Sweet Potato, Spinach & Peanut Butter Stew

The other day, I woke up with the combination of sweet potatoes and spinach in my head and wanted to pair them together in a soup. While spinach and sweet potatoes can be found together in many recipes, I had a hard time finding one I wanted to try. Either I was missing lots of ingredients, or they were more of an Indian-inspired recipe. I'm not sure why, but I don't usually care for most Indian dishes.

Then I began thinking of a favorite in our household, Peanut Butter Chicken. So I googled "sweet potato, spinach and peanut butter," and found tons of recipes! I found that combo is traditional in West African stews. Again, most of these I was missing ingredients, so I just decided to take my PB Chicken recipe and adapt it. It was a gamble for sure, but one that paid off because it was so good! Even Beckett loved it (but then peanut butter, sweet potatoes and mushrooms all rank in his top favorite foods list.) I will be experimenting with more vegetarian versions of PB Chicken in the future!

I intended garnishing this with cilantro, but forgot. And then forgot again, when we had the leftovers, but I imagine it would go well.

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large carrot, diced

2 medium sweet poatoes, in small dice (around 3 cups)

sea salt and fresh ground pepper

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz. sliced button mushrooms

1 3/4 cup vegetable stock

2 oz. (1/4 cup) tomato sauce

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I use crunchy, but either will work.)

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)

1/2 (9 oz.) bag baby spinach

hot cooked rice (We had ours over Jasmine)

cilantro, for serving

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add carrots and sweet potatoes to the pan, and season with salt and pepper. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 cup of the stock, tomato sauce, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer until potatoes and carrots are tender, about 5 minutes.

Stir peanut butter into the sweet potato mixture until smooth. It will be quite thick, so add a little extra of the broth to thin the sauce. Add spinach to pan, and wilt. If needed add more of the broth to bring to desired thickness (I didn't measure, but I used somewhere between 1/2-3/4 cup broth to get the consistency I wanted.)

Serve over rice and top with cilantro, if desired.

Sweet Potato Lentil Stew

You know the kind of meal that you enjoy so much that for hours after you eat it, you keep thinking of it? And then the next day, you can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch? And then because you enjoyed it so much the second time, you are giddy because there is still enough for yet another bowl the next day? For me, that was this stew. It even made me doubt myself as a good wife and mother, because I wanted to hide the last of it deep in the fridge just to make sure I was the one who got it.

The funny thing is I stumbled upon this by accident. I knew I wanted a cozy vegetarian meal for dinner. I was wanting soup, and at first I was thinking a lighter version of cream of mushroom. Then remembering I had some lentils, I began searching for mushroom lentil soup recipes. After not finding anything I wanted to make, I decided to check out my favorite blog, A Year in the Kitchen. Ashlee always has great vegetarian recipes as well as lots of soups and stews. Her Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup caught my eye, but I didn't have a butternut or the garam masala, or the time to cook it in a slow cooker. I thought about how butternut and sweet potato are often interchangable in recipes, and after doing a search, found many soups and stews with the combination of sweet potato and lentils.

This stove top version is similar to Ashlee's, only with additional veggies, and spiced with a bay leaf and curry powder instead of the garam masala. I'm not the biggest fan of curry powder usually, but I'm so glad I went to ahead with recipe. The curry wasn't overpowering and gave it a delicious flavor. I did make some minor changes by adjusting quanities, and left out the frozen greens beans it called for. I didn't have any fresh and I don't care for the frozen ones. I also added some tomato paste, which helped thicken it. The recipe suggested topping it with plain yogurt and cilantro at the end, neither of which I had. When I make this again (and you bet I will!) I will make sure to have the cilantro because I love what it adds to soups, but a dallop of lite sour cream worked wonderfully with this. Sage added some diced chicken breasts to his, but afterwards said he would've enjoyed it just as much without the meat.

slightly adapted from wholeliving, about 4 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 large onion, chopped

1 cup of julienne-cut carrots

2 medium celery ribs, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

4 cups water
1 1/4 cups dried brown or green lentils, picked over and rinsed
2 small to medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch dice (about 3 cups)
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
2 tbsp tomato paste
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
Plain low-fat yogurt or lite sour cream, for serving

Chopped cilantro, if desired

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion, carrots, celery, and bay leaf. Cook, stirring, until vegetables are softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and curry powder and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more.

Add water and lentils. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 10 minutes. Add potatoes and continue to cook, covered, until lentils and potato are just tender, about 20 minutes.

Add tomatoes with juice and tomato paste. Cook until warmed through, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with yogurt or sour cream, and sprinkle with cilantro, if desired.

Sweet Potato-Pumpkin Soup

I found myself completely uninspired yesterday, trying to come up with dinner. Nothing was sounding good to me at all. Then I noticed a soup recipe I'd ripped out of a magazine laying right next to my laptop. I realized it was the heartiness of the dishes I'd been looking at that weren't appealing. But soup and salad for dinner was just what I was in the mood for.

The torn-out recipe for sweet potato soup was actually an ad for yogurt, and it just looked yummy so I'd saved it without really even looking it over. I saw it wasn't going to work- one, I didn't have the yogurt on hand, and two, it's only real seasoning was a lot of cumin (which I prefer in smaller doses.) A search for other recipes produced me mostly very sweet sounding ones, and I'm more of a spicy/savory person.

I decided to come up with my own and luckily it came out wonderful. I decided to add pumpkin as well, since I had some already peeled in the fridge, and to give it just a slightly spiced flavor. I've had a can of evaporated milk sitting around for a long time- why, I have no idea- so I was glad to finally have a good use for it. I really liked this soup, both fresh off the stove and as a leftover for lunch today. Sage didn't care for it as much, but he doesn't usually love pureed or creamy soups. He's a fan of broth based soups, full of chunky vegetables and meat, so I wasn't surprised. This only yields around 2 bowls or 3 cups, so I can make it again just for myself and not have to worry about eating for a week straight.

1 tsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 small to medium peeled sweet potatoes, in 1/2 in cubes (about 3 cups)

2 cups 1/2 inch cubed peeled pie pumpkin

1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp ground red pepper

sea salt and pepper

2 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1/2 cup evaporated milk

chopped cilantro, for garnish

Heat oil in a soup pot or large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion, celery for 3 minutes, add garlic and cook for 2 more. Add potatoes, pumpkin, seasonings and broth. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, or until potatoes and pumpkin are soft.

Remove from heat and using a immersion blender, puree soup until completely smooth. Return to heat, add milk and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with cilantro.

Sweet Potato Bread

The name of this delicious bread could be "Faux Pumpkin Bread" because that's what it tastes like. Yesterday was a rainy, blah kind of day and I was in the mood to bake. Since I had one lonely sweet potato, the idea came to me for Sweet Potato Bread. It has a wonderful fall flavor to it and smelled heavenly while baking!

On allrecipes.com I found a recipe to use as a base, although I can't just leave a recipe alone- ever- so I read through the reviews and basically took a little of this, a little of that. I switched out the flours from all purpose and reduced and changed the sugar (its still plenty sweet!) I also tossed in a cinnamon stick while boiling the sweet potato. This would also be a wonderful recipe to really use pumpkin in but since I almost always have sweet potatoes and not very often have canned pumpkin, I can now have the taste of pumkpin bread any time!

3/4 cup packed organic brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil (do not sub entire amount for applesauce)
2 eggs
1 cup bread flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/3 cup water

1 cup cooked mashed sweet potato (I boiled mine with a cinnamon stick)
1/2 cup chopped peacans (optional- I omitted, didn't have)

1.Combine sugar, honey and oil; beat well using a mixer. Add eggs and beat.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture alternately with water. Stir in sweet potatoes and chopped nuts if using.

3. Pour batter into greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about one hour or until tester inserted in middle comes out clean.

Look who wanted to help out. The loaf was actually already in the oven at this point, but he did a fantastic job at stirring the imaginary contents of the bowl! So now I have the image of us side by side baking cookies and treats for every holiday. I've turned into such a mommy!

Sweet Potato Risotto

My hubby loves rice, so I wanted to make him risotto. I imagined it would be delicous with sweet potato- another of his fave's- so I did a quick search and found a recipe. I've never attempted risotto before, but I wasn't intimidated by the thought of all the stirring. Sage was impressed when he discovered that's what I was making though.

I'm not sure why, but my potatoes were a little firmer than I would've liked. I even added a little extra water and cooked it longer. Even though it didn't come out perfect, I still wanted to include it on the blog because the flavor was excellent and the consistancy was just right. I think the potatoes should've cooked a little longer before the rice was added, perhaps going in at the beginning with the onions. I will give this another shot in the future, maybe after I've mastered a basic risotto.

I know this is a lousy picture. I couldn't get the risotto to not come out blurry no matter what I did, and I had a hungry family waiting on me. Oh well, I never claimed to be an amazing photographer!

Sweet Potato Risotto, Real Simple

2 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
kosher salt and black pepper
2 small sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano (I used a reduced amount of dried)

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes.

2.Add the rice and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring frequently, until absorbed.

3. Measure 3 1/2 cups of water. Add 3/4 cup at a time and cook, stirring occasionally and waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding the next. It should take 25 to 30 minutes for all the water to be absorbed.

4. Stir in the Parmesan and oregano.

Black Bean Sliders & Sweet Potato Fries with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

I love both veggie and black bean burgers and often order them at casual restaurants. I had some leftover black beans and wanted to try making my own. There were some small bakery rolls in the freezer left over from a party, so I decided to make sliders. And burgers are best with fries, so I paired mine with oven baked sweet potatoes.

The burgers were awesome! They reminded me of the ones I get from Chili's and were so easy to make. I prepared the patties ahead and put them in the refrigerator until we were ready to grill. The fries were tasty but I should have flipped them half way so they'd be evenly toasted. I've included my favorite Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce for the fries. It's also delicious on grilled chicken.

Black Bean Burgers

2 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 cans) canned organic black beans (rinsed and drained well)

1/3 cup chopped carrot

1/3 cup chopped onion

oil

3 tbsp minced garlic

1 egg

1/2 Quick Cooking Oats

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp hot sauce

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1. Blot beans with paper towels to remove as much moisture from rinsing as possible.

2. Using a food processor, finely chop carrots and onion. Saute chopped vegetables with garlic in a minimal amount of oil over medium heat for 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in large bowl, mash black beans using a handheld submersion blender or potato masher, until beans form a paste, leaving some chunks.

4. Blot sauteed vegetables well to remove any liquids and add to mashed beans. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

5. Form into desired sized patties (makes 7-8 sliders, or 4-5 full sized.) Can be refrigerated until ready to use. Uncooked patties can also be frozen for another use. (We froze half.) Can be grilled, baked or panfried. (We grilled ours.)

Baked Sweet Potato Fries (adapted from Country Living)

2 large Sweet Potatoes

olive oil

cumin

ground red pepper

sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut potatoes in half both directions, then cut wedges into 1/2 inch sticks.

3. In large bowl or zip lock bag, place potatoes, enough oil to lightly coat, and desired amount of seasonings. Toss or shake to coat well.

4. Spread potatoes in a single layer on cookie sheet and bake for 35 minutes or until brown around the edges.

* I would suggest flipping them half way for even browning, and perhaps broiling for last few minutes for toastier fries.

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce (originally a marinade from allrecipes.com)

1 tbsp & 1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tbsp light mayonnaise

1 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp steak sauce (such as A-1) or worcestershire sauce

Blend all ingredients well.

This quantity is for two people for dipping. Can easily be double or tripled.