Sweet Potatoes with Bacon

Sometimes you need something fancy.  Risotto.  Yes, sometimes I need risotto.

Or bows on your clothes.  Or sexy shoes.  Maybe a night out on the town.

But sometimes you just need something cozy... jeans, warm socks, a comfy blanket.  Or sweet potatoes with bacon.  This is a cozy dish.  Like chicken noodle soup or mashed potatoes.  Cozy and easy.  Two adjectives that are perfect for these days that are getting shorter and energy levels that fall away as the sun goes down...

Pair it with chicken, eggs, or anything really.  It's one of those side dishes that might as well be the main dish. And honestly now, can you ever go wrong with bacon?  That's what I thought.

**Speaking of bacon, use any kind of bacon you want in this dish.  We are a turkey and beef bacon kind of family most of the time.  When using a lower-fat bacon, though, you will need to add some olive oil to the mix as there won't be as much fat to cook the potatoes.  Trader Joe's, as always, has a great selection of bacon.

SWEET POTATOES WITH BACON

Recipe adapted from Everyday Food, October 2011

SERVES 4 •  PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 45 MINUTES

ingredients

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
• 4 sliced bacon (see note above) + olive oil, if using non-pork bacon
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped sage
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  On a rimmed baking sheet, combine sweet potatoes, bacon, and sage; season with salt and pepper. Roast until sweet potatoes are browned in spots and tender when pierced with a knife and bacon is crisp, about 30 minutes, stirring halfway through.

                                                                                                         

COST: $4.99        COST PER SERVING (4): $2.25

Unprocessed    //    Gluten Free    //   Dairy Free

It's a love/hate relationship these days... (Sweet Potato Pizza)

Love/Hate.

Words that are on opposite ends of the spectrum.  Well, kind of.

I would say that love and apathy are on the opposite ends, in actuality.

But let's roll with this.  We hear it all the time. "I have a love/hate relationship with ______________." It might be a person, a situation, or in my case, a food.

Sweet Potato Pizza.  It's a love/hate thing, for sure.

Let's get the LOVE out there, first and foremost.

This might possibly be the best tasting pizza that has ever graced my kitchen.  Wait, might? Nah... IS.  This IS the best tasting pizza that has ever graced my kitchen.

The blend of garlic and sweet potatoes, combined with a Parmesan and fresh greens top... WOW.  And that Trader Joe's garlic herb pizza dough?  Um, HELLO.  This is vegetarian goodness that my super carnivorous husband asks for again and again.

So yes, we LOVE this pizza.

And for the HATE?

Well, that is primarily experiential.  The first three (three!) times I made it I looked at those vibrant oranges and greens, and I couldn't take pictures of it.  Darn sun that kept setting too early!  So I had to keep making it again.  And again.  And again.  Until finally I had enough light in the day to take pictures (hooray for Daylights Savings Time -- a food blogger's best friend).  But then my sweet potato was white when I peeled the skin away.  No vibrant orange for me.  Oh, the let down!  So you will just have to trust me that this is, indeed, a sweet potato pizza.

And the other bad thing?  Easy.  It goes away too fast when all I want to do is keep eating more... because really, I can't get enough.

I guess love wins.

SWEET POTATO PIZZA

ingredients

• 1 pack fresh pizza dough or make your own (I used Trader Joe's... $1.29)
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced                                                     
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 head garlic, peeled
• 1 T olive oil + 2 T more
• salt/pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
• 1 cup fresh greens (baby lettuce, arugula, etc.)

directions

1.       Prepare pizza dough according to directions on package.  Mix sweet potato, onion, and garlic with 1 T. olive oil and a bit of salt/pepper in roasting pan.  Cook at 400*F for 10 minutes or until soft. 

2.      Spread dough out on pizza pan or baking tray.  Brush with remaining olive oil.  Spread cooked sweet potato mixture on top.  Top with cheese.  Bake for 13-15 min. at 400*F or until lightly golden brown.

3.      Remove pizza from oven and top with fresh greens.  Cut and serve.  ENJOY!

 COST: $5.24           COST PER SERVING (3): $1.75

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"We trust you..." {Sweet Potato Hummus}

I walked into Trader Joe's earlier today with a shopping list in one hand and bag with some return items in the other.  Up to the counter I went and started making my returns/exchanges.  You know, without a receipt, without a reason...  The beauty of Trader Joe's.

They took back the chips that I didn't like (because they were too crunchy for my taste) and made my exchange of coconut oil.  Not wanting to have to pay for the coconut oil again, I asked if I should keep it up there at the customer service counter.  Since I didn't have a receipt or anything... "No, just take it with you and tell the cashier you've already paid for it.  They'll be cool with it; we trust you."

We trust you.  

Three simple words.  And that's one of the reasons Trader Joe's has my business.  No having to prepare myself for battle; no one looking at me sideways when I want to bring something back.  They just take it, do whatever it is they do with it, and smile.

They trust me.

What would shopping -- or better yet -- the world be like if we all had that attitude?

Sure, I could have been dishonest. I could have eaten half of the bag of chips because I was hungry and then brought them back claiming I didn't like the texture or taste (which is, by the way, a totally acceptable reason to bring things back at Trader Joe's).  And they would have lost $2.  Two dollars isn't much, but if many people do that it adds up.  But they choose to trust, making me a more solid shopper, which will balance out what might be dishonestly lost.

They are making the right choice.  By trusting, they are not losing, but gaining.  I don't think life is much different... so I choose to trust.

Sweet Potato hummus

ingredients

• 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1 inch pieces

• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, chopped

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 teaspoons ground cumin

• Salt and pepper

directions

1. Set a steamer basket in a large pot. Fill with enough water to come just below basket; bring to a boil. Add potatoes; reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a blender.
2. Combine the garbanzo beans, lemon juice, oil, cumin, and garlic in the food processor. Puree, about 1 minute; thin with water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper and let cool; refrigerate, in an airtight container, up to 1 week. Serve with pita bread or make pita sandwiches.  

COST: $2.07  (Makes four cups)

My New Fave -- Sweet Potato Tacos

Move over tortellini with butternut squash and sage, there's a new favorite in town!

From sweet potato hater to lover like that *finger snap*.

You cannot thank me for this, though.  All the credit goes out to Jess at CookSmarts.  She is a brilliant one, I tell ya, and if you are looking at this thinking, "Man, if only I could cook," look no further because she is here to help.  With her videos, easy recipes, and all these handy kitchen tips, you can't help be leave her site a little bit more handy in the kitchen.  Where was she when I needed her two years ago?!

Oh well, she is here now and so are these tacos.  Which I have had six of in the past twenty-four hours.  Dinner last night, lunch today, and now dinner tonight.  I guess you really can't have too much of a good thing...

Click here for the recipe for Sweet Potato Tacos.  I did it word for word, minus the cayenne pepper, and choosing Greek yogurt for my dairy.  Leave the dairy off and you've got a great vegan plate. And now I am hoping that my husband will say, "Yes, we can have them again, for the third time this week..."

COST: $5.97    COST PER SERVING (4): $1.50

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I lived my entire life missing out on one of life's greatest food sources.  I can pinpoint the moment when I decided I knew that I didn't like sweet potatoes, one Thanksgiving years ago.  I tried candied yams and knew without a doubt in my 13-year-old mind that I would never eat yams or sweet potatoes ever again.  NEVER.

And I held true to that for 16 1/2 years.

The truth is, I would still be in that boat if I did not 'need' to make Joy the Baker's sweet potato cookies for the baking group I am in.  And I would have been fine, like a kid is fine the first year or two of their life when their parents vow never to give them sugar.  But then one day they have chocolate cake or a brownie and their little brain says, "Hey, why have you been holding out on me, huh?!"

That was the conversation I had with myself this winter after those cookies: "Why have you been holding out on me?!"

Sweet potatoes are GOOD! Really good. In fact, so good that you will be seeing at least three sweet potato recipes in the next week or two.  Why?  Because I want to eat them ALL. DAY. LONG.

And the easiest way to do that?  Mashed sweet potatoes.  Takes 15 minutes (mostly while you are waiting for the potatoes to boil) and tastes like Heaven on a spoon.  No more living in sweet potato ignorance for me!

MASHED SWEET POTATOES

Ingredients

TipCuttng the potatoes into smaller cubes allows them to cook faster.

TipYou can subtract the amount of dairy as you wish.  Sweet potatoes are flavorful and naturually creamy when cooked.

• 
  1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/4 cup heavy cream 
• 2 T. butter

• 1/4 t. nutmeg

• salt and pepper, to taste

• 
  

Directions

1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the potatoes until soft when pierced with a fork, about 12 minutes. Drain return to the pot.
2. Toss remaining ingredients into the pot and stir with a fork, until soft and creamy. 

COST: $2.20   COST PER SERVING (4): $0.55

Carrot and Sweet Potato Bisque

It all started when I wanted soup.  Simple request, usually.  But with October Unprocessed I was a little worried that it would be much more complicated.  I mean, I would have to make my own stock first!  That seemed like a lot of work...

Except it is NOT.

I took all the odds and ends of veggies I had laying around in the fridge, dumped them in a soup pot, covered with water and added some salt, then let it boil for about an hour.  While I watched TV.  Yes, that's how complicated it was.

But what kind of soup did I want to make?  Well, I wanted to make I-don't-need-to-go-out-in-the-rain Soup.  The perfect kind for a day like yesterday.

Cupboards and fridgedoors were opened.  Kale?  Nah... enough of that recently.  Beet?  No.  I did not want beet soup.  But I did see those beautiful, colored carrots I got for a buck at Farmer's Market a few days ago.  And there were a few sweet potatoes hiding in the bottom of my pantry.  The perfect ingredients for the perfect soup.

In the end I wound up with a creamy (thanks to pure Greek yogurt and a blender) sweet potato and carrot bisque.

Guess what?   It was delicious, unprocessed, and cost about 75 cents per bowl.

And I didn't have to go out in the rain...

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 2 T butter
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/4 t nutmeg
• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 5 medium carrots, cut into medium-sized pieces
• 4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt, plus a little more to top the soup
• sprigs of fresh herbs, your choice, to top the soup

DIRECTIONS

1. In soup pot, melt butter and saute onion and garlic, about 5 minutes.  Add cinnamon and nutmeg and cook another 2 minutes.
2. Add potatoes and carrots to pot and cover with stock.  Add up to 1 cup water, if needed.  Bring to a boil, and then reduce to low and simmer 20 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are soft.
3. In a blender, working in small batches, puree the soup mixture.  Be careful to let the steam out before blending to avoid any explosions. 
4. When finished, stir in yogurt and salt/pepper.  Top each bowl with a small dollop of yogurt and fresh herbs of your choice.

COOK'S NOTE

To save time, use bullion cubes.  Otherwise, make your own.  It tastes AMAZING!

COST: $2.98   COST PER bowl (4): $0.74

Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies (Sundays with Joy)

"Oh, come on, try some.  You'll like it, I promise!"

How is it that every single time someone says those words they turn out to be a liar?

This is how my dear, incredibly honest aunt became a liar every single Thanksgiving.  The food she was talking about?  Yams.  Yucky yams.  I tried them, I did not like them, and then the next year we would go through the same thing.

You know what else I didn't like? Every year?  Sweet potatoes.  Because they tasted like yams.

Vegetables are not supposed to be sweet!  It is against the laws of nature, right?!

This week's Sundays with Joy recipe is sweet potato chocolate chip cookies.  Sweet potatoes + chocolate chips.

Yes, you read that correctly.

But... but.  Hold on a second.  When I was in Nashville this summer I went to this local joint called the Pancake Pantry and I was told I had to try the sweet potato pancakes.  "Come on," they said, "try them.  You'll like them.  Promise."  Liar liar, pants on fire...

Except when I did try them (a bite off someone else's plate) I DID like them.  A lot.

So this recipe by Joy the Baker did actually sound like it had some good potential.

Yes, those are some large 'heaping tablespoons' there.  And yes, my cookies came out quite large.  But whatever, they taste GOOD.

Sweet potatoes, you are no longer on the Yucky List!  Maybe vegetables can be sweet, in sweet things.   Now I need to try some yams...

Nah.

Since I am participating in October Unprocessed this year, I made these so they would be 'unprocessed'.  (I know it is not October until tomorrow, but I will be eating them in October, so I figured I should just go for it.)  These cookies were made with unbleached flour, raw sugar, and some chocolate chips that are made out of the same types of things (pure sugar, unsweetened cocoa, cocoa butter, and salt -- that's it, no more, no less).  You, of course, can make them any way you like them, but however you do it, they taste good.

Go ahead, try some.  You'll like it.  I promise.

And I am not lying!

Recipe adapted from the Joy the Baker Cookbook.  Do yourself a favor and buy a copy HERE.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup baked, mashed sweet potato (pierce skin with fork and bake at 400 for 40 minutes on tin foil-lined baking sheet)
• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup packed raw brown sugar (smells a little different but tastes great)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup 'fresh' chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheet and set aside.
2. In large bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Set aside.
3. In medium bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together.  Add oil and vanilla; whisk again.  Fold in mashed sweet potato.
4. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients, all at once.  Using a spatula, mix until now flour remains dry.  Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Scoop cookie dough, by the heaping tablespoonful, onto greased baking sheet, 2 inches apart.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before placing on wire rack to cool completely.

COST: $5.34   COST PER Cookie (18): $0.30

Praline-Topped Sweet Potatoes {Guest Post}

One more great Thanksgiving idea for you, this time from Justine at Full Belly Sisters.  When she said she had a great sweet potato post, I thought, "Hmm, ok, sweet potatoes.  I guess I like sweet potatoes enough."  But my husband responded differently.  "Sweet potatoes?  YES!  Please have her share so you can make some so I can eat it."  So, there you have it.  We need more sweet potatoes in our lives.  I tried some the other day, thinking they weren't all that exciting, but you know what?  I love sweet potatoes!  I had confused them with yams.  Oops.  Thankfully Justine is here to save the day. 

Actually, Justine and her sister save the day for me many times.  There is so much about being a mom someday (not yet!) that I have questions about and they have the answers.  Friends, if you need info on raising healthy little one through pregnancy and afterwards, they are a wealth of good information.  Check them out at there website by clicking on any of the pictures or HERE. 

As a certified health coach, I generally steer my clients and blog readers toward nutrient-dense and low-calorie foods (read: tons of veggies and fruit). They really should be the bulk of your diet in order to maintain your weight and to achieve optimum health. But I do sometimes eat foods that don't exactly fit that bill. And that's okay.

One of the rules I try to live by is "eat all the junk food you want, as long as you cook it yourself" (from Michael Pollan's Food Rules). The fact is that indulgent, rich and/or sweet foods have gotten so inexpensive and easy to buy that we don't consume them just for special occasions anymore; now we see these foods as part of our everyday diets.

Additionally, if we make our own "junk food," we control the quality and quantity of our ingredients. I cut the sugar in pretty much every recipe I make. And we can and should use the best ingredients we can afford, such as organic vegetables and grass-fed dairy; pastured eggs; real maple syrup (not that maple-flavored sugar water); and whole grains.

This recipe - a favorite for many years at my family's holiday dinner table - is rich and sweet. It's high in calories, too. However, it's also packed with vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, good fats, and protein. So, while it's not something I'd recommend eating every day, this dish is a real treat that is perfect for a special holiday dinner; it is a wonderful accompaniment to the more savory Thanksgiving fare. The fact that it also packs a nutritional punch is just a really great bonus.

Ingredients

(serves 10-12)

•   6 large sweet potatoes

•   1/2c half and half (whole milk works fine, too)

•   1 egg

•   3T real maple syrup

•   2T orange juice

•   1 1/2tsp salt

•   1t vanilla

•   2/3c packed brown sugar

•   2T real maple syrup

•   1 1/4c pecan pieces

•   1/2 t cinnamon

•   7T unsalted butter, softened and cut in pieces

•   1/2 cup white whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash sweet potatoes and poke each one a few times with the tines of a fork. Place them on a rimmed baking sheet covered in foil or parchment (as they bake, they will ooze some sweet syrup - you want to catch it before it gets in your oven!). Bake for about an hour, until they are tender to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool. (Make-ahead note: You can bake the potatoes a day or two beforehand; just keep them in their skins and refrigerate.)

Halve the potatoes lengthwise and peel off the skins; you should be able to do this with your hands, or you can scoop the flesh with a spoon, as you would an avocado. Place the flesh into a large mixing bowl. Add half and half, egg, maple syrup, orange juice, salt and vanilla. Beat until potatoes are mashed and mixture is light and fluffy.

Spoon into buttered two-quart casserole dish and spread into an even layer.

In a separate bowl, combine sugar, syrup, pecans, cinnamon, butter, and flour. Mix with hands until all ingredients are fully incorporated and the mixture is crumbly.

(Make-ahead note: You can cover the mashed potatoes and the crumbly topping separately and refrigerate for a day or two; assemble when ready to bake.)

"Spread topping over the top of the mashed sweet potatoes, covering all the potatoes. Bake the dish, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. The topping should be hot and bubbling.

Let sit for about 10 minutes; this allows the topping to come together and get a bit crispy. It should crackle a little like a crème brûlée when you spoon into it.

Scoop and enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving!