A Quick Healthy Dinner, Salmon and Sweet Potato

 

I've decided this is my favorite way to fix sweet potatoes. I take one or two big ones, scrub well then only cut away bruises or other bad spots from the peeling. Slice them lengthwise, 1/2" thick, and put them on a parchment lined baking sheet drizzled with EVOO. Flip and season the oiled top side.

I buy frozen salmon with the skin on. I put the meaty side down first, then flip them and season. This keeps the skin on the bottom and easier to pull off before serving. Bake these together until a fork slides in and out of the sweet potato.

And yes, I'd eat this for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I don't have a problem with gluten, but I've decided in general, it's not good. Traditional breakfast foods are full of it and not healthy for anyone. They're loaded with GMO's, processed grains, sugar and bad carbs. This was SO good! A little ranch dressing and dry dill on the salmon and some pickled asparagus rounded out the plate just right. Think outside your current 'box' and put a new twist on breakfast. . .Lin

Delicious Sweet Potato 'Cookie' Bites

I came across an inspiration recipe for these online and was intrigued. I've changed several ingredients to make a healthier version. This goes together quickly and is really good. If you can find smaller diameter sweet potatoes, this would make a gorgeous little tray of appetizers. I'm thinking especially pre-dinner, while the turkey is roasting on Thanksgiving or Christmas, or take them to a friend's party on New Year's Eve.

2 sweet potatoes
toasted sesame oil
Everything Bagel seasoning

6oz. cinnamon-craisin goat cheese
raisins - enough to top each 'cookie'
pecan halves (1 on each cookie bite)
honey to drizzle over the top

Preheat your oven to 375°. Scrub and clean up the skin, shaving off any bad spots, on the sweet potatoes. Cut the ends off the unpeeled potatoes and slice the rest into about 1/2" slices. Drizzle a cookie sheet generously, that has sides, with toasted sesame oil. Rub each side in the oil, flip them over and sprinkle with the Everything Bagel Seasoning. Roast for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the goat cheese log into as many slices as you have sliced sweet potatoes. (I kept 5 small ones plain to give to my dog, Oliver, mashed with a bit of hot water and dry food for several of his next afternoon feedings) Poke with a fork to see if they're done. Don't let them get mushy, but they shouldn't be too crispy either. Remove from the oven and let sit for just a few minutes. Put the goat cheese slices on and use your thumb to push it in place. Next lightly push on about 5 raisins to each 'cookie' then push in a pecan half. Drizzle all of this with some good quality honey.

Mmmm, these are SO good, warm or cold. . .Lin

Easter Garlic Mashed Potatoes

3# mixed potatoes

5 lg. cloves of garlic

Wash the potatoes. Peel and cube the sweet potatoes and immediately put them in salted water. Before prepping the regular potatoes, put the unpeeled garlic cloves in warm water, for 10 minutes, to make peeling them easier.

Add the cubed potatoes to the pot. Bring to a quick boil then reduce the heat to a low simmer. When the potatoes are just getting tender, add the peeled, crushed, chopped garlic.

Turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let stand 10 minutes. Drain, then add the following:

1T dry parsley

1/2T Lowry's Garlic Salt

3/4t red and black pepper

1 stick of butter

2/3c sour cream

Give everything just a rough mash, just to blend everything, and melt the butter. Stir in the sour cream right at the end. We'll be having this for our Easter dinner this weekend with a vegetable medley, a grape tomato salad, a sauerkraut-pork meat course and a purple cabbage side that's just wonderful! For dessert I'm going to make a slightly different version of my Italian inspired olive oil cake, adding slightly cooked citrus peel this time, and baking the batter as muffins.

I love the idea of the flavors and textures these different potatoes bring to the dish. Not everyone's favorite type of mashed potatoes, but if you're adventurous, you might like these for a change. They provide much more nutritive value than just regular potatoes.

I hope you all had a wonderful Passover-Easter holiday weekend. . .Lin

Slow-Baked Sweet Potato 'Cookies'

My original intent in making these was for my dogs, I bought a 5# bag of them. As they bake I'm thinking they might have to share them with me! When buying sweet potatoes if only making these for your dogs, remember colorful sweet potatoes, like orange and purple are full of various types of betacarotene which could discolor carpets and furniture. If this could be a problem, give these as outside treats or on hard surface floors.

Today I used 2 new large potatoes and 1 smaller older one. The older one was peeled since it had developed little soft spots on the skin. If the skins are clear and healthy, don't peel, just scrub them well. Cut in 3/4" cross-sections and put them immediately in a bowl of cool, salted water. The chloride in the salt - NACL - will keep the surfaces from oxidizing and browning. Drain the bowl and place the slices on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake at 275° for 1 hour. I did a toothpick test and these still needed more cooking time. Turn off the oven and leave them in the hot oven for another hour. Cool to room temperature on the countertop, then store in a food safe container in the fridge. Mine were perfectly baked with the side on the parchment paper caramelizing just a bit. I think if you'd like them drier and more featherlike, you'd have to bake them only at 225° for a much longer time. Maybe 2-3 hours then shut the oven off and leave them another couple hours.

No matter how dry or soft they turn out, they're delicious! I had a couple of these with lunch, which was a great salad. Steamed-shredded cabbage and purple onion. I added grape tomatoes, mini English cucumber, avocado, and some pistachios. Drizzled with a good EVOO and fresh lemon juice, seasoned with a touch of parsley garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper. Mmmm. . .Lin

Simple Chicken Stew

Wash, dry and cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Sauté and stir it over medium heat, to create a little browning which will seal in the juiciness and add a lot of flavor to the stew. 

24oz. boneless skinless chicken

a little finely chopped onion

3-4T butter

Lowry's Seasoned Salt and pepper

Chop and add the carrot, celery and onion. Sauté with the chicken 10 minutes. Add the 28oz. can of diced tomatoes and liquid, simmer another 15 minutes. Scrub, quarter and slice a regular and Japanese purple sweet potato and add them to the pot.

Cover and simmer over very low heat an hour. Check the vegetables from time to time. Everything will be ready when the vegetables are cooked the way you like.

This is another recipe that will taste better reheated in a day or so. Cold Weather Cooking . . . I love it!

If, like me, you're in love with cream based tomato gravy, add 2/3 to 1 cup of sour cream to the cold stew before reheating. Stir it in, then slowly bring everything to a low simmer for 10 minutes before serving. . .Lin

Cajun Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

20oz. cajun seasoned chicken breast

1/2 med. sweet or yellow onion 

2T EVOO

Cut the chicken, into bite size pieces. Sauté it in a big pan over medium heat with the chopped onion and oil, until it's sizzling and beginning to brown. Add a little water, stir and cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

1 big sweet potato

some thin-sliced green onion

salt and pepper - if needed

Scrub the potato and peel off any bad spots. Cut in cubes or slices and add this to the pan once the chicken browns. Move the pieces around to coat them with the cooking liquid. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the chopped green onion, cover and simmer another 5 minutes. Makes 2-4 servings. . .Lin

Roasted Vegetable and Kabocha Squash Soup

• 1 Kabocha Squash - a.k.a. Japanese Pumpkin
• 5 sm. Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1 med. sweet potato
• a few garlic cloves
• 2 ribs of celery
• Little's Chili Lime Seasoning Blend
• Moroccan extra virgin olive oil

Scrub the squash, cut it in half and scrape out the seeds, rub with EVOO. Rough cut - chunk the vegetables, toss in EVOO, arrange on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle everything with Little's Chili Lime and roast in a 400° oven for one hour.

Like Old Mother Hubbard, my 'fridge, pantry and cupboard are currently bare!  I only had 2 cloves of garlic and no onion at all today, but wanted to make this soup. Last fall, I had an abundance of vegetables so I simmered and blended some for a red sauce. I also made 2c packages of chopped, fresh vegetables and froze the sauce and vegetables, for such a time as this. When you have extra vegetables from the grocery store, Farmer's Market or your garden, decide the best way to preserve them for a future time, when your stash is low. Freezing works well for me.

• 2c frozen red sauce
• 1/3c Moroccan EVOO
• 2c fresh, chopped, frozen vegetables
• tomato, onion, pepper, celery, garlic, carrot

While the squash and other vegetables are roasting, slowly simmer-thaw the ingredients above, in a 4-6 quart pot.  Cook at a low bubble, for 10  minutes, then cover and turn off the heat. Cooking isn't really necessary, but I recommend it since raising the temperature develops the lycopene in the tomatoes, which is a powerful antioxidant. However, it's good to include them in your diet in their fresh-raw state as well, since they're an excellent source of vitamin C when eaten right off the vine.

When everything in the pot has cooled a little, add the following.

• 1 can coconut milk
• 2t turbinado sugar
• 2-3t Little's Chili Lime
• 2-3t curry powder
• 1t cinnamon
• 1/2t nutmeg
• 1-2T dark balsamic vinegar

Sweet Bowl

After the vegetables are roasted and are cool enough to touch, scoop out the squash, cut the vegetables a little more then add everything to the big pot. Add a little water or vegetable broth to get a good balance of solids and liquid. Blend with an immersion blender, then simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Check the flavor and thickness, adding more seasoning or liquid if needed.

Savory Bowl

Serve, garnished with sour cream, croutons, cilantro, fresh lime or lemon zest and juice.

The Sweet Bowl was topped with a dab of plain Greek yogurt, sunflower seeds, parsley, cayenne pepper, and some thin sliced crystalized ginger.

The Savory Bowl had small chunks of cooked roast beef, walnuts, cashews, cayenne and coarse salt. Pick a flavor profile then run with it!

Remember - Be Bold - Be Creative!  Cook Up Some Good Food. . .Lin

Sautéed Chicken and Vegetables with Mashed Sweet Potatoes

1+# sweet potatoes

butter - salt - pepper

a little half and half

1-2T butter or coconut oil

1# dark chicken meat

1 sm. onion - chopped

lots of rough chopped garlic

1 mini red pepper - sliced 

2c broccoli florets

Peel and chop the sweet potato cubes into cold salted water. Simmer until they're soft. Drain, add seasonings, half and half and mash. Sauté and stir the chicken and vegetables until the onion and garlic scent your kitchen, for about 10-12 minutes. Add a little water, broccoli florets, cover and simmer over low heat 5-7 minutes. Serve the broccoli on the side and the rest over the mashed sweet potatoes. This made 2 big servings. . .Lin

Purple and Orange Roasted Root Vegetables

10c scrubbed, chopped root vegetables

Today I used orange sweet potato, purple sweet potato, baby red potatoes, carrots and onion.  Cut these in appropriate sizes and shapes, remembering that carrot takes longer to cook than potatoes, so cut them a little smaller.  Put the chopped vegetables in a big bowl of salted, cold water, using about half a teaspoon of salt.  Mix to be sure each gets a little bath with the water the chloride + the sodium in the salt (NaCl) keeps them from browning.  Works wonderful for sliced apples also, when making pie.

Drain well in a colander and pat dry with paper towels.  Dry the bowl and pour in about ⅓c of EVOO, and season with a salt and pepper based seasoning.  Toss the vegetables in the seasoned oil, then put on a parchment paper lined jelly roll pan.  Use two pans for this many vegetables.  I made the mistake of crowding them onto only one.  They didn't crisp up the way I wanted since being so close, they sort of steam-roasted.  I can't give you an exact time either.  I'd say set the oven to 400° and when it's preheated, put them in and set the time for 12 minutes.  Take them out.  Using the overhang paper on each side, roll the vegetables to the center then rearrange them to be sure they're all coated evenly. Return to the oven until they're crisp on the outside and done in the middle.

It seemed I also used a little too much oil, which I corrected for this recipe, reflected in the amount above. If your vegetables are too oily, put them in a colander on top of a clump of paper towels. In spite of all this. . .they turned out well.

Cooking is art, but sometimes science prevails and teaches us a lesson 😊 This pairs nicely with meatloaf or grilled beef, chicken or fish. . .Lin

Roasted Sweet Potato - Squash Soup

3 sweet potatoes - regular or white

1 med. butternut squash

1 med. onion

garlic

melted coconut oil

Scrub the vegetables then arrange on a parchment paper lined baking pan.  Drizzle the cut vegetables with coconut oil then bake in a 350⁰ for about an hour, until a fork poked in the thickest vegetable comes out easily.  Cool then peel.

Meanwhile in a 4-5 quart pot, combine the following:

3-4 stalks celery - chopped

⅓-½c white wine

2T coconut oil

6c water

2T Better Than Bouillon - Vegetable

1-2T garlic and herb seasoning

1-2T pumpkin pie spice

1 13.5oz can coconut milk - optional

Saute' the celery with the roasted onion in a couple tablespoons of coconut oil and the wine.  Cover and cook until the celery's tender, probably 20 minutes.  

Add the peeled, roasted vegetables, water and the next 3 seasonings.  Simmer this for 20-30 minutes.  Cool just a little then blend with an immersion blender.

Serve now, or add the coconut milk if you want.  Blend again, garnish with a dab of sour cream, a sprinkle of sunflower seeds, some cut up chives, and croutons.

This made almost 4 quarts of soup. . .Lin

Coconut Curry Carrot-Sweet Potato Soup

4 sm.-med. sweet potatoes

1 med. purple onion

⅔ med. red pepper

5 cloves of garlic

3 med. carrots

2T coconut oil

1t salt

1t pepper

1t AROY-D curry paste

1t pumpkin pie spice
1" piece fresh ginger

1c coconut milk

Scrub the sweet potatoes and remove any bad spots.  Cut these, the onion, pepper and carrots into 1" chunks.  Slice the garlic cloves.  Put all this in a medium size bowl.  Melt the coconut oil and pour over the vegetables.  Salt and pepper, toss, then put on a parchment paper lined jelly roll pan.  Bake at 400° for about 45 minutes, or longer until the vegetables are browned and soft.  Toss, move around, to re-coat everything with the oil and seasoning after about 20 minutes.

Put the vegetables into a heavy bottomed 3 quart pot.  Add a cup or two of water or vegetable broth, the finely chopped ginger, curry paste and spice.  Mash or blend with immersion blender, to the consistency you want.  Bring to a simmer and cook 15 minutes.  Stir in the coconut milk and serve, garnished with a little sour cream, dill and some chopped nuts. . .Lin

Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry

1# chicken breast meat

1 med. yellow onion

2T butter

¾c dry white wine

2 big sweet potatoes

1c chopped celery + tops

1 16oz. jar curry sauce

⅔c your favorite chopped nuts

8 medjool dates - cut up with scissors

Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and saute' with a little piece of the onion, finely chopped, in a 5qt. pot.  Add the wine, in little dribbles, to keep this from sticking while browning.  When lightly browned, after about 10 minutes, add the rest of the vegetables and a little water if needed, cover and simmer another 10 minutes.

Cover with the curry sauce, adding ½c of water to the empty jar and shake.  Pour this into the pot.  Cover and simmer on low another 30-40 minutes, or until the celery is done.

Stir in the nuts and dates for the last 10 minutes of cooking time.  Serve as is, or over steamed brown basmati rice. . .Lin

Roasted Nutty Squash Soup

1 lg. butternut squash

2 big sweet potatoes

6-8 cloves of garlic

½ lg. onion

2-3T Tuscan olive oil

¾-1c sunflower seeds

fresh ground lemon pepper

water - white wine - broth

1t-1T pumpkin pie spice
½t cayenne pepper

8 oz. coconut milk

Peel the squash, which is no easy task!  Cut the squash in half, crosswise.  Cut up the top - skinnier neck half - into small chunks.  Quarter the bottom, scoop out the seeds and dark stringy membranes.  Cut these pieces into small chunks as well.  Scrub, then peel the bad spots off the sweet potatoes.  Cut them into small chunks. . .and a pattern emerges!  😁 

Peel and chop the garlic, slice-chop the onion.  Combine all this in a medium-large bowl with the oil, sunflower seeds and lemon pepper.  Spread out on one or two jelly roll pans lined with parchment paper. 

Roast-bake at 400° for an hour or more, checking-turning-tossing the vegetables every 20 minutes.  I only used one pan, which is why the vegetables took an hour and 20 minutes to get to the stage of 'doneness' I wanted.  If you use two pans, this would go quicker.  The vegetables should be a little brown and dry, to be well roasted.

At this point, put all the vegetables into a 5 quart pot, mash with a potato masher, add liquid, stir and check flavors.  Add spice, more lemon pepper, and any other seasoning needed, and simmer for about 45 minutes.  Leave as is, if you want the soup chunky, or blend now with your immersion blender to smooth it all out.  At the very end, stir in coconut milk, just before serving.  Garnish with a dab of sour cream, a sprinkle of smokey paprika, dill or croutons. . .Lin

Spiralized Vegetable Casserole

1 lg. turnip

¼ purple onion

2 sm. zucchini
2 sm. red potatoes

1 med. sweet potato

2T Tuscan olive oil

½-1t lemon pepper

2 sm. frozen tomatoes

*1t Italian seasonings

*⅔c marinara sauce

2 lg. cloves garlic

1t sugar

Spiralize the first group of vegetables.  Toss them in a big bowl with the oil and lemon pepper.  **Spread on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet.  Bake at 375° for 20 minutes.  Gently stir the vegetables to recoat them with the oil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

**This step could be eliminated, by increasing the baking time below, but roasting adds a lot of flavor.

Partially thaw the tomatoes.  After an hour or so, the skins will slip right off.  When they're at the popsicle stage, dice and combine them with the remaining four ingredients in a medium size pan. *(I switched to these two, instead of the ajvar and curry shown in the first photo.)  Simmer over low-medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Put the vegetable-noodles back in the big bowl, toss with the sauce, then put into a covered casserole.  Return to the oven--with the heat now reduced to 350°--to heat for 10 minutes  **(or if not pre-roasted, bake for 30-45 minutes until the vegetables are all crisp-tender.)  Garnish with toasted pine nuts, chopped pecans or cashews, grated parmesan cheese or fresh chopped herbs.

Serve with grilled chicken or fish, or alone, for a vegan main dish. . .Lin

A Coconut Vegetable Curry

½-1 can garbanzo beans

½ sm. yellow onion-chopped

1 lg. garlic clove-minced

1T± coconut oil

I had some garbanzos leftover from the other day, so I decided to brown them up a bit in my cast iron stock pot with the little bit of onion, garlic and coconut oil.  You'll probably need to cover the pot with a splatter screen since the beans will start snapping and popping when they begin to brown.  Once they reach that point, turn off the heat and finish your vegetable prep.

4 sm. sweet potatoes
6 quartered radishes

1 lg. turnip

3 cloves garlic

¾c golden raisins

(dried figs, prunes, apricots)

2t± fresh minced ginger

2-3T AROY-D yellow curry paste

2-4c water
~ 4-8oz. AROY-D coconut milk

~ ½ bunch cilantro or Italian parsley

Scrub the sweet potatoes, but don't peel them, just cut off the ends and slice off any skin irregularities or dark patches.  If your turnip's been waxed, cut it in quarters.  This should make it easy to pop the thin layer of wax off the skin.  Since turnip skins are nice and thin, like carrots, you don't need to peel them, just scrub them well, once the wax is off.  The skin gives you a bit more really good vegetable fiber.  Mince the garlic and add these ingredients to the bean pot, down to, and including the water.  Simmer a half hour or longer until the vegetables are cooked as you like them.

Add the coconut milk, greens, simmer a while and then check the flavors.  Serve as is (or over rice, quinoa or angel hair pasta).  Oh, I  SOOO love a really good, well-balanced, curry!  😊 . . . Lin