Sweet Potato & Red Lentil Curry

Okay, I know this dish doesn’t look super appetizing, but I promise it is! That’s the thing with red lentils, they melt right into whatever you’re cooking with them, leaving a mushy-looking dish. Original recipe can be found here.

Lentils and sweet potatoes are one of my favorite combos, remember Maple Lentil & Sweet Potato Stew? Don’t be surprised if you see this combo again in the future!

Please pardon the kitchen mess! I usually try to keep things together as I cook, but for some reason these ingredients ended up all over the place…

     

Once again, this dish features this blog’s namesake, sweet potatoes! Did you know sweet potatoes are fabulous for controlling your blood sugar, as well as being a great source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, potassium, fiber, antioxidants etc etc (source: Whole Foods). And, health benefits aside, sweet potatoes taste amazing and are super cheap – win, win, win!

Do you see those green I used? That a schmorgesborg of chard, kale and mixed lettuces that I brought home with me after visiting my friend who’s currently working at Stonegate Farm in the Hudson River Valley. I came home with two bags of greens, the other was used for salad throughout the week…I love having farm-fresh produce!

Sweet Potato & Red Lentil Curry

Prep time: 5min

Cook time: 25-30min

Serves: 4-6

• 1T olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2t garlic, minced
• 2T curry paste*
• 1C red lentils
• 1.25lb sweet potato, diced
• 1 15oz can tomato sauce
• 3C vegetable broth
• 4 handfuls of spinach or greens

1. Heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium heat
2. Add onion, cook for 5 min
3. Add garlic and curry paste, stir and cook until fragrant
4. Stir in lentils, sweet potato, tomato sauce and broth; bring to a boil
5. Cover, lower the heat to a simmer; cook 15-20min
6. Enjoy!

*I made my own curry paste by mixing equal parts Thai Green Curry Powder & fish sauce (fish sauce will make this recipe non-vegan)

Question: Are you a member of a CSA (community supported agriculture)? 

Chinese Chicken & Mushroom Soup

We’ve been seeing a lot of crazy rain recently here in Baltimore. So despite it being June, it’s been great soup weather!

This is what I call “fork-and-spoon-soup”, because the soba noodles are hard to tackle with a spoon, but you don’t want to miss any of the delicious broth! The broth is salty from the soy sauce, yet tart from the lime juice.

    

This soup could easily be made vegetarian buy substituting tofu for the chicken. I baked some chicken while the soup cooked and then shredded it to add at the end. Someone in our house was very excited at the prospect of any chicken falling to the floor…

    

Soba noodles are made of buckwheat, which explains their dark brown color. If you’ve never had soba before, I highly recommend trying it; if you’re totally opposed, any type of noodle would work in this soup (egg noodles, spaghetti, or even rice).

This soup comes together pretty quickly, especially if you have some pre-cooked chicken/tofu on hand. So, go ahead and put it on the menu this week!

Chinese Chicken & Mushroom Soup

Prep time: 5 min

Cook time: 20 min

Serves: 2

• 10oz mushrooms (I used baby portobello)
• 3C chicken broth
• 6oz baby bok choy
• 3oz soba noodles
• 8oz chicken, shredded
• 1T soy sauce
• juice from 1 lime

1. Add mushrooms to dutch oven over medium heat; cook until most of liquid has released
2. Add chicken broth to pot, bring to a boil
3. Add boy choy, cover and steam/cook for 5 min
4. Add soba noodles, cover and cook for 5 min
5. Add chicken, soy sauce and lime juice to the pot and warm through
6. Enjoy!

Question: Does your pet(s) hang out in the kitchen while you cook? Do you ever let them ‘taste test’ what you’re cooking?

Mother’s Day Brunch

Wow, we really lucked out with some amazing weather for Mother’s Day this year. My parents came to visit us for the day, starting with a trip to my favorite farmer’s market, The JFX Farmer’s Market. We made our way around the market, picking up things for the week as well as some key ingredients for brunch that I would cook when we came home.

On the menu: Spinach, mushroom & artichoke quiche, lemon ricotta muffins and a beet & feta spinach salad. Mmmmm, delish! The salad is pretty straight forward, dressed with fig balsamic vinegar and garlic & mushroom olive oil (I use a 2:1, vinegar:oil ratio), that I bought at a cute shop, Pure Mountain, while visiting a friend last year.

The lemon ricotta muffins are a Giada De Laurentiis recipe from Food Network, Nonna’s Lemon Ricotta Biscuits. It was the first time I’ve made these, so I followed the recipe exactly.

    

I made them the night before and then popped them in the oven for 5 min before putting them on the table for brunch. I also baked them for 26 min, not 20 like the recipe calls for. They just didn’t look done at 20 min, so I added time in 2 min increments. As a result (I presume), the outside of the muffins were a little hard, but the insides were perfect!

The quiche was one I’ve made before. It uses ricotta cheese, hence the ricotta muffins…I hate having left over ingredients!

It turned out great, I almost didn’t get a picture before it was gone! The mushrooms and eggs I used were straight from the farmer’s market which was awesome.

    

Previously, I’ve added parmesane cheese to this quiche but I totally forgot on Mother’s Day. It was still good, but in the future I will be sure to not forget the parmesan cheese. Cheese makes everything better.

Mushroom, Spinach & Artichoke Quiche

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 40 min

Makes: 4 servings

• 1C ricotta cheese
• 4 eggs
• 1/4C parmesan cheese
• 8oz mushrooms, sliced/chopped
• a few handfuls of spinach
• 1 can artichoke hearts, drained & quartered

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Saute the mushrooms, about 5-10 min
3. Towards the end, add the spinach to wilt
4. Meanwhile, combine ricotta, eggs and parmesan in a bowl until smooth
5. Add mushrooms, spinach and artichokes to ricotta mixture
6. Pour into 9″ cake pan, top with fresh ground pepper
7. Bake 40 min
8. Enjoy!

Question: Did you cook for your mom on Mother’s Day?

Sailor Man Smoothie

When we got our Vitamix from my husband’s parents, they told us the first thing we should make is a Sailor Man Smoothie…it was their favorite. So, the day we took the Vitamix out of the box we went straight to the grocery store to pick up the necessary ingredients. The Sailor Man Smoothie was not only the first thing we made in our Vitamix, but it was also our first green smoothie!

The original recipe for the Sailor Man Smoothie can be found in the Whole Food Recipes cookbook. I’ve tweaked the recipe a little, but mainly to make use of what we had in our fridge.

Green smoothies may seem scary, but look at the tropical flavors that are under that vibrant green color! Although the Sailor Man is very much a summertime smoothie, I like in the winter too so you can imagine laying on a warm beach somewhere as you drink it down.

If you don’t have a Vitamix, I wouldn’t worry too much. You’re average blender should be able to mix this smoothie up with no problem.

Sailor Man Smoothie

Prep time: 5 min

Cook time: n/a

Serves: 2

• 10 large, green grapes
• 1/2 apple, deseeded
• 1 banana, peeled
• 1/4C vanilla yogurt
• 1/2C pineapple
• 2C greens
• 1C ice

1. Add all ingredients into blender
2. Blend until smooth
3. Enjoy!

Question: Do you drink green smoothies? Do you follow recipes or wing-it, and use whatever’s in the fridge?

Out-the-Door Breakfast Sandwich

Getting out the door in the morning with a full belly is a struggle for a lot of people. And, we’ve all heard it before, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”. I agree, breakfast gets your day started on the right foot. Plus, if I’m hungry all I will think about is food until I’ve eaten, and that’s not a very productive way to start my day! I tend to have the same few things for breakfast during the week: green smoothie, overnight oats, yogurt & granola or a breakfast sandwich.

I know what your thinking, “I don’t have time to make a breakfast sandwich in the morning.” Well, that’s just not true. This sandwich takes less than 5min to make, because it uses the microwave! First I put a handful of whatever greens I have in the fridge into a microwave-safe bowl (spinach usually, but this time it was mixed baby kales), and microwave for 1min.

    

Next comes 1 egg + 1 egg white and my favorite part, some Siracha! This step is totally flexible. You could use 1 egg, 2 eggs, 2 egg whites, etc etc. Also, if you don’t like spicy foods you could use less Siracha than I do, or you could just use some fresh ground black pepper.

    

Once it’s all mixed, place it in the microwave for 1 min. It will come out mostly cooked, but then I sprinkle a little shredded cheese on top and microwave for 45 sec. Then, use a fork to pull the egg away from the edge of the bowl & place it on your bread!

You can use whatever kind of sandwich bread you like, I always have these Multigrain Rounds on-hand. Also, I prefer to toast mine for this sandwich. Some sort of breakfast meat is always a great addition here, it’s just a matter of time. If you have time to cook up some turkey bacon, that’s awesome! If not, a slice or two of deli turkey could bulk up this sandwich very nicely.

Out-the-Door Breakfast Sandwich

Prep time: 2 min

Cook time: 3 min

Serves: 1

• handful of greens (spinach, kale, etc)
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• Siracha
• 1T shredded cheese
• sandwich bread

1. Place greens in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave 1min
2. Mix in 1 egg, 1 egg white and Siracha; microwave 1min
3. Top with shredded cheese; microwave 45sec
4. Use fork to lift egg away from edges of bowl & place on your bread

Question: What do you eat for breakfast during the week?