dressing

serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon celery salt
  • Black pepper to taste

Method:

  1. Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl.
  2. Refrigerate for 20 minutes, or up to overnight.
  3. Add your favorite salad and enjoy.

You can make a traditional cole slaw just by adding two cups of shredded cabbage and some julienned carrots. Or, simply pour some dressing over well-washed spinach, cucumbers, carrots and sunflower seeds.

Asian-Style Dressing

serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 3 teaspoons sesame oil
  • ½ teaspoon honey
  • 1/3 cup orange juice
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

  • Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl.

This dressing is fantastic for a mixed green salad featuring hardy vegetables like red bell peppers and green beans.

You can also add rice noodles to showcase the dressing’s flavor and some cilantro as garnish.