Sw Potato Burrito

Sweet potatoes rank pretty high on my list of foods I wouldn't want to live without.  So when I heard about the Bloggers Recipe Contest hosted by the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission, I knew I wanted to try and come up with a recipe or two to submit.

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Must have been fate, as Janetha blogged about an amazing breakfast burrito she had in Chicago.  Sweet potatoes and black beans are not an uncommon pairing for me, but throwing avocado in the mix?  I had to try it!  And wow.  I'm in love.  The flavors melded harmoniously, and this will definitely become a regular on the rotation given how easy it is to throw together :)

ok, so maybe I stuffed a little too much in

PS- You don't have to take it just from me!  My friend Alyssa was able to join me for a burrito, and she raved about it as well, "I absolutely loved the combination of the sweet potatoes, eggs, guacamole, beans and spices. To die for!"

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burritos
Serves 3-4

2 lg sweet potatoes
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
cumin, to taste (I used ~1/2t)
3 eggs + 3 egg whites
splash  of milk (dairy or non-dairy, cream or even yogurt would work)
guacamole (1 avocado's worth, or 1/3 of the recipe)
whole wheat tortillas (8-10")
salsa (I used TJ's tomatillo & roasted yellow chili salsa, but you could make your own)
goat cheese (queso fresco would also be good)

Preheat oven to 350deg.  Wash sweet potatoes, poke them with a fork a few times, and wrap them in foil.  Place on a cookie sheet and roast for ~1hr, until they're soft and easily pricked with a fork.  Set aside and let cool, then cut into a rough dice.  Transfer to a bowl and mash with a little salt and freshly ground pepper.

**Roasting the sweet potatoes can be done ahead of time, simply refrigerate until use and bring the potatoes to room temp (or warm) before assembling the burritos.

Place black beans into a bowl, season with cumin, a tad bit of salt (or a little more if you're using no salt added beans) and some freshly ground black pepper.  Roughly mash with a fork, or puree in a food processor if you'd like.

Preheat a large skillet over medium low heat.  Add eggs and whites in a small bowl, a splash of milk and a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper.  Once the pan is warmed, cook eggs slowly, stirring quite often, until they have just started to set (unless you like them dry, in which case keep going until they are to your liking).  Turn off the heat.

To assemble burritos, place tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for 15-30sec if you need to get them a little more pliable.  On each burrito, place ~3-4T black bean mash, ~1/3c roasted sweet potatoes, 1/4 of the eggs and 2-3T guacamole.  Wrap up (if you can!), then top with salsa and goat cheese.  I served mine with fruit salad!


It's not too late to enter the contest, entries are accepted until March 21st!

Ridiculous III

Thanks to all of your votes, I made it to the next round of the Marx Foods Ridiculously Delicious Challenge!!  The next task?  Remake one of the 15 advancing entries using different ingredients than the two from your first entry.  Ok, that's probably a little confusing...  but really you're just here to see what I came up with, right?

I chose to recreate Joanne's chicken and waffles, or rather her Fried Tepin Chile Chicken and Waffles with Juniper-Pomegranate Maple Syrup.    I've never had chicken and waffles before, and I'm not a huge fan of fried chicken...  but I ran with it and created a dish that featured dill pollen,  Szechuan peppercorns and Juniper Berries.

juniper berries

My chicken:  Juniper Berry Poached Salmon.  After deciding to play with dill pollen, salmon was my choice for the protein in this dish.  I thought about adding a seed/spice crust to mimic the crispy chicken, but decided there was already enough going on.

Szechuan peppercorns

My waffles:  Szechuan Potato Waffles.  A perfect partner to dill and salmon, mashed potatoes, brightened with notes of Szechuan peppercorns take center stage in these waffles.

dill pollen

My syrup: Lemon-Dill Sauce.   A hummus-based sauce inspired by Cara's Latke Benny, this sauce was absolutely delicious!

Szechuan Potato Waffles w/Juniper Poached Salmon and Lemon-Dill Sauce

While it looks like alot of components, it wasn't too complicated and you could definitely use shortcuts (store bough hummus, pre-cooked salmon, etc).  The mashed potatoes and hummus can definitely be prepared  ahead of time.  For dinner I started by making the waffles, as they could be kept warm in the oven after the salmon was done.  The poached salmon came next, closer to serving time as I didn't want it to overcook (although I still overcooked it).  The sauce came while I was waiting for the salmon, it was easy to throw together!

To serve, top waffles with salmon and smother in the lemon-dill sauce :)

Szechuan Potato Waffles
Recipe by Shannon
Yield 5 waffles, but it will depend on your waffle iron

3/4c white whole wheat flour
1 1/2t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
1/8t kosher salt
1/2t Szechuan peppercorns, ground
1 egg, separated
1/2c mashed potatoes*
1T neutral flavored oil
1/2c milk (nondairy is fine)
1/3c 2% greek yogurt

Preheat your waffle iron.

Combine dry ingredients (flour through pepper) in a medium bowl.

In a separate small bowl, combine egg yolk (reserve the white!), mashed potatoes, oil, milk and yogurt.  Whisk until the potatoes have broken up and are well combined.  Add to dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Whisk egg white to firm peaks, and carefully fold into waffle batter.  Be careful not to overmix and deflate the batter, it's ok if there are some small white streaks left.  Cook waffles according to manufacturer's directions (I spray mine with cooking spray and add a heaping 1/4c batter for each waffle).  Keep warm in a single layer on a cookie sheet in the oven until ready to serve.


Juniper Berry Poached Salmon
method from RecipeGirl
 Serves 2

2 3-4oz wild alaskan salmon fillets (or more)
salt and freshly ground pepper
3c stock (chicken, vegetable, or water or some white wine if you prefer)
2t juniper berries, crushed

Preheat oven to 350deg.

In an ovenproof saute pan (12"), add stock and juniper berries and heat over medium heat until it just reaches a simmer.  Meanwhile, season salmon with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Once liquid has come to a simmer, add the salmon and place the pan in the oven.

Poach the salmon until the flesh is opaque, but medium rare, ~10-12min (might be a little longer if your fillet is particularly thick).  Remove from the oven and set aside until you're ready to serve.  If your fillets came with the skin on, it's easy to peel off once the fish is cooked- just be careful if it's still hot ;)


Lemon Dill Sauce
adapted from Cara's Cravings
enough for ~3 waffles/salmon

1/2c lemon hummus (store-bought or homemade**)
2t dijon mustard
1/4c water
1/2-3/4t dill pollen

Add ingredients to a blender and puree until well mixed and smooth.  Alternatively, just whisk well until combined.


*Mashed Potatoes
Recipe by Shannon

1 lg potato
1T butter
salt and freshly ground pepper
milk (I probably used 1/4-1/2c)

Dice potato into equal sized pieces and place in a medium pot.  Cover with cold water and place over medium high heat.  Cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.  Drain cooked potatoes and return to the pot.  Add butter, salt and pepper, and enough milk so the potatoes aren't dry.  I was aiming for the consistency of mashed sweet potatoes or butternut squash.  Can be made ahead and refrigerated until preparing the waffles.


**Lemon Hummus
Recipe by Shannon

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 lemon, zest and juice
salt (I actually used a bit of ginger salt)
freshly ground (Szechuan) pepper
2T tahini
1 garlic clove, minced
extra virgin olive oil (maybe 1/4-1/2c)

Combine all ingredients except oil in a food processor and mix until well combined.  Drizzle in olive oil until mixture comes together (you may need to scrape the bowl a bit), then keep running until it reaches your desired consistency.  Can be made ahead.


I wasn't sure it would work, but everything turned out fantastic!  Those potato waffles and lemon-dill sauce might find themselves in other dishes soon, too.  *Fingers crossed* this helps me advance to the next round!  Thank you for all of your support, you are awesome :)

The other dish I thought about recreating (my second choice) was Big Apple Nosh's Spicey Cherry Truffles, I could see the chocolate-tart cherry-Szechuan peppercorn combo extending to many delicious desserts...  brownies anyone?

Meyer Time

So after sharing my lemon bars with a few friends, I was told that I should go ahead and share the recipe ;)  They are good, just not quite like a traditional 'lemon bar', so we're going to go ahead and call them Meyer Lemon Applesauce Bars...  k?   These were made with my last meyer lemon (for now), and I'm missing them already!

Meyer Lemon Applesauce Bars (Vegan)
adapted from Another One Bites the Crust

For the crust:
1/4c sugar
1/4c toasted hazelnuts, chopped fine or ground
3/4c white whole wheat flour
1T cornstarch
3T applesauce
2-3T Earth Balance, melted (or butter)

For the filling:
3/4c applesauce
zest of 1 meyer lemon
1/2c meyer lemon juice
1/2c agave nectar
2t vanilla extract
1/2t baking powder
1/8t salt
3T flour (use white if you're concerned with color)

I followed Nicole's directions exactly, so head over to her site to check them out!  Oh, and definitely store leftovers in the fridge!

For a more authentic version, maybe these would do the trick?


Are you a fan of lemon bars?  I wasn't actually as a kid, but meyer lemons have me running to the store :)  More importantly, have you tried meyer lemons yet???

Win Some, Lose Some

It's been a bit of a crazy weekend over here.  Nice weather, a very short run (my first since October!!), a sweaty trainer ride, some time in the kitchen...  and to top it all off, learned that I would be coming into some peanut butter and eggs :)

Spicy PB Ice Cream w/Cinnamon Shortbread

A huge thank you to the Peanut Butter Boy, Bran Appetit, Healthy Living in the Real World and Baking and Boys for organizing the 10th PBE: Things are Heating Up!  And thanks to Kitchen Play and the AEB for hosting the Better Breakfast w/Eggs contest!

Potato Pancakes w/Spinach, Smoked Salmon & a Poached Egg

Too bad they can't all be winners ;)   I've had a bunch of photos sitting in a folder on my desktop, but can't quite get myself to post the recipes as they didn't really wow me.

There was the pumpkin black bean soup, where my adaptations just didn't turn out as delicious as the original...

There was the Butternut Parsnip Pasta Bake with a goat cheese sauce (a play on this recipe), only I was too late to realize that the goat cheese I had used was moldy...

And the Meyer Lemon Bars that I played around with (a merging of these two recipes), which were good but needed a bit more lemon punch for me...

Ah well, at least there are some pretty pictures!  You'll just have to come back for something else delicious...  and based on my dinner tonight, you won't have to wait long :)

What's for Breakfast? Mashed Potatoes and Eggs

A hot breakfast is a smart way to begin the day. But it can take too much time to prepare. Because they're already cooked, left-over mashed potatoes are a quick and easy way to make a nutritious breakfast.

For dinner last Sunday, we had a Caesar salad made with frisee instead of romaine and roast pork (porchetta) flavored with Italian parsley, garlic and onions. Garlic mashed potatoes and roasted whole tomatoes were the sides.  A plate of cut up cara cara oranges and a custard with crystallized ginger and orange juice finished the meal. All in all, dinner was very satisfying.


The next day, the refrigerator was the beneficiary of Sunday's dinner. Considering what was left-over, we were looking at a succession of meals we could have during the week.

Reheated, the porchetta could easily be enjoyed as an entrée or a hot sandwich. The roasted tomatoes would make a delicious pasta sauce. And the mashed potatoes....! They were so delicious the first time around.

Made from King Edward potatoes bought at the Santa Monica Farmers Market, the mashed potatoes were sweet and full of flavor. Certainly we could just reheat them to serve again with the porchetta but they would also be good for breakfast.

From my hippie days, I always save the potato skins when I make mashed potatoes because I add them to stocks. It occurred to me that they would also be good sauteed (to crisp up) and added to the mashed potatoes.

Some bacon would be good too.

Breakfast Mashed Potatoes with Crispy Potato Skins and Onions

Using a non-stick pan is the way to go with this dish. Just be sure to use the pan on a medium-low to medium flame to avoid health risks.

Serves 4

Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup skins, peeled from 6 large potatoes, julienned
2 cups mashed potatoes, King Edward, Sierra Gold or Yukon Gold potatoes
1 tablespoon sweet butter
1 medium onion, washed, peeled, root, skin and stem removed, roughly cut
1/4 cup Italian parsley, leaves only, washed, finely chopped
2 slices cooked, crisp bacon, cut into strips (optional)
Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Method

Melt the butter in a non-stick pan over a medium flame, saute the potato skins, onion and parsley until lightly browned, add the bacon (optional) and the mashed potatoes, mix together, season with sea salt and pepper and saute until potatoes are lightly browned on top and form a crust.

Serve with eggs, any style.

Olive Oil Granola

Thank you to everyone who voted for me!!  If you haven't yet, there's still time!  Head  over to Marx Foods and vote for my Blueberry Cherry Crisp with Grains of Paradise Ice Cream! until the end of the day Friday!  You're the best :)

If you haven't already figured it out, I'm a huge fan of the salty-sweet combo.  Falling under this category is the olive-oil granola Alicia sent me, the sweetness from the maple syrup is balanced by a bit of kosher salt... it was gone alarmingly fast!  I knew I'd be making it again (and again), but I tried to make it a tad bit healthier to account for how quickly I consumed it.  Alone, on yogurt, with milk... you get the idea.

The result was just as tasty as the original.  I should note that this granola (as I prepared it) doesn't have many clumps/clusters.  There seem to be several thoughts on how to achieve this, but I thought I'd see if anyone has a tried and true method?  Is it in the ingredients or technique?  Chime in!


Olive Oil Granola
adapted from Alicia & the NY Times
Yield ~7c

I adored the pecans in this granola, but feel free to play around and find your favorite combination.  Also, add any dried fruits you like after granola has cooled.

4-5c rolled oats
1 1/4c nuts (I went with a mix of salted pecans and almonds)
1/2c pumpkin seeds
1t kosher salt
3/4t ground cinnamon
1/2t freshly ground cardamom
1/2c grade B maple syrup
1/2c extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 300deg.

Combine dry ingredients (oats through cardamom) in a large bowl and mix well.  Add maple syrup and oil stir until well combined, all the oats should be nicely coated.

Pour granola onto foil-lined cookie sheet (you may need two) and bake for 40-50min, stirring every 10min.  Granola with be toasty and golden when it's done.  Let cool and then store in an airtight container.  Tightly sealed ;)

Do you have a favorite granola recipe?

Voting Time!

It's been a bit crazy over here this past week... I posted on a Friday, Saturday and Monday!    Oh wait, is it only me that thought that was strange?  That's ok, I was a little thrown off with traveling and contest deadlines...   So perhaps to ease some stress you want to do me a favor?  Pretty please with sugar on top?  And a cherry?  Maybe sprinkles are your thing?  I could do that!  Ooh, how about salted caramel sauce?

All you have to do is click over to Marx Foods and vote for my Blueberry Cherry Crisp with Grains of Paradise Ice Cream!  See, that was easy, wasn't it?  Thanks a bunch!  I'm sad that the crisp is all gone...  as are my blueberries from last summer.

At least I still have some potato pancakes left from my awesome breakfast--yes they reheat well!  Just pop them in the oven and they'll be warm and crisp in no time :)

I'd be amiss not to mention my spicy peanut butter ice cream too, just in case you missed it!  Balanced out with some cinnamon shortbread, this would make for an excellent end to a curry or thai meal.



Thanks everyone, you're the best ;)    Hope everyone has a great week!