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Peanut Sesame Sweet Potato Noodles

2016-05-15 18.40.50

I’ve had a spiralizer for maybe a year now. I was pretty excited by it when I first got it but I rapidly figured out that while I love zoodles (zucchini noodles), the rest of my household does not. I should have been pulling it out regularly to make myself zoodles for lunch, but I think I was kind of bummed.

Luckily, I spotted Organic Dietician’s recipe for Sesame Sweet Potato Noodles and I decided to give it a whirl. Who doesn’t love sesame noodles? It was a success, but it needed just a little tweaking to be perfect for me. Added bonus, Matt loves them too.

Ingredients

  • 2 medium to large sweet potatoes, peeled & spiralized
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 2 T no-sugar-added peanut butter
  • 1 T sesame oil
  • 2 T apple cider vinegar
  • pinch salt
  • 1 T sesame seeds
  • sliced green onion (for serving)
  • sriracha (for serving)

Directions

Place spiralized sweet potato in a microwave-safe bowl and drizzle about 1 T water in the bottom of the dish. Microwave 8-12 minutes depending on how cooked you’d like your sweet potato. I like mine with just a hint of crunch and so I go about 10 minutes.

Heat olive oil in a skillet and add noodles. Saute for about 5 minutes. This removes some excess water and makes them a bit more noodle like.

Meanwhile, whisk together peanut butter, sesame oil, vinegar and salt.

When noodles are cooked as desired, toss with dressing and top with sesame seeds and green onion & sriracha if desired.

These are great warm, but I like them even a bit better cold the next day.

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5 Spot Pancakes

Since we’re camping this weekend I thought I’d FINALLY share my favorite pancake recipe with you. This came up in a search last year when I was looking for camping recipes. We made it on our first camping trip in our pop-up and it was an instant hit. And we’ve been making it ever since. We’ve made it times other than camping as well, but I cannot imagine a camping trip without it and I’m pretty sure it will make an appearance each time we go.

When we go camping, I take the dry ingredients and measure them out and mix them up (and store them in a plastic container. I pre-measure the buttermilk into a jar and keep that in the cooler or camper fridge until ready to use. An egg and a little butter and some bananas is all that’s left – and of course some syrup. These come out super light and fluffy and amazingly tasty!

One recipe should do well for a family of four if two of the four are light eaters or small children, but any more than that and you’ll probably want a double recipe. Worst case scenario you can feed your fellow campers. I have also found it unnecessary to oil the griddle when I make these (presumably because of the butter in the batter) but if you find them sticking, obviously Pam it up.

5 Spot Pancakes (with Bananas)

adapted from Sunset Magazine

Ingredients

  • 3/4 C all-purpose flour
  • 6 T whole-wheat flour
  • 1 1/4 t baking powder
  • 3/4 t baking soda
  • 1 1/2 t sugar
  • 1/4 t salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/2 C buttermilk
  • About 3 T melted butter or margarine
  • 2 ripe bananas, peeled and thinly sliced or other toppings of your choice (blueberries!)

In a bowl, mix all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. In another bowl, whisk to blend eggs, buttermilk, and 3 tablespoons butter. Add to dry ingredients and stir just until batter is evenly moistened.

Ladle batter, 1/4 cup at a time, onto a medium-hot (350°) griddle or 10- to 12-inch nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Put 3 to 5 banana slices onto each pancake and cook until edges of the cake look dry, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn with a wide spatula and cook until browned on the bottom, 3 or 4 minutes longer. Serve pancakes immediately!

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Asparagus Tart and Cookbook Indecision

So after I decided that the original cookbook I’d selected for this month wouldn’t work, I decided to move on to Jaime’s Dinners, which I’d originally slated for next month. I started going through it and while I found some recipes that I want to try, the vast majority are heavier, BRITISH foods (err … duh) more suited for chilly winter months.

So I ended up giving up on it  and I’ve switched (AGAIN) to Great Food Fast, which is a compendium of recipes from my all-time-favorite food magazine, Everyday Food. I’ve already tackled two recipes from the book since making the decision and I am really glad I chose it. They are tasty, healthy, fast and easy. The book is divided up by seasons which I love because that’s how I cook and everything I selected from this week was from the Spring section.

Asparagus Gruyere Tart

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet puff pastry
  • flour for rolling surface
  • 1 lb of fresh asparagus
  • 5.5 oz grueyere cheese, grated
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400. Roll puff pastry into 10×16″ rectangle. Fold in 1/2 inch on each side and pierce surface with a fork. Transfer to baking sheet and bake 15 minutes or until lightly brown. Top crust with grueyere. Trim asparagus to width of crust and place on top in neat rows, alternating which side the tops point to. Brush lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake 10-15 minutes more until asparagus is tender. Cut into segments and serve immediately to general applause.

Since we are all asparagus fans, this was an immediate hit in our house. We have another sheet of puff pastry (two to a box) and some more asparagus and Tabby has already requested we make it again. Similar to the chalupas, this is a good jumping-off point for lots of other flavor combinations on top of puff pastry. I can see there being lots of possibilities here!

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Broccamole!

Man, this week is kicking my butt. Long days at the office. Plenty of training to do (next race is in 12 days), kids have been … a bit on the frustrating side, house is a total mess. I don’t like feeling like this … under water, stressed. I like all my ducks in a row, all my plates spinning and it isn’t that way this week.

Well anyhow, enough of my whining. I’ve been wanting to share this recipe with you. A while back, I pinned and later tried a recipe for Crack Broccoli. It’s basically roasted broccoli with a little dressing and it is YUMMY. We’ve made it almost once a week since we first discovered it and it was Ben who came up with the name which we now use to refer to it: Broccamole! “Guacamole!” (presumably from “Holy Guacamole” is one of his favorite interjections and he charmingly bungled it into Broccamole! one night when we had this, and so now it is.

Broccamole

Ingredients

  • 1 large head broccoli
  • 3 Textra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 t kosher salt (or half as much table salt)
  • 1/2 t sugar

Line a cookie sheet with foil and place it in the oven. Heat the oven to 500 degrees. Cut broccoli into smallish florets and lightly peel the stems. Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with salt and sugar and toss to combine. When the cookie sheet and oven are heated, remove the sheet from the oven. Work quickly and place all pieces of broccoli in a single layer on the sheet. Place as much of the surface area on the sheet as possible – this is where it will brown and be real tasty!

Put the sheet back in the oven and roast 9-10 minutes until broccoli is tender and lightly browned. Serve immediately with a drizzle of lemon juice if you’ve got a bit on hand.

Even if you don’t like broccoli you should really try this. Everyone in our house loves it!!

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Polenta Stuffed Peppers

Hard to believe March is almost done! We always start out the month with the next month’s calendar page looking clear and end up with it jam-packed with activities. Next month we will celebrate Ben’s 3rd birthday, start new activities for each kid (Ben is doing tumbling, Tabby ballet), run our 7th (?!!) half marathon, have a visit from Matt’s mom and a big bunch of other activities, including prepping for our camping trip in May. I will also tackle the 4th cookbook of the year, Thai Street Food.

But March isn’t out just yet. And I have a couple of recipes left to share with you from Moosewood Simple Suppers. Today I bring you tales of polenta stuffed peppers. I am always a fan of stuffed veggies, be they squash or peppers or pumpkins! There is usually a bit more cooking time, but the prep is usually pretty easy and the results are usually delicious. This recipe was made doable even for a weeknight. You start cooking the peppers without stuffing, while you are prepping the stuffing, then stuff them and finish off the cooking. We opted to prep these the night before, but they easily could have been done in the evening.

Polenta Stuffed Peppers, adapted from Moosewood Simple Suppers

  • 4-5 red, orange or yellow bell peppers, sliced lengthwise through the stem, ribs and seeds removed
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 4 C water
  • 1/2 t red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 1 C cornmeal
  • 1.5 C corn kernels (frozen works fine)
  • 2 C cheddar cheese, divided
  • 1/2 C chopped olives (Spanish are recommended, but they do not seem to be readily available in my normal stores, and the kids LOVE black olives, so that’s what we used)
  • 16 oz salsa of your choice
  • can of black beans, drained

Heat oven to 450. Put 4 cups water in a medium sauce pan on high to boil, with red pepper flakes if desired. Rub peppers inside and out with olive oil (or use your mister if you’ve got one!) and roast at 450 for 15 minutes. While the peppers cook, prepare polenta. When water comes to a boil, slowly whisk in the cornmeal and continue cooking, stirring until tender and thickened.

Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup cheese, corn kernels, butter, and olives. Season with S&P to taste if desired. Fill peppers with polenta mixture and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Return to oven for 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted. While peppers cook, mix salsa and beans.

Serve peppers with beans and salsa on the side or over top. We also topped our green salads with the mixture and a little cheese – YUM.

For the kids, we cooked just the mixture in ramekins and topped them only with some beans (no salsa). Of course they each had to take a no-thank-you bite of the pepper. They’ll be up for it some day!!

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Spinach Cheese Burritos and March Cookbook

So I’m already three recipes into the March cookbook, Moosewood’s Simple Suppers and as expected, I’m finding it delightful. Moosewood, for the uninitiated is a fairly famous co-op restaurant in Ithaca, NY. Basically a group of hippies came together to make awesome, tasty, whole food that is frequently vegetarian, though they do use fish here and there. The restaurant pioneered a lot of creative vegetarian cooking. Though I did not grow up vegetarian, some of our extended family is vegetarian or pescetarian and we were exposed to these recipes through them and my mom owned and sometimes cooked from the original Moosewood cookbook. When Matt and I were married, I received Moosewood New Classics from my mom’s cousin and when everything I tackled from it from it turned out awesome, I bought the original (with hand-drawn illustrations) and some others. Just a few years ago my sister gave me the latest in the series, Simple Suppers. But of course I’ve been busy and internet recipes are distracting, so this is a prime opportunity for checking out all of the whole food goodness Moosewood has to offer.

The first recipe I tried was Spinach Cheese Burritos. This little gem went from prep (including chopping) to oven in exactly 20 minutes – I timed it. The original recipe has a hot sauce that you can make in the blender, but I am such a fan of the organic salsa we buy at Costco, that I served it with that instead. I also used low-carb tortillas because that’s how we roll. This is one I dare anyone not to like. It is creamy, cheesy and delicious. The kids were a bit suspicious of the green stuff, but both ate about half their burrito which is not bad in my book!

Spinach Cheese Burritos

  • 8-10 flour tortillas
  • 3 cups monterey jack or cheddar cheese (pepper jack would be awesome here too), shredded
  • 1/3 C cream cheese (3 oz)
  • 10 oz fresh baby spinach
  • 1 bunch scallions, chopped
  • 1 T cooking oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 pinch nutmeg
  • salsa of your choice for serving

Directions

Heat oven to 350. Lightly oil a 9×13″ baking dish. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook scallions and garlic in oil for 2-3 minutes. Add in the spinach and cook until the leaves have wilted and there isn’t water left in the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat and stir in cheese and spices thoroughly, using the residual heat to melt everything together.

Place a good bit of filling on the edge of each tortilla and roll, then place in the pan seam-side down. Cover with foil and bake for about 20 minutes. Serve immediately with generous quantities of salsa.

Along with this little gem, there are seven other recipes from this cookbook I’m testing out. A preview of what’s (hopefully) to come:

  1. Spinach Cheese Burritos
  2. Banana Cupcakes (we made these for Tabby’s class on Monday night – mmmmmm)
  3. Po’ Boys (had these last night – awesome!!)
  4. Winter Squash Pie
  5. Mexican Polenta Stuffed Peppers
  6. Creamy Lemon Pasta
  7. Shrimp Curry with Snow Peas
  8. Baked Tofu
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Mango, Black Bean and Quinoa Salad

Summer is a hard time for me cooking wise. I don’t want the heavier comfort foods I am crazy about in the winter. It’s too hot. And we also take advantage of the longer days and get up to all kinds of things and have later, more casual dinners. So I’m up for anything that’s cool and light and super easy to make and have around. This recipe (well a recipe similar to this) was in my Google Reader for a while before I tried it but when I did I was an instant fan. I traded out vinegar for lime juice (I love anything with lime in it) and nixed the cilantro, but of course you can put these back in for a slightly different flavor.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked quinoa
  • 1 cup finely diced red pepper
  • 1-2 mangoes finely diced
  • 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
  • 2 T lightly flavored oil (sunflower oil was what we had)
  • juice of two limes
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • salt and pepper
  • cilantro, chopped (optional)
  • scallions, chopped (optional)

Directions

Combine lime juice, oil, cumin and S&P in a small bowl. Whisk until well combined. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a medium sized bowl and toss with dressing. I think this is best served chilled. We first ate it with Garlic Lime Chicken and I imagine it would be a great thing to take to any picnic or to have with burgers as well. Tomorrow I’m having it with Tortilla Encrusted Tilapia from Costco. mmmmm

Nutritional Info (1 cup)

Calories 150; Sodium 59 mg; Total Fat 6g; Potassium 31 mg; Saturated 0g; Total Carbs 35g; Protein 6g


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Butternut Squash Pasta

from:

Ingredients
green beans
butter
dill (fresh or dried)
salt & pepper

Directions
Cook your green beans until done. I like to steam them in skillet with just a little water if fresh, or nuke them if they're frozen, of course. While still hot, add the butter and mix it in so it melts. You do not need much butter. A tablespoon gives an entire pound of green beans a very nice flavor. Then season with dill and salt and pepper.

from: adapted from Dinner a Love Story

Ingredients
1 package egg noodles (we like no yolk)
1 large butternut squash, peeled and diced in 1/2″ or 2 packages prepped frozen winter squash
1 large onion
rosemary leaves
2 T butter
salt and pepper
parmesan

Directions
Heat oven to 425. Peel onion and cut into large dice. On a rimmed baking sheet, place squash and onion in one layer, distributing evenly. Season with salt and pepper and rosemary leaves. Bake for 20-30 minutes until squash and onions are nicely roasted.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook egg noodles according to package directions. Once noodles are done, drain and return to pot. Add butter and then combine with roasted squash and onions. Season with more S&P if necessary.

Serve topped with grated Parmesan.

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Sweet Potato Spoon Bread

from: Martha Stewart

Ingredients
3 large sweet potatoes
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 cups milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup honey
4 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream

Directions
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake sweet potatoes until soft when pierced with a knife, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool. Peel, and discard skins.

Reduce heat to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan over medium heat combine cornmeal, milk, butter, brown sugar, spices, salt, and 1 cup water. Cook, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Let cool.

Butter a 2-quart baking dish. Working in batches if necessary, place cornmeal mixture, sweet potatoes, flour, honey, eggs, and cream in a food processor. Process until smooth; pour into dish. Bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes. Serve.

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Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna

from: Cooking Light

Ingredients
3 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (about 1oz)
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup minced shallots
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
8 cups (3/4-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 2 1/4 pounds)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 (6oz) bags fresh baby spinach
9 cooked lasagna noodles (8 ounces uncooked noodles)
1 cup (4oz) shredded Asiago cheese
1 cup (4oz) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions
Cook milk in a small, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge (do not boil). Remove from heat; keep warm.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Melt butter in a medium nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots; cook 2 minutes or until tender. Reduce heat; add flour to pan, and cook 5 minutes or until smooth and golden, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add about 2 tablespoons warm milk to flour mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Gradually add remaining warm milk, about 1/2 cup at a time, until mixture is smooth, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and cook until smooth and thickened. Remove from heat. Cover surface of milk mixture with plastic wrap; set aside.

Heat oven to 425. Place squash in a large bowl. Add vinegar; toss to coat. Add 1 tablespoon oil; toss to coat. Arrange squash in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and thyme. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes.

Combine remaining 1 teaspoon oil, red pepper, and garlic in a Dutch oven over medium heat; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add spinach, 1 bag at a time; cook until wilted, stirring frequently. Add remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook until liquid evaporates, stirring frequently.

Reduce oven temperature to 350. Spoon 1/3 cup milk mixture in bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Arrange 3 noodles over milk mixture; top with spinach mixture, 2/3 cup milk mixture, 1/2 cup Asiago, and 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano. Arrange 3 noodles over cheese; top with squash mixture, 2/3 cup milk mixture, remaining 1/2 cup Asiago, and 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano. Arrange remaining 3 noodles on top of cheese; spread remaining 1/2 cup milk mixture over noodles. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Nutritional Info (1/8 recipe(
Calories: 445 (30% from fat); Fat: 15g (sat 8.1g,mono 4.2g,poly 0.7g); Protein: 20.7g; Carbs: 61.5g; Fiber: 7.3g; Cholesterol: 36mg; Iron: 4.8mg; Sodium: 758mg; Calcium: 599mg