I'm back! Hooray! It has been several weeks now, but I assure you I have been cooking and have some great recipes to share soon.
I pack my lunch nearly everyday. However, most of the time it's nothing too fancy or special to speak of or it's leftovers from the night before and well, if that's the case, you've already seen the recipe and likely don't care. This time, though, I was making dinner for a friend that will come stay with the Critters while I am away this weekend. Actually, I made a dinner, breakfast and lunch so he could eat while spending his time in my apartment.
For dinner, I made a stuffed carnival squash- but that recipe comes later. For breakfast, I kept it simple with Almond Butter Toast and Pears w/ Goat Brie. Of course, he will assemble that when he's ready so the toast isn't mush. What about lunch you ask? Well, I made a rockin' Spicy Sweet Sweet Potato Soup. I also roasted some of my garden veggies for my friend to make Napoleon Sliders w/ Smoked Mozzarella...(hence the colorfulness pictured to the left and in case you don't know how, look for instructions below).
But the soup-- oh! it was so tasty I had to bring it to lunch with me today!
I have several sweet potatoes in my hanging basket. One has been there so long it's vining. I like it vining and allow it to persist. The other items come and go as needed. Back to the sweet potato... I had one staring at me the other night. So I decided to hack it up and make it into soup! I didn't follow a recipe but I was inspired by several from Vegetarian Times and a few online sites. All were praising the fall foods (squash, potatoes, root veggies, etc.), which I love so had to do something about it.
I knew I wanted something sort of sweet and not spicy. (Rare for me, I know!) Here is the recipe...
Ingredients:
17 ounces,about 4 cups, peeled and cubed sweet potato
2 C water
1/2 C chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 dashes of each -
- allspice
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp (maybe more) cayenne pepper
1 tsp coriander
Make it:
Okay, this is where it gets really tricky so pay close attention* - In a large sauce pot, add all the ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until potatoes are soft enough to mash. Mash everything in the pot. Then transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth. If you have an immersion blender (which I don't but would really like one) you can use that instead of messing up the food processor. Then serve and enjoy!
*sarcasm- so simple!
It's really a wonderful mix of flavors. The spice is just right. I think next time I might add a dollop of almond or peanut butter, but it certainly is not necessary. This recipe made 3, 1 and 1/2 Cup servings. I brought 1 serving to lunch and left the rest for my friend. He's a big kid, I am sure he'll eat it all.
I couldn't resist bringing these fresh, sweet yellow pear tomatoes with me. And someone at work didn't like their pita chips and offered them to me. So my meal was quickly complete and still under 300 calories. Bueno!
I had a medium eggplant, 2 red peppers, and 1 eight ball zucchini. I sliced them all lengthwise and tossed them with olive oil and salt and pepper.
I pack my lunch nearly everyday. However, most of the time it's nothing too fancy or special to speak of or it's leftovers from the night before and well, if that's the case, you've already seen the recipe and likely don't care. This time, though, I was making dinner for a friend that will come stay with the Critters while I am away this weekend. Actually, I made a dinner, breakfast and lunch so he could eat while spending his time in my apartment.
For dinner, I made a stuffed carnival squash- but that recipe comes later. For breakfast, I kept it simple with Almond Butter Toast and Pears w/ Goat Brie. Of course, he will assemble that when he's ready so the toast isn't mush. What about lunch you ask? Well, I made a rockin' Spicy Sweet Sweet Potato Soup. I also roasted some of my garden veggies for my friend to make Napoleon Sliders w/ Smoked Mozzarella...(hence the colorfulness pictured to the left and in case you don't know how, look for instructions below).But the soup-- oh! it was so tasty I had to bring it to lunch with me today!
I have several sweet potatoes in my hanging basket. One has been there so long it's vining. I like it vining and allow it to persist. The other items come and go as needed. Back to the sweet potato... I had one staring at me the other night. So I decided to hack it up and make it into soup! I didn't follow a recipe but I was inspired by several from Vegetarian Times and a few online sites. All were praising the fall foods (squash, potatoes, root veggies, etc.), which I love so had to do something about it.
I knew I wanted something sort of sweet and not spicy. (Rare for me, I know!) Here is the recipe...
Ingredients:
17 ounces,about 4 cups, peeled and cubed sweet potato
2 C water
1/2 C chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 dashes of each -
- allspice
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp (maybe more) cayenne pepper
1 tsp coriander
Make it:
Okay, this is where it gets really tricky so pay close attention* - In a large sauce pot, add all the ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until potatoes are soft enough to mash. Mash everything in the pot. Then transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth. If you have an immersion blender (which I don't but would really like one) you can use that instead of messing up the food processor. Then serve and enjoy!
*sarcasm- so simple!
Nutritional Info*
Servings Per Recipe: 3
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 202.8
Total Fat: 0.8 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 27.5 mg
Total Carbs: 46.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 6.2 g
Protein: 3.4 g
*again courtesy of recipes.sparkpeople.com
p.s. About the veggies...
I had a medium eggplant, 2 red peppers, and 1 eight ball zucchini. I sliced them all lengthwise and tossed them with olive oil and salt and pepper.
Then I sprayed a cookie sheet with olive oil, and placed the veggies on it in one layer. While the squash (mentioned above) was roasting I threw these in the oven, too. About 400 for 15 or so minutes. They should be soft and easy to bite through but not mushy.
2 comments:
The food processor step is definitely my biggest hurdle to making creamy soups. Wonder if a hand mixer would work as well as an immersion blender? Maybe I'll try it and take pictures of the sweet potato soup that ends up spattered all over the kitchen. :)
Ahaha! That'd be hilarious!!
You don't have a food processor? Do you have a blender? I think the hand mixer would work for some soups, but when you have something as fleshy as potatoes I think the difference is in the food processor or a blender.
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