The truth about my favorite root veggie

I have never really been a huge fan of white potatoes. Its not that I dislike like them so much that I refuse to eat them, sometimes I actually enjoy them like when they are in a spicy curry or served au gratin with lots of cheese. When given the option of root vegetables though I much prefer a more flavorful one that does not necessarily need a lot added to it to make it tasty. Parsnips, beets even red potatoes are more appealing to my pallet than a plain old russet. My favorite though by far is the orange colored sweet potato. I first discovered I enjoyed these years ago when I was having dinner at a restaurant that served sweet potato fries. The group I was with ordered them as a starter and I thought to myself, maybe I will have a few, thinking they would come out looking like any other old pale French fry which given my lack of lust for white potatoes I have never been terribly keen on. Needless to say when the plate of peachy hued fries arrived at our table my eyes widened. Orange potato, how had I gone so long in life without tasting this!? After one bite I was sold and from that day forward every time I dined out I was always sure to check my menu to see if the restaurant happened to offer a dish with sweet potatoes.

I happily found that many restaurants incorporated sweet potatoes into their dishes and often offered them as a substitute for baked potatoes, mashed potatoes and yes in delicious fry form too. One day I decided it was high time I create something delicious with my most favorite root veggie so off to the market I went. I perused the produce section until I found the potato bins but I was bewildered when I found the box of sweet potatoes. Their skin looked awfully pale, could yummy orange potatoy goodness really be lurking under that bland looking exterior? I thought about russet and red potatoes and how dark their skin was but how once you cut them open they were pale as can be, perhaps it works the other way for sweet potatoes? I picked out three big spuds and headed to the checkout. Back home, apron on and oven set to 400 degrees I got ready to make my very first homemade sweet potato creation, baked sweet potato fries. I scrubbed my potatoes, sharpened my knife and set my first potato on the chopping block. I made my first cut exposing the not orange, not peach, not even yellowish but creamy white center of the potato. Hmmm...

I had not yet lost hope, I knew what sweet potato looked like I had been ordering it at the restaurant for months now, I read my receipt from the grocery store, “2 lbs sweet potatoes”, there must be something that happens in the cooking process that turns these pale potatoes color to a more vibrant hue. I chopped up the rest of my potatoes and then arranged them on a silpat covered baking sheet and popped them in the oven. Fifteen minutes past, I took out my fries to flip them, still pretty pale. Another fifteen minutes, I peered into the hot oven, no change in color at all. I was disappointed but like any good cook decided not to give up and see if I could make something delicious anyhow. I melted some smart balance butter, mixed in a bit of cinnamon, brownsugar and a tad of chili powder, and painted the pale fries with the spicy concoction. I popped the pan back in the oven and broiled the supposedly “sweet potato” fries on low until their skin started to twitch and turn a golden shade of brown on the edges. I intended to let the fries cool before trying them but the anticipation to find out what this mysterious white sweet potato tasted like was killing me so I grabbed a hot stick of potato straight off the pan, blew on it and then popped it in my mouth. While it did not taste anything like the sweet potato I had been eating from restaurants all those months it was actually pretty good. They were much starchier than the orange sweet potato and not nearly as sweet but the cinnamon, sugar, chili and butter added a delicious kick which made up for what they were lacking in natural flavor.

Even though in the end I felt like my potoey creation was a success I was still a bit saddened and bewildered by why my sweet potato was so different than what I had from all of those restaurants. Where on earth could I go to solve the mystery of the sweet potato???

The internet of course! Turns out that the white sweet potato I cooked was indeed a sweet potato after all and one of the first types of sweet potatoes mass produced in the United States. In addition to white there are also sweet potatoes with flesh that is yellow, red and yes orange. The orange sweet potatoes have a softer and sweeter flesh and when they were first introduced in the United States there was a need to differentiate between the two varieties. The slaves that were harvesting the potatoes at that time started calling them “yams” due to the fact that they resembled a popular edible African root known as nyami. Many years later slavery is abolished (yay!!) and orange sweet potatoes are still called yams at most American markets. So back to the market I went, straight to the potato isle and what did I find right next to the sweet potatoes? Big, plump, dark reddish brown skinned, orange fleshed yams aka orange sweet potatoes. The orange “yam” fries turned out even more delicious than my first pale batch and in the following months I would come to experiment with many different yammy dishes. Next to the classic baked yam fries this following recipe is a favorite of mine, I hope you like it too!

Baked yams with blackened chicken and sweet peppers

Ingredients

• 3 big plump yams or orange sweet potatoes
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Around 10 mini sweet peppers (red, orange and yellow) I buy mine in bulk at Costco but they also have them in smaller amounts at Trader Joes. If you can’t find them bell pepper will work too. You want approximately 2 cups chopped peppers
• A handfull or two of fresh cilantro
• Spices to taste (I use one or two tablespoons of Cajun Creole seasoning and Jamaican Jerk seasoning from The Spice Hunter)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Splash of mirin (Japanese cooking rice wine) or white wine
• Olive oil
• A few drizzles of honey
• Smart balance or butter

Potato preparation

Preheat your oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with heavy duty foil. Wash your yams and poke a couple times with a fork. Depending on the size of your yams they will need to cook for 1 to 1 ½ hours.

Topping preparation

Chop the mini sweet peppers into tiny bite sized pieces and set them aside. While you still have your knife handy chop up a handful or two of the cilantro leaves and set those aside as well. You don’t need too much, just enough to sprinkle atop your finished dish to give it a little color and kick.

Now you are ready to prep the chicken. Cut your chicken into small bite sized pieces, I like to use culinary scissors to speed up this process but a knife works just fine too. Put a dollop of olive oil in your cast iron skillet, swirl it in the pan and heat on high heat. Once skillet is piping hot throw the chicken in and then cover the skillet with a lid to keep it from smoking. Let this cook for 1 or 2 minutes and then using a spatula flip the chicken pieces over. The cooked side should be golden brown. Recover the skillet and let the chicken cook for another couple minutes. Stir the chicken about in the skillet, it should now be getting to be golden brown on all sides. Lower heat to medium and add to the chicken a splash or two of mirin or white wine to rehydrate the chicken a bit, let this simmer a few moments, give it a good stir and let cook for another minute or two while you gather up your veggies and spices. Position the chicken pieces in the center of your skillet and then add your peppers to the hot pan around the chicken. Sprinkle ½ of the spice mixture (Cajun, Jamaican and Cinnamon combined) atop the chicken, cover pan with the lid and let cook for a minute. Remove the lid, stir the chicken and peppers together and then sprinkle the remainder of the spice mixture onto this. Let cook without the lid for another minute or two until the chicken and peppers are done.

Putting it all together

You have two options for serving this scrumptious yammy creation, you can remove the skin from the yam, mush it up and then top with your chicken mixture or you can split the yam down the middle and stuff with the mixture. Which ever method you choose you will want to start your topping stacking by first adding a bit of butter or smart balance to your yam, then top with a generous portion of the chicken pepper mix, add a swirl of honey and lastly a sprinkling of cilantro. Delish!

Springalishious

Next time you are searching for the perfect meal for breakfast, lunch, brunch, dinner or any snack in between I have the one word solution to what your tummy is craving…

Crepes!

Spring is here and whether you are enjoying a fresh drizzly day in New York or soaking up the sunshine and warmth in California your palate is more than likely starting to crave fresh, colorful veggies. Rosy plump tomatoes, crisp spinach, vibrant bell peppers and flavorful herbs have been dancing around in my head for weeks tempting me to find a way for them to mingle together in a most delectable way. I finally gave into them this last weekend and decided the best way to serve this flavorful combination of ingredients would be to jumble them together and bundle them up in the simplest and most delicate and delicious of casings. The classic French crepe. You can use whichever crepe recipe you fancy, if you are gluten free (like me!) you will find the following gluten free crepe recipe quite handy. As one who has consumed both glutenous and non glutenous crepes taste wise there is not much difference between the two. With crepes what is of upmost importance flavor wise are your fillings and as long as those are scrumptious you really can’t go wrong.

So, without further adieu here are my recipes for a most satisfying and delicious meal of spring crepes.

Gluten Free Crepes

Ingredients

½ cup tapioca starch

½ cup chestnut flour, sweet white rice flour, finely ground brown rice flour or any combination of the three afore mentioned flours.

1 cup milk

2 eggs

a pinch of salt

1 T butter melted

For dessert crepes

If you want to add an extra something special to your dessert crepe batter substitute vanilla soy milk for the milk or add a teaspoon of vanilla flavoring and a teaspoon of sugar to the batter.

Directions

Using an emersion blender or a regular blender, mix until batter is smooth and then pop the batter in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill. Once the mix is chilled, heat a crepe pan or large skillet over medium heat and when ready spray the pan with pam or coat with a bit of oil or butter. I usually make my crepe mix in a giant liquid measuring cup that holds 6 cups so I can pour the mix directly from this into the hot pan using one hand and hold the hot pan in the other hand so I can immediately swirl the liquid in the pan to form a round thin pancake shape. Let this cook for about a minute till the crepe is a bit bubbly on top and when you peak at the underside it has just started to turn golden a smidge. When its ready flip it onto the other side, let it cook for about 30 seconds more and your crepe is done. Do this until all your crepes are made and you are now ready to stuff them with any delicious fillings your heart desires! From savory to sweet here are a few of my personal favorite crepe creations.

Something Savory

Swirl crepe with a generous amount of homemade pesto and top with roasted red peppers, slices of fresh tomato, spinach, crumbled feta and dried Italian herbs. Wrap the crepe up like a burrito and then reheat it in the skillet for a minute or two so the cheese gets all melty and the outside crisps up a bit. Yummers!

Something Sweet

There are few things more scrumptious than a crepe swirled with Nutella and sprinkled with fresh strawberries. Wrap this heavenly combination up and heat in a pan till the chocolate starts to melt just slightly. If you want something even more decadent serve this along side a scoop of vanilla bean gelato.

One of my favorite things

One Sunny Sunday morning two years and some change ago a few of my dearest South Park friends took me for breakfast at one of their favorite neighborhood morning eateries, The Big Kitchen. Once we were seated I perused the vast menu for something that looked not only extraordinarily delicious but something that was more than likely gluten free as well. Now those that know me know I have never been a huge meat eater, especially when it comes to breakfast and there is no food in this world that I despise more than eggs (bleh!!). Add gluten to that list of breakfast nono’s and my options become extremely narrow. Lucky for me I live in San Diego and a good portion of breakfast places offer a selection of Mexican dishes on their menu. After much deliberation I decided upon the tofu rancheros. As we sat sipping our coffee, chatting and waiting for our orders to arrive I glanced over the collage of clippings that pleasantly cluttered the walls. A flyer for an upcoming art show, a signed photo of Whoopi Goldberg (who used to work there), and an article about Rachel Ray’s visit there during a taping of $40 a day, a visit in which she dined on the tofu rancheros no less (yay for Rachel’s with great taste!). At long last my tofu arrived fresh out of the pan and still sizzling on my plate. The tofu and bell peppers were cut into large chunks and served atop a corn tortilla and the whole thing was smothered in a layer of oooey gooey melty cheese. As I dined on my delicious dish, the array of textures and flavors mingled in my mouth and the wheels in my brain began to turn. There was no doubt in my mind that this meal was scrumptious but I could not help but think as I ate of slight changes that could be made to the recipe that would make it even more delectable to my palate.

A couple days and a trip to the grocery store later I was ready to put my ideas to the test and after an hour of draining, chopping, mincing and stir frying my culinary creation was complete and I found that not only had I cooked up a tasty Wednesday night dinner but that I had found my new favorite meal. I could eat this for dinner every day and in fact at first I did! A few years later it’s still one of my favorite, a weekly fixture in my diet and something that I still enjoy preparing just as much as I did that first time. I hope that cooking and eating this dish brings you as much joy as it did for me. I find its best served with a crisp white wine and shared with friends.

Extraordinarily Delicious Tofu and Pepper Tacos

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 3 medium to large sized bell peppers, chopped (you can use any combination you like of orange, red and yellow. Since these are going in a tortilla I like to chop the peppers pretty small, about ½ inch by ½ inch)
• 1 zucchini sliced into ¼ inch thick slices
• A little more than 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes (cut in halves or thirds, guts removed and discarded)
• 1 pack of extra firm tofu
• Chopped fresh cilantro leaves (as much as you like, I like a generous handful)
• 4 or 5 cloves of garlic (crushed or minced)
• Olive oil
• Tortillas (I like to serve mine with home made corn tortillas)
• Pepper jack cheese (I found Veggie Slices brand, pepper jack flavor work well in this dish because they are delicious when melted and they don’t get greasy when melted like real cheese)
• Season to taste with salt, pepper and Mexican Seasonings (I use a little under a tablespoon of a premade mix that is a combination of oregano, cumin, garlic, onion, chili, paprika and red pepper)

Optional ingredients (if you like it hot!)

• 1 or 2 teaspoons jalapeño pepper, minced (seeds and all)
• 2 or 3 shakes of chili pepper powder

Preparation

First thing you want to do is drain the liquid from the tofu container. Then using a clean cutting board or plate cut the tofu into ½ inch thick steaks. Tofu is like a sponge and at this point even though the water has been drained the tofu is still fully absorbed with liquid. Now you can’t just squeeze the tofu like you would a sponge to release the liquid (unless you are making a tofu scramble!). In order to release some of that liquid you need to let the tofu sit and drain a bit on another absorbent material such as paper towels. Make a stack of paper towels 5 or 6 sheets thick and place your tofu steaks on top. Then place another 2 or 3 towels on top. You can gently press down on the paper towel covered tofu and then let this sit for about 5 minutes. If you notice the towels are becoming saturated you can move the tofu to a dry spot on the towel or add another towel. If you were ever to make a recipe that involved marinating tofu you would want to let your tofu drain like this for 10 or 15 minutes with at least one towel change in between. By doing this you ensure that your tofu is able to properly absorb a marinade. If you were to just throw tofu into a marinade straight out of the container it came in it would not soak up the marinade (because it’s already fully absorbed with the liquid it came in) and your tofu would be pretty bland. In this recipe we are not marinating the tofu before we cook it so a 5 minute drain will allow enough of the liquid to drain out so the tofu will be able to adequately soak up the yummy spices you will be coking it with.

While your tofu is draining on the towels you can prepare your veggies. Chop the tomatoes, making sure to remove the guts and discard and place all the meaty tomato bits in a bowl. Add the crushed garlic and chopped cilantro to this bowl, give it a good stir to coat all the tomatoes with the garlic and cilantro then set this aside. Now you can chop your bell peppers and zucchini. By the time all your veggies are prepped your tofu should be properly drained. On a clean cutting board cut your tofu steaks into bite sized pieces, approximately ½ inch by ½ inch. I like to use a wok to cook this but if you don’t have one handy you can use a large sauce or frying pan. Pour a bit of olive oil in the pan and use a paper towel to make sure the surface of the pan is fully coated with oil, you don’t need a lot just enough so the tofu won’t stick. If you happen to have garlic flavored olive oil I have found that to be quite yummy with this dish. Once the pan is hot, toss in your tofu and shake the pan every 10 seconds or so to make sure the tofu is not sticking. If it does sprinkle the tofu with a bit more oil and toss in the pan (this shaking/tossing action is particularly fun with a wok!). After about 2 minutes the tofu should be past the phase where it wants to stick to the pan and you can let it sit and cook on its own for a bit longer. I typically end up cooking the tofu on medium high heat for about 10 or 12 minutes, flipping the little tofu squares ever minute or so to make sure all sides are getting cooked. The tofu is done when you notice that it is a light golden brown color on most sides. It’s a slightly tedious process flipping all the little squares but I find it’s a good way to get a nice slightly crispy on the outside tofu without using a lot of fatty oil or frying it. Once your tofu is browned to your desired color you can add the zucchini. I like to pile the tofu in the center of my wok and then surround it with the zucchini. This way the zucchinis are not crowded in the pan and have a chance to brown a bit on one side before they get mixed in with their tofu buddies. Let that cook as is for a minute or two, until you can flip one of the zucchinis and notice it has a little bit of browning on the cooked side. Then place the chopped bell peppers atop of the tofu, take a moment or two to admire how pretty this looks in the pan…

Then mix it all up using a spoon and/or tossing in the pan iron chef style. If you are making this spicy you can add your chopped jalapeño pepper at this time. Let this cook for 3 or 4 minutes and then add your tomato mixture. Stir this about, fully combining the tomato mix with the tofu mix and then lower your heat to medium low. Now you can add the salt, pepper, Mexican seasonings and if you like the chili pepper, give this a good stir and let it cook for one more minute or two and then your tofu pepper taco filling is complete. Serve in warm (preferably homemade) tortillas sprinkled with pepper jack or your preferred cheese of choice.

What to do on the hottest day of the year

I love Fridays! Typically Friday is the start of three days of only having to work one job a day for me. Sometimes I even have an entire day off from both jobs on Saturday or Sunday which is always quite a treat. At the FDG office more often than not on Fridays we take off from work an hour early to get a head start on our weekends. This past Friday was the start of a heat wave here in San Diego so to celebrate the suddenly summery weather we closed up the office at 3:30pm. So what did I do with my free time on this 90+ degree day? I went home to cook of course!

I spent 3 ½ hours baking banana nut muffins for Saturdays breakfast, loaves of French bread to take along on a wine tasting adventure and picnic on Saturday afternoon and a delicious Friday night dinner of roasted veggie risotto. Sure, keeping the oven at 400 degrees for hours on end and then sautéing and simmering items on the stove for an hour might not have been the best method to keep the house and the people in it at a comfortable temperature on such a hot day but the deliciousness of the meal and breads made it well worth dealing with the heat.

The risotto was amazing! I actually did not start eating risotto until fairly recently. If you can’t eat gluten it’s a great substitute for pasta when you are craving creamy carbohydrates. I always thought that to make it you would have to add gobs of butter and thick cream to get it to the rich and thick consistency risotto is known for. Not true! The most common rice used for risotto is Arborio which is a rounded, white grain rice. Because Arborio has such high starch content when it is slowly cooked in broth it releases this starch from the grain. So it is the rice itself that creates the creamy, buttery like consistency of the dish. You will notice in the recipe that only a little bit of olive oil is added in the beginning and then just a dab of butter at the very end, if you want to leave out the butter to lower the fat content you could. Personally, I think the butter really compliments this dish so I always add about a tablespoon of whipped earth balance to the pot at the end which is a good compromise. So without further delay here is the delicious and nutritious roasted veggie risotto recipe.

Roasted Veggie Risotto

Ingredients for the squash

1 medium size butternut or acorn squash (peeled and cubed)
1 teaspoon minced fresh or dried sage
1 teaspoon powdered sage
a dash or two of cinnamon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
olive oil

Ingredients for the risotto

1 tablespoon olive oil
4-5 cups warm vegetable broth
¼ c minced onion
2 cloves of garlic (crushed or minced)
½ cup warmed dry white wine
1 cup arborio rice
1 tablespoon butter (I like whipped Earth Balance)
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Ingredients for the veggie sauté

Approximately 3 cups sliced mushrooms (you can use whatever mushrooms you love most, personally I like the pre sliced crimini from Trader Joes because they save time and are delicious!)

4 or 5 generous handfuls of fresh spinach

1 or 2 cloves of garlic (crushed or minced)

Salt, pepper, cinnamon and powdered sage to taste

Preparing the squash

Poke the squash several times with a fork and then microwave for a couple of minutes to soften it and make it easier to cut. Using a big knife cut the squash in half and remove the guts. Peel and then cut the squash into little cubes that are around ½ an inch or inch square in size. Put the squash in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with sage, cinnamon, salt and pepper and use your hands to make sure all the little squashy squares are coated with oil and spice. Pop this into a 400 degree oven and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Once the squash is done remove it from the oven and set aside.

Preparing the Risotto

Warm a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium sized pot over medium heat, add to that your onion and garlic and sauté until the onions are translucent. Add to this your rice and stir constantly for a couple of minutes until the rice is fully coated with the oil. Now you can add the warmed white wine, turn your heat down a smidge to medium and stir constantly until the wine is almost absorbed. Now you are ready for the broth. Add one cup at a time the warm vegetable broth, stir this frequently and once the broth is nearly absorbed add another cup of warm broth. We warm the wine and broth because of the sensitive nature of the rice, to add a cold liquid at any point tinkers with the delicate cooking process of the arborio rice and could result in a crunchy or hard risotto. Depending on your stove you might have to turn up or down the heat a bit, you want it to be simmering but not boiling so the rice is not burned. Repeat this process of adding warm broth a cup at a time until the rice is tender but slightly al dente. Typically this takes about 6 or 7 cups of broth over a 20 minute time period. Now you can add your parmesan cheese and butter (if you like!), stir until combined and then turn off the heat.

Preparing the veggies

While your risotto is cooking you can also be prepping the veggies. In a pan heat a tablespoon of butter or olive oil over medium heat, add to this your crushed garlic letting the garlic infuse the oil for a minute or two. Add to this your sliced mushrooms of choice and season them with a little salt and pepper, sautéing until they soften and brown up a bit. Once the mushrooms are ready add to the pan your roasted squash and spinach. If you like you can add a little more powdered sage to this. Lower the heat, cover the pan with a lid and let cook about 4 or 5 minutes or until the spinach has wilted.

To serve place a generous portion of the risotto in a bowl and top with a heaping scoop of veggies. If you like (and I think you might!) you can add another sprinkling of parmesan cheese atop the veggies, pour yourself a glass of the same white wine you used in the risotto and enjoy!

i <3 carbs!

Back in the day when I used to eat gobs and gobs of gluten if you were to ask me what my favorite food was I would have likely answered you with one word...

BREAD

Cinnamon raisin, Dudley’s jalapeño, French baguette, sweet Hawaiian, buttery focaccia, fresh baked banana, Indian nann, hearty whole wheat crusted with seeds or even a fresh loaf of your basic fluffy white. From breakfast to dessert, every snack and meal in between bread was always the perfect solution to what my palette was craving.

When I first realized I had to stop eating gluten I was crushed. Life without bread. How was I to go on?! The only thing I loved to eat more than bread was pasta, cereal and veggie burgers (gluten, gluten and more gluten). So I moped about it for a while, ate a lot of fruits and veggies, started eating meat again and even began eating fish (gasp!). I found some gluten free breads at specialty markets but did not have much luck finding anything worth eating (hint: more often than not if you have to buy your bread from the freezer section it is not going to be extraordinarily tasty). So then I did what any resourceful gal would do and decided to bake my own bread. Now this did not seem like it would be a vary daunting task considering I had been baking since I was a little tyke but no no no I quickly realized I was going to have to start from scratch (pardon the pun) and learn to bake all over again. At first my finished product was not much better than what I had found in the stores but after a few months of researching alternative binders and experimenting in the kitchen with a plethora of flour combinations I figured it out (yay!). Now when I am craving blueberry muffins, fresh chocolate chip cream scones, sweet pumpkin bread or herbed focaccia I need not pout because within a few hours time I can easily whip up anything my bread loving tummy desires. For instance earlier this week I realized I was in the mood for sandwiches so Sunday night before bed I filled my bread machine with ingredients, hit start and while I was sleeping cooked up a loaf of sandwich bread. My lunches this week have been a delicious smorgasbord of sandwich creations. There was the herbed turkey, mozzarella and spinach smothered with homemade pesto on Monday, the peanut butter, honey and banana on Tuesday and the salami with aged cheddar and pepperoncinis on Wednesday. As if that was not enough sandwichey goodness for one week I think I have just enough bread left for one more delicious sandwich. A sandwich that I am going to go home and make right now! :)

One hour later...





yum! Best sandwich ever!! xoxo