Sweet Potato Chili

I bought a bag of sweet potatoes from a farmer at a gas station in Florence, SC. When I saw the about 10 medium sized sweet potatoes staring at me in the brown paper bag, I felt like I got a steal for $2! Sweet potato chili, sweet potato pot pie, and sweet potato fries are some of the uses thus far.

Slow Cooked Sweet Potato Chili (canyoustayfordinner)
Ingredients:
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
14 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 ounce can kidney beans
15 ounce can black beans
1 lb ground beef sirloin (optional)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in the base of your slow cooker and stir to mix well. Cook on low for 10 hours.

Around the World: Portugal

We were in Whole Foods and were admiring the vast array of dried beans one day, when I saw Fava beans. I knew I had found a recipe I wanted them for but couldn’t exactly remember why but I bought them anyways. I found the recipe and remembered it was for my Around the World Series- Portuguese Favas. Therefore, we are eating foods selected from Portugal tonight. And might I add that the dessert was one of our favorites. Patrick, not really being a dessert person, put this up there as his #2 on the favorite dessert list, with his most favorite of all time being my Peach (and Blueberry) Galette. He said “I never thought a pastry would be one of my favorite desserts” but this simple custardy dessert is indeed. And this potato/kale soup was very good as well, a nice compliment to the spicy fava/onion dish.

Caldo Verde (Portuguese Green Soup) 

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1 quart cold water
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 pound kale or collard greens

Directions:

1. Rinse the kale/collard greens and dry with paper towels. Cut and discard the stems. Roll up the leaves and cut into thin slivers, julienning the leaves. Set aside.
2. I a large pot, cook olive oil, garlic, and onion for 3 minutes. Add sliced potatoes, cook until browned about 3 more minutes. This browning gives the soup a good flavor!
3. Add 1-2 cups of water and boil for about 20 minutes until potatoes are soft. Mash or puree the potatoes with some small chunks still in the soup.
4. Stir in the rest of the water and add salt and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes. Then stir in kale and simmer for about 5 more minutes, until kale is tender. Stir in another tablespoon of olive oil for flavor.

Portuguese Favas**

Ingredients
5 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 large onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
1 mini can (about 1 cup) tomato sauce
2 cups hot water
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons paprika
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 (19 ounce) cans fava beans*

Directions
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until golden brown. Stir in red pepper flakes, tomato sauce, hot water, parsley, salt (add this at the end if using dried favas), pepper and paprika.

2.Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Gently stir in fava beans. Remove from heat and let stand for several minutes to allow flavors to meld.

*I used dried fava beans. These require a bit more work! They need to soak overnight. In order to easily shell the beans, I would also suggest boiling them for 10 minutes, draining, and rinsing in cold water. Next, squeeze each fava so it pops out of its shell. These uncooked beans must be cooked for at least one hour, adding salt only at the end so the beans don’t dry up. I had a hard time figuring out how long to cook and how to get them out of the shell with a lot of contradicting sources on the web. I finally figured it out. This is a good reference.

**This a great sauce. The concept of using so many onions to thicken is genius. We put leftovers on pasta mixed with regular pasta sauce. Delicious! This would probably also be good as a base for cooking meat or casseroles.

Queijadas

Ingredients
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar*
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a blender, combine eggs, sugar and butter. Blend until smooth. Pour in flour and milk, a little at a time, blending until smooth again. Stir in vanilla.
3. Pour into muffin tins, filling 3/4 full. Bake in preheated oven 45 minutes, until golden brown. Serve hot or cold.

*Use less. I used ½ cup of sugar, ½ cup agave and it was plenty sweet. Very delicious!

Suggestion: Top with fresh fruit, jam, or coconut before or after baking. Substitute almond or lemon extract for vanilla. Try alternative sources of sweetener like agave.

Tuscan Bean Soup (with Kale chips)

“Hey Patrick. I made some Kale Chips…but I ate them all.” Haha, he got a kick out of that. Story: I used kale in the soup and decided to make a couple batches of chips with leftover kale. We have a small oven so I made two trays. When the first one came out of the oven it was mostly eaten before I even realized it (it was about ¼ cup of crisps). When the second batch came out of the oven, I bumped it on a nearby chair and they, in slow motion, floated up in the air and down onto the floor. That was Patrick’s share. I still have some left over kale so maybe he will get some the next time I make it…or not. P.S. they’re super easy to make. Wash and cut into small pieces. Coat the pieces with olive oil and seasoning (salt, paprika, etc) bake for less than 10 minutes at 350F until crisp, not chewy.

Tuscan Bean Soup

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 medium carrots, chopped

4 rib celery, chopped

1⁄2 yellow onion, chopped

extra-virgin olive oil

~2cups squash, such as butternut, peeled and cut into 1⁄2″ cubes

4 large kale leaves, stemmed and chopped

1 potato, peeled and cut into 1⁄2″ cubes (I had a sweet potato on hand)

Salt and black pepper

1⁄2 tsp. crushed fennel seeds

8 thick slices country-style bread

1 garlic clove

1. Puree half cannellini beans, carrots, celery, and onions with a cup of water.
2. Saute garlic and 2TBSP oil in large pot.
3. Add 4 cups water, remaining carrots, celery, onion, the squash, kale, potato, puree, and salt and pepper to pot with garlic. Cook covered until vegetables are tender about 25 minutes. Stir in remaining whole beans and fennel seeds.
4. Meanwhile, toast bread and rub with a halved head of garlic and olive oil.
5.  To serve, place 1 to 2 pieces toasted bread in the bottom of soup bowls and ladle soup over the top (or in my case, serve bread on the side). Drizzle soup with oil, if desired.

My Oh My, Peach Pie, I mean Galette

Dinner this evening; I thought we were having company so I made an eye pleasing and tasty dinner. It ended up that they had to work late (this is a busy week), but Patrick and I enjoyed it together. :-) We had: Spinach and three-bean enchiladas, Roasted red bell pepper hummus in cucumber cups, and Peach galette. Patrick loved it all! He even said that this was the best dessert he’s ever had (and he doesn’t like dessert)!

Spinach and Three Bean Enchiladas (found in FamilyCircle magazine)

 

 Ingredients:

½ large onion chopped

4 cloves garlic chopped

1 can kidney beans

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans

2 tomatoes, blended

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 bag baby spinach

½ cup chopped cilantro

6 whole wheat tortillas

1 ½ cups shredded cheese.

Heat oven to 350 degrees, coat a cake pan with cooking spray.

Saute onion and garlic, stir in beans tomatoe and spices.  Simmer 3 minutes

Gradually stir in spinach until wilted, stir in cilantro and lightly mash bean mixture with a potatoe masher.  Spoon into tortilla, wrap place in pan. Sprinkle cheese over top bake for 30 minutes.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Hummus

I added sesame seeds, it made them look like sushi! To make the cucumber cups, scoop out most of the center of the cucumber slice.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans (each 15 oz.) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped
• 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1 tsp. smoked sweet paprika
• 1/4 tsp. toasted ground cumin seed
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Pita bread or pita chips and crudités for serving

Directions:

In a food processor, combine the chickpeas, garlic, bell pepper, lemon juice, tahini, paprika and cumin and pulse until the mixture just comes together. With the processor running, slowly pour in the olive oil until incorporated. Season with salt. Serve with pita bread or pita chips and crudités for dipping. Makes about 3 cups.

Peach Galette

I ended up adding blueberries and toasted almonds.

INGREDIENTS

Crust:

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 oz (1/2 cup, 1 stick, 8 Tbsp) butter, cut into small (1/2-inch) cubes, chilled in freezer at least 15 minutes, preferably an hour
• 4 to 6 Tbsp ice water

Filling:

• 2 large, not-overly-ripe yellow peaches (about 3/4 pound total), pitted, sliced into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch slices
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp almond paste (optional)
• 1 teaspoon butter

• 1 egg
• A sprinkling of coarse sugar (optional)

METHOD

1 Make the crust dough. In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, and salt, until well mixed. Add the cubed butter, and pulse 8 times. The butter should still be the size of peas in the mixture. Slowly add the ice water, a tablespoon or two at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the dough just begins to clump. Turn out onto a clean surface. Use your clean hands to form into a disc. Do not over-knead. Work the dough only enough to bring it barely together into a disk. Sprinkle with a little flour on all sides, wrap with plastic, and place into the refrigerator to chill for an hour. (See our pate brisee recipe for more detailed instruction if you are new to making crusts.)

2 Preheat the oven with the rack in the middle position to 425°F (220°C). Place the peach slices in a bowl and sprinkle with the flour and sugar. Toss gently to coat. Sprinkle vanilla extract over the peaches.

3 In a small bowl, whisk the egg until smooth and set aside.

4 On a lightly floured, clean, smooth surface, roll out the dough to about a 12-inch diameter. Gently lift up the rolled out dough and place it on a rimmed baking sheet.

5 If you are using almond paste (not necessary, but a nice addition if you have it), dot the middle 6-inch circle of the dough with the almond paste. (If you can spread it, great. Otherwise, just dot with little bits.) Arrange the peach slices in an overlapping pattern in a single layer in the center of the dough, forming about a 7 or 8-inch circle. Dot with a little butter.

6 Fold the outer edges of the dough round over the filling, by about 2-inches all the way around, in an accordion fashion. Use a pastry brush to coat the exposed dough with an egg wash (you can cook up the leftover egg as a little scrambled egg, by the way), and sprinkle with coarse sugar if using.

7 Place in the oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes, until nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet, over a rack, about 15 minutes.

Great served with a little vanilla ice cream.

MMmmmmmm!

Quinoa Feta Burgers

Dinner! with sweet potato fries

Mmmm, these ones are really good!

Quinoa Feta Burgers

Ingredients

• 1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 shallot, minced (I didn’t use)
• 1 carrot, finely grated
• 3 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I didn’t use)
• 3 tablespoons crumbled feta
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 egg whites, lightly whisked
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 whole-wheat buns, grilled
• Whole-grain mustard, for serving (I didn’t use)
• Grilled onions, for serving (see tip below)
• Radicchio, for serving (I didn’t use)

Directions

1. In a bowl, mash beans into a thick paste and mix in shallot, carrot, quinoa, parsley, feta, salt, and egg whites.
2. Form mixture into six patties and chill 30 minutes.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, directly on grill grates or on stove top, and cook patties until golden (add remaining tablespoon oil if cooking in batches), 4 to 5 minutes per side.
4. Serve on buns with mustard, grilled onions, and radicchio.

Cook’s Tip
For grilled onions, drizzle slices with oil, season with salt and pepper, and grill over medium-high heat, turning, until tender and charred, 6 to 8 minutes.