sweet potato

{Recipe}: Sweet and Smoky Sweet Potato-Carrot Soup

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This past weekend the Hubz and I went out for lunch at Zabby & Elf’s Stone Soup where I debated between two soup/chili options and ultimately ordered a big cup of chili  while  the Hubz had the hot/cold bar.  The other soup that I was hotly debating over was a Sweet Potato-Carrot Soup which became my inspiration for last nights dinner.  Having no idea what else was in Stone Soup’s Sweet Potato-Carrot Soup my inspiration was limited to sweet potatoes and carrots and the fact that it was a creamy pureed soup.  I decided that I would go for a smoky sweet flavoring for the soup and serve it up with a nice green salad (and a veggie frankfurter for him).

Sweet and Smoky Sweet Potato-Carrot Soup

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, baked, peeled and mashed
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 large carrots, diced
  • 2 large garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
  • 3 cups vegetable broth
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon umeboshi vinegar (or substitute with red wine vinegar)

Directions:

  1. Prick the skin of the sweet potatoes and bake in a 350F oven for 1 hour.
  2. In a medium heavy bottom pot heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add in the onions and saute for 3 minutes.
  3. Stir in the carrots and saute for 5 minutes.
  4. Stir in the garlic, chipotle powder and sweet paprika and cook for 1 minute.
  5. Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce and simmer for 10 minutes uncovered.
  6. While the broth is simmering remove the sweet potato from the skin and mash together in a bowl.
  7. Place the broth and sweet potato in a food processor or blender (you may have to do this in two parts depending on the size of your machine) and process until smooth.
  8. Return to the pot and season with salt, pepper and umeboshi vinegar.
Why use umeboshi vinegar?  Umeboshi vinegar helps to balance flavors by adding a little tartness to your dish. I always use it to balance the flavors in my soups, sauces and with tomato recipes. Have you ever made a recipe and tasted and gone “there just something missing but I’m not sure what” well I recommend adding a little umeboshi vinegar to your recipe and my experience is 9 out 10 times it is just what the recipe needs.  Now a little goes along way so start with 1/4-1/2 teaspoon because you don’t want to overwhelm the other flavors in your dish.

 

Roli Boli

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I picked up my favorite whole wheat pizza dough yesterday when I was grocery shopping and debated for awhile what I would make with it. I wasn’t in the mood for your standard pizza and I contemplated calzones and then I decided why not a stromboli?

Then I began to reminisce over the Roli-Boli  that used to be at the mall a billion years ago when I was a child and I used to love to steal samples. Does anyone else know what I am talking about? Well here is my Roli Boli Redux and veganized.

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole wheat pizza dough (1 large pizza)
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 1/2 T olive oil
  • 1 medium sweet potato, small dice
  • 1 medium onion, small dice
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 1 tsp chipotle chili powder
  • 1 tsp ancho chili powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 2 T nutritional yeast
  • 2 T tahini
  • 2-4 T water

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 450F.

Roll out your pizza dough to form a large circle about the size of a large pizza.  Top with the salsa and spread out leaving about a 1 inch border.

In a large saute pan heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and add in the onions, sweet potato and garlic; saute for 4-5 minutes.  Stir in the corn, chili powders, salt and pepper and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes until the sweet potatoes soften.  Stir in the nutritional yeast and tahini and enough water to incorporate all of the ingredients together.

Once everything is cooked and combined pour the sweet potato mixture onto the pizza dough.  Roll up the pizza dough tucking in the edges at the end and flipping the mixture so that the seam is on the bottom (this can be tricky so take your time and be gentle).  Cut 3 small slits in the top of the stromboli and if you’d like you can brush the top with a bit of olive oil to help it brown. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until browned; remove from the oven and let rest 5-10 minutes before cutting.  Enjoy!

Recipe: Root Vegetable Samosa with Spicy Cranberry-Pear Sauce

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Root Vegetable Samosa

with Spicy Cranberry-Pear Sauce

Makes approx 12 samosas, serving 4-6

Ingredients:

  • For the Samosas:
    • 1 sweet potato, small dice
    • 1 parsnip, small dice
    • 1 carrot, small dice
    • 1 Tbsp olive oil
    • 2 tsp cumin
    • 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
    • 2 tsp madras curry powder
    • 1/2 tsp hot paprika
    • pinch of cayenne
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 1/2 tsp black pepper
    • 1/2 package of phyllo dough (usually found the freezer section and contains too rolls)
    • 1/3 cup melted vegan margarine
  • For the Sauce:
    • 1/4 cup of onion, minced
    • 1 Tbsp olive oil
    • 1 pear, minced
    • 3 thai chilies, minced
    • 2 Tbsp sweet soy sauce
    • 1/2 cup cranberries
    • 1/3 cup brown sugar
    • 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
    • 1/4 cup ketchup

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl toss the sweet potato, parsnip and carrot with the olive oil and spices.  Pour out on to a sheet pan in a single layer and make for 25-30 minutes; until fork soft. Place back in the bowl and set aside until ready for filling.
  2. To make the samosas first line a baking sheet with parchment then  place one sheet of phyllo on a board brush the  phyllo sheet lightly all over. Place another sheet of phyllo over the first one and repeat. Repeat a third time.
  3. Next, slice the layered phyllo sheets into two columns. Place a spoonful of the filling on the bottom edge of one column, and fold the phyllo dough in triangles like a flag. If the filling spills out, just tuck it in with your fingers and keep rolling. When you finish, use your fingers to brush some extra margarine on the outer layer for a golden brown color when baking.
  4. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until all the filling is gone (makes approx. 12)  Bake for 30-35 minutes until brown and crispy.
  5. For the sauce heat 1 tablespoon of olive in a medium skillet on medium-high heat.  Add in the pear, onion and chilies; cook for 8-10 minutes until the pear and onion start to caramelize.  Stir in the sweet soy sauce and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in the rice vinegar and cook for 1 more minute.  Stir in the cranberries, brown sugar and the ketchup and cook for 3-5 minutes until the sauce has thickened and is bubbly. Place the sauce in a blender and blend until smooth.

Serve the sauce warm with the warm samosas.

Cafe Gratitude and Yummy Flax Fries

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Dinner tonight included a recipe from Cafe Gratitude ‘s recipe book I am Grateful and had fries inspired by Carrots ‘N’ Cake .

First the hubby and I started with a lovely salad from I am Grateful:

The dressing for this salad was Peppery Avocado Caesar Dressing from I am Grateful, capers and gomasio.  It was nice light and yummy. There is a caesar salad recipe in I am Grateful which also includes their almond bread.  I would have loved to make this but didn’t have the ingredients for the bread but hope to make it next time.

To go with this salad we had quinoa with peas, corn, Braggs and hot chili sesame oil.  We also had these amazing fries:

Baked Parsnip and Sweet Potato Flax Fries

Tina of Carrots ‘N’ Cake inspired this recipe

  • 2 sweet potatoes, cut into fries
  • 4 parsnips, cut into fries
  • 1T olive oil
  • 3T flax meal
  • 1/2t garlic salt
  • 1/2t chili powder

Preheat the oven to 425F. Place the parsnip and sweet potato fries in a large plastic bag and toss with olive oil.  Add in the flax meal, garlic salt and chili powder and toss with the fries to evenly coat. Pour out onto a baking sheet to form a single layer.  Place in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until soft, flipping after 25.