Warm Sweet Potato Salad

Warm Sweet Potato Salad

This was gooooo-oood.  And it was destiny, I think, because when I found this recipe online I was able to say, "Oooh, got that...have that...yes...can make that, have that."

Here's the rundown:
Salad:

• sweet potatoes, roasted with cumin, ginger, and rosemary
• toasted pumpkin seeds
• dried cranberries
• roasted peppers
• scallions (or just thinly sliced onions)

Dressing:

• balsamic vinegar
• mango chutney
• dijon mustard
• garlic
• honey
• olive oil

Here's the link: Warm Sweet Potato Salad
I did a couple of things differently - but not too much:

• I used dried rosemary instead of fresh, so I only used about 1.5 tablespoons.
• I didn't have roasted red pepper, but I did have some of those little sweet peppers, so I just sliced a few and threw those on one end of the pan in which I roasted the potatoes (but took them out earlier than the potatoes, of course).
• I didn't have mango chutney, but I did have mangoes, so I briefly sautéed those with some onions, butter, a little brown sugar, lime juice (my mango needed more tang), and a pinch of salt....viola!...chutney.
• And I didn't have scallions, so my plan was to thinly slice some onions, but my chutney turned out plenty onion-y, so I didn't add any more.
• And the green stuff on top is fresh parsley...just for prettiness.

Pinterest.

Oh hey, look!  A blog!  Hmmm...I should probably cross out "daily" from my header, huh?

Pinterest.  My favorite thing to use it for is food pictures, of course, which I pin to a board with the claims that I will make these things.  Amazingly, I did make a few pinned recipes, so I thought I'd share them all in one spot.

Bean and Kale Soup

This was really good!  I could eat this every day.

Here's the pinned recipe: Tuscan Style Bean and Kale Soup

I didn't have fresh tomatoes, so I used a can of tomatoes w/ green chiles (Rotel), which gave a Mexican flair to the Italian-ish dish.  I also used chicken stock instead of vegetable.

Yummy for the Tummy.

Sweet Potato Skewers with Cilantro Sauce

This recipe made me realize that I do NOT have the patience it takes to make one's own mayonnaise.  I am a mustard girl, so I don't usually keep mayo or miracle whip or anything of the sort in my fridge, so when this recipe for a jalapeño/cilantro aioli caught my eye, I decided it must be done with homemade mayonnaise.  I was so almost there, but after dripping 90% of the oil into the egg mixture drop by drop, I got a little impatient and rushed it....and promptly ruined it.  Ooooh colloids, why must you be so difficult?  So, after momentarily losing my will to cook (and a few choice cuss words), I decided to wing it and create a yogurt sauce instead.  It was good, but thinner than I would have liked.

Here's the recipe I pinned: Roasted Sweet Potato Skewers with Jalapeño-Cilantro Aioli

Mac & Cheese-style Cauliflower

Cauliflower = Potentially Boring OR a way to make me eat too much ranch dressing.

Homestyle Mac and Cheese Style Cauliflower = solution to the above.  

Cause eating too much cheese is so much better than ranch dressing.

I used a local Chipotle Cheddar Cheese for this.  It really was pretty good, but yes, it is still Cauliflower.  But it's Cauliflower covered with CHEESE.

Here's the original: Mac & Cheese Style Cauliflower

Black Bean Enchiladas.

Black Bean Enchiladas with Sweet Potato Sauce

For some reason, black beans, blue cheese, and sweet potatoes make an excellent combination.

For these bad boys:

1. Add a thin layer of the sauce to the bottom of a Pyrex
2. Roll up the black bean mixture with a few blue cheese crumbles in flour tortillas and add them on top of the sauce

3. Add a layer of the sauce on top
4. Crumble a little bit more Blue Cheese on top (a little goes a long way)

5. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until all is heated through

Filling

• Black Beans (I used two cans; drained one)
• Rotel (1 can)
• 1/4 - 1/2 Onion, chopped
• 3 - 4 cloves Garlic, chopped

1. Saute Onion and Garlic until tender in a saucepan
2. Add Black Beans and Rotel to saucepan and heat to let flavors combine

Sweet Potato Sauce

• Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cubed
• Chili Powder
• Cayenne Pepper
• Salt
• Butter
• Dairy (Milk, Cream, or Yogurt)
• Water (for thinning)

1. Cook Sweet Potatoes until tender (I boiled and drained mine, but I bet roasted would rock)
2. Puree the potatoes in a food processor, or use an immersion blender (or just mash up really well with a fork)
3. Season with Chili Powder, Cayenne Pepper, Salt (just keep tasting!)
4. Add a little Butter (a few Tablespoons)
5. Add some dairy to begin to thin it while adding a little richness
6. Thin it the rest of the way down with water (at least as thin as applesauce)

Flour Tortillas

• 2 cups Flour
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/4 cup Oil
• 2/3 cup Warm Water

1. Mix all the ingredients into a soft dough
2. Divide into 15 - 20 small balls of dough
3. Roll very thin (as thin as you can), then peel off and put in hot, dry skillet
4. Heat on each side until golden brown spots appear

Twice Baked.

Twice-Baked Chipotle Sweet Potatoes

Because of some Jerky and Chili Making we have done lately, Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce has become a pantry staple for us.  This is a good thing, because when we got our produce from naturalfarms this past week, one of the recipes that came with it was for Twice-Baked Chipotle Sweet Potatoes.

I thought this would make a great addition to our Valentine's Day Brie Burgers.  Oh yeah...it was.

I even forgot to add the chopped onion to the potato/pepper mixture.  But it didn't matter.  They were SO good.  I highly recommend.

Twice-Baked Chipotle Sweet Potatoes