Sweet potato samosas

Indian food, or even Indian-inspired food, is probably the number-one thing I cannot get The H on board with. He'll put up with my recurrent attempts to sneak curry powder into things, but that's about it. The fact that I cannot find gluten-free phyllo dough (or fillo, depending on the packaging) releases him from the obligation of even a single bite. You're welcome, honey.

This recipe also gave me an excuse to use my new garam masala, courtesy of a trip to Penzey's when we were in Connecticut. 

Sweet Potato Samosas
from Clean Eating Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 7
makes 12 samosas (serving size: 2 samosas)

1.5 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 cups cauliflower stems and pieces (one small head)
1 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3/8 tsp sea salt, divided
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
3 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
12 sheets frozen whole-wheat phyllo dough, thawed (my store did not have whole wheat)
Olive oil cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 400*. Bring a 3-qt pot of water to boil over high heat. Add sweet potatoes and cook for five minutes. Add cauliflower and cook for an additional ten minutes, until vegetables are fork-tender. Drain and set aside.

2. In a small saute pan, heat 1 teaspoon oil on medium-high heat. Add onion and sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, 5 minutes or until soft and slightly browned. Set aside.

3. With a potato masher, mash potato-cauliflower mixture until smooth. Mix in onion, peas, cilantro, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, curry powder, garam masala, and cayenne.

4. Assemble samosas... this part took me a while to figure out, but once I got it down (two lumpy victims later) it was effortless to reproduce.

Place 1 phyllo sheet on a cutting board and mist with cooking spray. Fold in half lengthwise and mist with spray again.

Place 1/3 cup potato mixture at top left corner. Fold corner over filling to opposite side, making a triangle.

Fold triangle over to meet straight side, then up to the top again.

Continue folding over until you reach the end of the phyllo sheet.

Repeat steps with remaining filling and phyllo.

5. Mist a baking sheet with cooking spray--or use a sheet of parchment paper--and place samosas on sheet. Brush tops with remaining 2 teaspoons oil and bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.

My two folding failures made their way to my plate for lunch, along with some cilantro-lime quinoa and kale chips. While I was convinced that two wouldn't be enough, they were plenty filling.

 

When I have these for leftovers, I will look for a dipping sauce recipe. The flavors are great together, but I felt they were missing *something* like a tangy yogurt dressing that would really push them to the "fantastic!" category. This recipe is pretty labor-intensive, not one I would consider for a quick weeknight meal unless I was planning to use leftovers.

Grilled cheese and tomato soup

Is it *fall* where you are yet? Here in the mitten state, we can see our breath clouds outside in the morning, the heat has been turned on, and the leaves are becoming more colorful every day. It's the perfect time for a perfect pairing like grilled cheese and tomato soup!

This soup is loaded with vegetables, and is very flavorful. I was pleased to note that it wasn't as acidic as other tomato soups I've had. And don't worry about the curry powder if that's not one of your favorite flavors; it doesn't make the soup taste like Indian food, it just adds depth. I brought this to a boil on the stove, and then since we had to go to running group, poured it into a CrockPot to simmer while we were gone.



Tomato Soup
from The Eat-Clean Diet for Family & Kids

serves 8

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large sweet onion, peeled and chopped
4 ribs celery, trimmed and chopped
2 sweet carrots, peeled and chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped

2 cups fresh Roma tomatoes OR one 28-oz can plum tomatoes (I used a box of Pomi strained tomatoes, no salt added)
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth OR veggie stock OR water
1 Tbsp dried basil, crumbled
1 Tbsp dried oregano, crumbled
1 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pinch of curry powder (I used 1/4 tsp)
2 low-sodium chicken or veggie bouillon cubes (I used Trader Joe's stock concentrate packets)

1. In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over med-high heat. Add all chopped vegetables and saute until onion is soft and translucent.

2. Reduce heat to medium and add tomatoes, stock or water, basil, salt, oregano, curry, and bouillon. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer 30 minutes (this is where I transferred to the slow cooker), stirring occasionally.

3. Using a hand-held stick blender, puree the soup to your desired consistency.

4. Remove from heat and serve. Garnish with a scoop of low-fat plain yogurt or yogurt cheese.



We served these with grilled cheese sandwiches--on Udi's gluten free bread for The H (first picture) and Trader Joe's sprouted grain bread for me and the little guy.


Nutrition information per 1-cup serving:
Calories - 170
Fat - 3.5g
Protein - 1.5g
Carbs - 10.5g
Fiber - 2.5g
Sodium - 500mg
Cholesterol - 0mg

Clean and local burgers & fries

Tonight we had burgers and fries--the clean and local way! Or, at least the way *I* do clean and local.

The fries were made from local parsnips (thanks to the farmer's market) and sweet potato. I cut them into fry-sized pieces, tossed with some olive oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and cayenne, and roasted at 425* for about 35 minutes.

I got this idea from Katie at Health for the Whole Self--I never would've thought to make parsnip fries on my own, but I'm glad to have another way to prepare them.

I shuffled them around after about 25 minutes to help them brown evenly. I like 'em crispy.

The burgers were 1/4-lb patties from a local farm via the co-op. The H seasoned them perfectly--I love dried chipotle powder! Between that and the cayenne on the fries, it was a pretty spicy meal.

When the fries were done, we plated everything and sat down to deliciousness. Our burgers were topped with spinach, tomato, and mustard (organic ketchup for The H).

I ate mine on a sandwich thin, and The H had his on a piece of freshly-made gluten-free, egg-free bread. I used flax meal "eggs" with our usual GF bread recipe, and it came out great. And you know what? We ate off salad plates, so even though it looks like a heap of food (and it was really filling) our portions weren't overpoweringly heaping. Try it sometime!

Sweet potato semi-fail

I have recently discovered that I love sweet potato fries, especially when they're well-done and crispy. Their sweet, caramelized flavor is SO GOOD. I haven't yet been able to replicate the flavor of my favorites from The Cheetah, but I did come sort of close to that toasted-marshmallow goodness last summer. Sweet potatoes called to me at the grocery store this week so I gave in and bought a few. Last night we had these "chips" (they didn't all get crispy) with our local grass-fed beef burgers (topped with sauteed mushrooms, local yellow onion, and local sharp white cheddar). I served some homeade-from-co-op-fruit apple/pear sauce as well. Let's call this my DDC meal for the week, though the mushrooms and sweet taters weren't local. (I'm not very good at this challenge. I know.)

The photos don't look all that appetizing, but they really were good. Well, the ones that didn't get so charred they were fed to the dog were good, anyway! After slicing the two large potatoes with my mandoline, I set them on a baking sheet but had too many to do a single layer. That might've been part of my problem. Aren't they a gorgeous color?

I drizzled them with olive oil, but as you can see here, I may have added too much because it kind of pooled on top when I went to flip them halfway through.

A sprinkling of sea salt and dried rosemary finished them off. After I flipped them, they went back into the oven but under the broiler this time, and came out like this.

You might be able to spot a few that went to the pooch. Once they were plated (bad lighting, oh well for dark Michigan winter nights) they looked like this:

The H, LG (little guy!), and I polished them off. Tasty.

So even though they aren't show-quality, what do you think about the addition of more photos? I've been trying to use more and not be so lazy about uploading them! I think they brighten up the ol' blog. Yes?

Sweet Potato Oven Fries

This is the recipe mentioned in the previous entry. I halved this recipe; my notes are in italics.

Sweet Potato Oven Fries from The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 45 min

Eat-Clean Cooking spray (olive oil in a spritzer)

Enough sprigs fresh rosemary to cover a baking sheet (dried worked just fine)

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1lb), scrubbed and blotted dry

1. Preheat oven to 400*.

2. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Spread rosemary sprigs on sheet in a single layer, making sure entire surface is covered. Mix together all other ingredients, except sweet potatoes, in small bowl.

3. Square off potatoes (I had no idea what this meant) and slice into "steak fries." Lay strips of potato on rosemary in a single layer. Sprinkle generously with seasoning mixture. Spray generously with cooking spray. Bake 20 minutes.

4. Spray again. Return to oven for about 25 minutes more or until fries are golden and puffed. (I reserved some of the spices, flipped the fries at this point, and sprinkled the other sides before baking again.)

Poached eggs = fail

Tonight's dinner was going to be toast topped with roasted kale and a poached egg, with a side of sweet potato fries, thanks to inspiration from fellow bloggers CrumblyCookie and SimplyMe (this is my first attempt at linking on my Mac!) Alas, I apparently did not pay close enough attention all those nights during my childhood when my mom would make us poached eggs on toast. I got the boiling water part down, and knew to cook the eggs for as long as it cook the bread to toast, but beyond that, I was winging it. Nobody told me there had to be a certain amount of water in the pan, nor did anyone explain how to get the whites from shredding like cheap toilet paper mid-flush. My two beautiful farm-fresh eggs stuck to the bottom of my pan, and their golden moon yolks were left high and dry (or actually, rather slimy) due to my inexperience. One was salvageable, but the other served as a reminder to the dog that, although he gets reprimanded an awful lot, I do still like him. He was quite the attentive dinner companion after that.

As for the rest of the meal, it was divine. My sauteed kale was cooked in olive oil with garlic, orange bell pepper, and corn. This was my first experience with kale. The texture is "meatier" than spinach or chard, taking longer to chew, and the flavor was an excellent complement to the surviving egg. I liked that it kept its ruffle and did not wilt down to a pile of mush as spinach is wont to do. I used Tosca Reno's sweet potato oven fry recipe from The Eat-Clean Diet book, which is a spicier version of the Sweet Potato Oven Fries in The Eat-Clean Diet for Family & Kids book. The H and baby had a dinner date with H's parents, so I was free to cook for my own tastebuds. And my 'buds like spice.

So even though the eggs didn't go as planned, don't think I forgot about my toast! Ohhh no. I could never forget my toast... it was just a plain ol' piece of sprouted grain bread, until I smeared it with a hearty helping of artisanal cream cheese--one of my co-op selections from last night--that probably supplied my daily value of fat in one fell swoop. The texture was closer to goat cheese than the brick of Philadelphia you may be used to, but once it came to room temperature it was delightfully spreadable. Best.cream.cheese.ever. Thanks, Dancing Goat Creamery!

In case you've fallen asleep reading the previous three paragraphs, here's a recap: Dinner was garlic-sauteed kale with bell pepper and corn, topped with a messily-poached egg and served with spicy sweet potato oven fries and sprouted grain toast with locally-made fresh cream cheese. And it was very good.

Oh. Yum.

Dinner was awesome. The H may not agree, since he prefers beef over turkey for burgers, but I hope he'd concede that they were at least good as far as turkey goes! I ever-so-slightly modified the "Ultimate Turkey Burger" recipe from the Summer 2008 issue of Clean Eating Magazine. They came out flavorful, not dry, and just a little crispy-browned at the edges. I served them with blackened green and purple beans, which incidentally also turn green when cooked, sliced tomatoes with bleu cheese, and my first (but certainly not last) attempt at homemade sweet potato chips.

The beans have been a staple in our house for years but we love them each time I make them. The H even made some for himself the other night when I was running with my friends! So proud. :) All we do is heat some oil and add some diced onion, about half of the quantity you want to use. Then add half your fresh, trimmed, whole green beans. Stir them around to coat with the oil, and add a shake of sea salt and some cracked pepper. Let them sit in med-high heat until some of them are blackened and starting to wilt. Add the other half of your diced onion and the remaining beans. Cook until dead. No, really. The blacker they are, the better. Those bits of onion char up beautifully and turn so caramelly-sweet!

Speaking of sweet, my potatoes. Oh, those potatoes. I sliced a medium sweet potato as thinly as I could and soaked the slices in salted water while we went for a run. I've heard this makes potatoes stay crispy when they're made into fries, but maybe I did it wrong because it didn't work all that great. Anyway, I cooked them in a single layer, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned salt (not the best CE option) at 425 for 10-12 min on each side. At the end of the cooking time, they were still pretty soft, so I stuck them under the broiler until they looked a little charred and dry. Genius! The crispiest ones, which I saved for last, tasted just like a toasted marshmallow. Yum.

The tomato was.. a tomato. Not the best Roma I've had, but a lovely colorful pop on our plates next to the blackened beans, grilled burgers, and charred chips.

And now, the burgers:

Ultimate Turkey Burgers, Clean Eating Summer 2008, pg. 45

1.5 lbs ground turkey (I used 1 lb)

1 medium red pepper, diced (I used 1.5 cups of Trader Joe's frozen tri-color pepper blend, thawed and drained)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely minced (I used the curly kind)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup organic wheat-free quick oats (this is my addition, not in the original recipe--burgers were a little loose without it)

1. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients together well. Place about 1/3 cup of mixture between two sheets of waxed paper.* Press firmly into a patty, about 4in wide and 1/2in thick. Repeat with remaining mixture until you have 6 patties. Chill in freezer for 30 minutes before grilling time.

*If you do not use wax paper; your burgers will stick to the plate and you will have to let them sit at room-temp while you wait for them to defrost enough to pry up.

2. Using a spatula, place patties carefully on grill over medium-high heat. Grill 3 to 4 minutes, and then flip. Grill for another 3 to 4 minutes or until burgers are golden brown and firm in the middle.

Serve burgers on whole-grain rolls* with a selection of fresh vegetables for toppings, such as sliced tomato, lettuce, and onion.

*We skipped the buns, as usual.

And now The H just brought me a mug of decaf chocolate-marshmallow espresso with frothy steamed low-fat milk for dessert. Sweet ending to a sweet meal. I took pictures, but they're terrible! And my kitchen was horribly messy. Alas.