Southwestern Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

I love sweet potatoes. And black beans. And cumin. This was one of my first "fall-ish" recipes - and there will be many more to come. 

5-6 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes, to make 8 cups
3 tablespoons melted olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 15.5 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained)
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion (about half a medium onion), or more to taste
1 1/2 to 2 cups grape tomatoes
1 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 - 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chili powder [original recipe says this is pertinent, but I used regular chili powder and it was still tasty]

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with the olive oil. Sprinkle on the salt, pepper, cumin and oregano. Stir to coat. Spread the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet with an edge. Bake for 45-60 minutes, checking after 30 minutes as some ovens heat differently (no need to stir). Bake until the edges start to brown. (The goal is to slow roast them to caramelized perfection.) Cool.

Transfer the potatoes to a large serving bowl. Add the black beans, red onion, tomatoes, feta and cilantro.

In a small bowl combine the olive oil, lemon juice and chipotle pepper powder. Pour over the salad. Stir gently to combine all the ingredients.

Can be eaten right away, but it tastes best if it's had at least one hour to chill.

Original recipe here

Root Vegetable Hash

I swore off cooking beets for a while...but I had to try this recipe. And I discovered that if you peel the beets before cooking them, they create much less of a mess. All of the other times I've cooked them, I followed Mark Bittman's advice that the best way to cook them is to bake them unpeeled and wrapped in tin foil - but they are a disaster to peel afterwards.

I made this a few weeks ago and have been pretty lazy about blogging lately. Oops! This recipe did last me a good week though - and it's very delicious! Maybe not a good summer recipe, but it was appropriate a few weeks ago when it DIDN'T feel like summer...remember that? (I don't really.) This was another great find from the Moosewood cookbook - and it even says you can eat this for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner!



Seasoning Mixture:
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1.5 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Hash:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2.5 cups chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 cups carrots cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups beets peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups turnips and/or rutabaga peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 tablespoons water


Stir together all of the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

In a 10-inch or larger skillet on medium-high heat, warm the oil. Cook the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add all of the vegetables and stir well. Sprinkle with the seasoning mixture and water and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.


From "Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health"

Quinoa and Sweet Potatoes

I unfortunately only got a blurry picture of this one, but it still looks pretty all the same. I used a quinoa mix I got at Trader Joe's - that's why there's some multi-colored grains going on in there. I didn't have currants or scallions, so I left those out, but they would probably be a nice for additional flavor (without them, I felt like I was lacking a spice or something). Definitely an easy recipe and good for lunches! I'm beginning to think I need to cook through the Moosewood cookbook, since every recipe I've made from it has been awesome....


Basic recipe:
3/4 cup quinoa
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced onions
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups diced, peeled sweet potatoes
1 2/3 cups water

Moosewood's favorite elaboration:
2 cups lightly packed finely chopped fresh spinach
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup currants
1 tbsp minced scallions
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and ground black pepper


Rinse and drain the quinoa in a fine-meshed strainer to remove any residue of the grains' bitter coating.

Warm the oil in a covered saucepan. Add the onions and salt and cook on low heat, stirring now and then, until the onions are transparent, about 8 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes, water, and drained quinoa, cover, and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender and the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from the heat. Stir well and add salt and pepper to taste.

To prepare Moosewood's favorite elaboration, just before removing from the heat, stir in the spinach, pine nuts, currants, scallions, and lemon juice. Let sit for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Soup

This might be my favorite soup recipe ever. It's easy and very healthy. If you buy the butternut squash pre-peeled/diced, this doesn't even take long at all!
I highly recommend an immersion blender for pureed soups. Pouring hot soup into a blender is never a good idea.


1 tablespoon canola oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 pound butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 medium-size Yukon gold or russet potato, peeled and diced
6 cups water, chicken stock, or vegetable stock
Salt to taste

1. Heat the oil in a heavy soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger and stir together until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the squash, sweet potatoes, white potato, and water or stock, and bring to a simmer. Add salt to taste, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 45 minutes, or until all of the ingredients are thoroughly tender.

2. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup (or you can put it through the fine blade of a food mill or use a regular blender, working in batches and placing a kitchen towel over the top to avoid splashing). Return to the pot and stir with a whisk to even out the texture. Heat through, adjust salt and add pepper to taste.

Original recipe here 

Sweet Potato, Apple, and Chipotle Soup

 

Another choice from my Saturday of cooking (see Silken Chocolate Pudding post). This soup is very spicy - so beware. It's not an overwhelming spicy, but if you don't like spicy food, leave out the chipotle pepper. (It's another Moosewood cookbook find.) I am psyched that it is finally soup season!! (though it was 80 degrees yesterday...)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2.5 cups chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 cup thinly sliced celery
5 cups thinly sliced peeled sweet potatoes
2 cups chopped apples
1 tablespoon minced canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 quart (4 cups) vegetable broth
1 cup water
1.5 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup unsweetened apple juice

1. Warm the oil in a soup pot on high heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring continually, until the onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the celery, sweet potatoes, apples, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, vegetable broth, water, salt, cinnamon, and black pepper. Cover and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat, and simmer gently until the sweet potatoes and apples are soft, about 20 minutes.

2. Add the apple juice to the pot. Puree the soup in a blender in batches until smooth and creamy. Blend in more chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, and/or black pepper to suit your taste.