Tag Archives: sweet potato

The Food Matters Project: Baked Sweet Potato and Corn Cakes with Thai Dipping Sauce

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Lately, the farmers market has been abundant with sweet potatoes. They’re available all year round, but with fall’s flavors focusing so heavily on root vegetables, it seems like they’ve taken center stage along with the apples.

And in addition to the typical red variety, I’ve also found white sweet potatoes and Korean purple sweet potatoes. A friend in Hawaii introduced me to purple sweet potatoes whose flesh and skin were both a deep purple, so I was slightly disappointed to find the flesh is white (but they’re still tasty). I’ve found both the white and purple sweet potatoes have a somewhat firmer texture than the red kind, which tend to get softer when roasted.

white red purple sweet potato

With the glut of sweet potatoes I have in my pantry now, I was glad to see this week’s Food Matters Project recipe would help me use them up. Aura has the original recipe, and I just made a few tweaks: I used both red and white sweet potato and baked cakes instead of frying them as the recipe directed. To make sure they held together in the oven, I added an extra egg to the batter.

See what all the other Food Matters Project members did here, and check out the Pinterest board for more recipes!

sweet-potato-corn-cakes-thai-dipping-sauce

Baked Sweet Potato and Corn Cakes with Thai Dipping Sauce (adapted from The Food Matters Cookbook)

juice of one lime
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tbsp water
2 cups grated sweet potato, all red or a combination of red, white and purple
1 cup corn kernels
4 scallions, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 eggs
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
salt and pepper

1. Combine the lime juice, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes and water in a small bowl.

2. Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine all the other ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands.

3. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Shape pieces of the batter into 1 1/2-inch balls, flatten them slightly, and put them on the cookie sheet with space between them. Work in batches if necessary.

4. Put the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 7-10 minutes or until browned on the bottom. Flip each cake and press it down a bit with the back of the spatula. Put them back in the oven until browned on the other side and set through, another 5 minutes or so.

Serves 3-4.

Related posts:
The Food Matters Project: Quinoa with Braised Beef, Parsnips and Carrots
The Food Matters Project: Raw Butternut Salad with Cranberry Dressing
The Food Matters Project: Collard-Tofu Burgers
The Food Matters Project: Bread and Nut Mayo

Beer-boiled bratwurst with peppers and onions

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D craves bratwurst like crazy this time of year. We say it’s because of the cooler weather and the smell of smokiness in the air, but I think it’s just as likely that the steady stream of Oktoberfest celebrations serves as a constant reminder of his heritage (he’s half German). Whatever the reason, he’s tossed them into the grocery cart a few times recently and I don’t argue.

If you have a grill, brats are delicious on them. Alas, apartment dwellers often don’t have access to that kind of luxury. We like to boil our brats in beer, although you could certainly finish them off on the grill or even under the broiler for a bit of a char. If you’re going to use the beer boiling method, a cheap brew is fine, and I’d recommend steering clear of anything flavored.

For toppings, I usually slice up some peppers, mushrooms and onions thin and cook them on the stove until they’re soft. Mustard is a standby condiment, but you could also use relish, hot sauce or my favorite, a dab of sriracha for some heat.

I try to make a vegetable for a side for a bit more nutritional value — last time, I attempted sweet potato pancakes but they fell apart and turned into more of a sweet potato hash brown. Still delicious!

What are you craving as the seasons change?

bratwurst

The Food Matters Project: Roast potatoes and chicken with romesco

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slow cooker sweet potato and chicken

This week’s Food Matters Project recipe was Roast Potatoes and Chicken with Romesco, picked by Mireya, who is making me miss Spain with her beautiful photos! I spent a semester there in 2007 and it is quite an incredible place.

Fittingly, she picked a recipe with Spanish influences. I modified this oven-baked chicken because we’re having another scorching weekend here in DC. I used the slow cooker to do most of the work so we wouldn’t bake ourselves and finished it off with a quick blast under the broiler to brown the whole thing, but you can find the original recipe on Mireya’s post.

I also used sweet potatoes in place of regular potatoes and deconstructed the romesco so the flavors of the pepper and tomatoes would be cooked into the dish. See all the other bloggers’ takes on it here!

Slow-cooker sweet potatoes and chicken

3 sweet potatoes, peeled
1 green pepper
1 hot pepper (optional)
1 14-oz can whole tomatoes
1 cup cherry tomatoes
splash of red wine
2 chicken breasts

1. Cut the sweet potatoes into circles about an inch thick, then cut each one in half. Chop up the pepper and mince the hot pepper, if you’re using it. Chop up the canned tomatoes into chunks. Add them all to the slow cooker with the cherry tomatoes, chicken breasts, and wine, topping it off with some salt and pepper. Set it to cook for 4 hours on high or for 8 hours on low, and then leave it alone. (See below.)

2. After your cooking cycle is done, stir everything and cut into the chicken to check for doneness. Pour everything into a glass baking dish and put it under the broiler for just a couple of minutes to brown it a bit on top. Make sure not to broil it too long or it will dry out.

Fledgling tip: If you haven’t used a slow cooker before, it is imperative that you resist the urge to remove the cover to smell it or look at it while it cooks. The slow cooker works because it seals in the heat. Lifting the lid over and over could add hours to your cooking time. If you live with roommates, put a note on it that says do not touch!

Recipe: Curried beef and sweet potatoes

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Last week, I tragically missed the entire weekend at Eastern Market and my kitchen was a sorry state of affairs on Monday. I had planned on making lentils, and when I got home I discovered I didn’t even have those! So I turned to good ole Google for inspiration, typing in “ground beef and sweet potatoes,” since that was pretty much all I had on hand.

That’s how I came across Ground Beef Curry with Sweet Potato from SparkRecipes. As an aside, I’ve found Googling your ingredients can sometimes be a great way to get around a road block in the kitchen, for all you fledgling cooks out there.

I modified the recipe to be a bit less meat-focused and instead beefed it up (no pun intended) with mushrooms and onions. I also didn’t have all the spices on hand, so I concentrated on the curry as we both adore curry in any form.

We had an entire pound of ground beef, which was way too much for one recipe, so I browned it all with onions and garlic first and then removed about half of it from the pan, let it cool and stuck it in the fridge for tacos later in the week.

Curried beef and sweet potato

Curried beef and sweet potatoes, adapted from Ground Beef Curry with Sweet Potato from SparkRecipes

1/2 pound ground beef (or brown the entire pound and save half for another use)
1/2 onion
1 clove garlic
1 package white mushrooms
1 sweet potato
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp curry powder, more or less according to taste
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2-4 pita pockets
shake of red pepper flakes, to taste

1. Brown the beef in a skillet over medium heat. *[See below for how to brown beef.] Meanwhile, wash and chop the onions and mushrooms finely (or pulse them in a food processor, to make things easier).

2. When the beef is browned, add the onions and press the garlic into the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. (Here’s where you’ll take out some of the ground beef and onion mixture and save it for another recipe — or take it out before you add the onions, if you’d rather.)

3. Add the finely chopped mushrooms and let those cook down, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, peel and chop the sweet potato into 1/2 inch cubes.

4. Once the mushrooms have cooked down, stir in the can of diced tomatoes, the tomato paste and the sweet potato. Fill up the tomato can again with water and pour it in slowly until the mixture is covered in enough liquid to cook the potatoes in (when it’s just covered). Then add the cinnamon, curry and salt and pepper. Stir everything together well and bring the liquid to a boil, then turn it down, cover and let it simmer until it thickens and the sweet potatoes are soft when you stick them with a fork.

5. Once it’s thickened, but not too dry, heat up the pita pockets in the microwave for about a minute and stuff them with the filling — or, just put them on the table and let everyone fill their own.

Serves about 3-4.

*How to brown beef:

Depending on how lean the beef you’re working with is, it’ll let out some fat as it cooks. You might need to get it going with a drizzle of oil in the pan, though. To brown it, break it up with a stirring spoon and stir occasionally until it turns brown. Easy!

Sweet potato with spinach and apple

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This is a great weeknight dinner — quick, easy, seasonal and healthy. I’ve done it with or without the apples, and something like walnuts would probably be fantastic mixed in with the spinach as well.

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato
2 cups raw spinach
1 clove garlic
1/2 apple, chopped into small pieces
1/2 tsp butter
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Scrub the sweet potato and pierce it several times all over with a fork. Microwave it on high for 3 minutes, then turn it over and microwave it for another 2-3 minutes, or until it is soft when you stick a fork into it.

2. Meanwhile, wash the spinach well and put it in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat with the apple. Press the garlic clove into the pan (or, if you don’t have a garlic press, just mince it and add it). Cook until the spinach has cooked down and the liquid it lets out has evaporated. Add some salt and pepper here as it cooks.

3. When the sweet potato has had a minute or two to cool, cut it lengthwise and put a bit of butter on it, to your taste. Be careful here, because steam will come out of it when you open it.

4. When the spinach mixture is done, put that on top of the sweet potato. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Serves one.

Sweet potato with spinach and apple

Reflecting on two years

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Yesterday, I was looking over some old posts and realized that it was two Easters ago that I first started this blog. It struck me how much a bigger part of my life cooking has become. Being in the kitchen is my zen, and there are few things I love more than coming home, pouring myself a glass of wine and creating something. I also thought about how much more adventurous and confident these past few years have made me, both food-wise and cooking-wise. I mess up – all the time. I’m always learning. But I want to keep learning, and I take the mess-ups as lessons, which is hard for a first-born perfectionist to do.

Today, I made my first ham. It may not seem like a big deal (and yes, it was a spiral-sliced ham) but it’s the principle of it that matters – I can pull off a ham, no prob. And I can do it while also making scalloped potato gratin. (Please, do yourself a favor and try that recipe, by the way. It’s incredible.) Two years ago, that would have scared me to death, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Anyway, that’s my reflection for the day. I have to go brush my teeth now to make myself stop eating chocolate eggs. But here are a couple of photos of the leftovers that we will probably still be working through this time next year. (I was too hungry to stop and take photos earlier, but I know Mom will want to see the fruit of our labors!)

Ham

This shows one of three containers. There is a mountain of ham left over. D is ecstatic.

Scalloped potato gratin

Yams? Good. Potatoes? Good. Cheese? Good. (Anyone get that Friends reference?)

Vegetables

Fresh springy vegetables sauteed with butter, salt and pepper, a la Kate! We put a good dent in these.

So… anyone have any good recipes for leftover ham?

New job, new apartment and roasted veggies

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My apologies for the long hiatus, dear readers. Within the span of three weeks, I started a new job and moved to a new apartment (because what’s the fun in only making one major life change at a time?) and have been trying to cut myself some slack on keeping up with blogging in order to stay focused on learning the ropes of both my new workplace and my new neighborhood. But I’m happy to say that I’m settling in to both at this point, so I’m picking back up some of the things that have fallen by the wayside over the past couple of months.

Anyway, I’m loving both these new parts of my life, so the past few days I’ve been itching to get back to the blogging world to tell you all about it. My boyfriend and I moved in together on the Hill near Eastern Market, and I know many of you have heard me raving about how much I adore this neighborhood. It feels like a small town, with young families pushing strollers down the tree-lined brick sidewalks and saying hello to each other as they pass. Everyone knows everyone at the local bars. I’ve had neighbors actually introduce themselves to me already — when I lived in Bethesda, we were almost moving out before we met any of our neighbors.

And then there’s the market. I’ve mentioned it before — it was always a fun Sunday activity to take a long walk over and pick up some fresh produce for the week — but I always regretted how infrequently I had time to devote to the trip. I only went once when I lived in Bethesda, and maybe four or five times when I lived in Chinatown. But now I can pop over anytime for a couple of things or make a big cup of coffee in the morning and go wander the aisles for something delicious. It’s always been one of my favorite places in DC, but the accessibility and comfortable familiarity I have with it now that I live here takes it to the top of the list.

Yesterday I headed over towards the end of the day when a lot of the booths were closing up shop and grabbed a few things from my two favorite vendors. This cold snap has me craving roasted winter veggies again, so I got parsnips, carrots, onions and butternut squash and roasted them in the oven with olive oil and salt and pepper. There are a couple of things I love about doing this: 1) I’ll have delicious veggies at the ready all week (duh); 2) It’s versatile — you can use whatever veggies are in season or you have on hand or need to use up; 3) The oven warms up the apartment and makes it smell amazing; 4) My boyfriend smells said delicious aromas and demands to know what is producing them, then is flabbergasted to find out it’s just vegetables with olive oil. (We have an ongoing argument about the deliciousness of vegetables, and I savor these small wins.)

Here’s how it’s done:

Roasted vegetables

Ingredients:

olive oil
salt and pepper
Around 3-5 pounds of vegetables of your choice. I used:

  • 1 medium butternut squash
  • 3 carrots
  • 1 parsnip
  • 1 medium onion

In the past, I’ve also used sweet potato, beets and yellow squash, but this could literally include anything — cauliflower and broccoli, potatoes, peppers of any color, cherry tomatoes… use your imagination and what’s in season.

1. Preheat the oven to 375.

2. Peel and chop all the vegetables as you like. Make the chunks uniform in size so they cook evenly. For onions, I like to slice them and try to keep them in their circles or in long spears so they don’t burn right away. And if you’re using beets, roast them whole first and then cut them up — if they go in with everything else, they’ll dye it all purple. (This article has some tips for how to roast the beets whole.)

3. Put all the chopped veggies in a big bowl. I also like to keep a second bowl on the counter to hold the food scraps as I’m peeling and chopping, then I’ll dump it at the end when it’s full for easy cleanup.

4. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Mix them together to coat them evenly. I recommend adding the oil a little at a time so they’re not overly greasy — you want them coated, but not dripping with oil.

5. Spread them evenly on a large baking sheet and put them in the oven.

6. Roast for 10-15 minutes, then check on them and use a spatula to move them around a bit so they don’t burn on the bottom.

Note: Be very careful when you’re opening the oven and moving them around — they tend to lose water and produce a lot of steam as they cook down, so don’t put your face right next to the open oven door or stick your hand in there until the steam building up has escaped.

7. Keep checking on them every 10 minutes or so to make sure they’re not burning and to move them around. The time it takes to cook will vary depending on how large the chunks were when you cut them, but it usually takes mine at least half an hour to 45 minutes. Take them out when they’re browned and soft.

Serves 4-6, or 1-2 with leftovers for the week.

You can serve these hot with the entree of your choice, or just by themselves, and I actually like just eating them cold out of the fridge as well. I usually make a big pan on the weekends and then heat them up for lunch throughout the week.