Sweet Potato Quesadillas

A festive & easy dish, actually the first one I tried from Simply in Season, these quesadillas have become a household favorite. I no longer follow the recipe directly, so here's my version...

For about 8 single shell quesadillas, or 4 quesadillas like the ones we made:

1. Mix two cups shredded sharp cheddar with one half cup plain yogurt. Set aside.

2. Saute one shredded large sweet potato, two minced garlic cloves, & one diced medium onion in two tablespoons butter or oil. Season with cumin, chili powder, & cinnamon. Set aside.

3. Heat up pan and melt a pat of butter. While pan is heating spread some of the cheese mix on a tortilla, then spread some of the sweet potato mix, then fold or add another tortilla. Grill/fry until golden brown on each side. Repeat. When pan gets dry add another pat of butter.

4. Serve with salsa & a dollop of plain yogurt.

Sometimes we cut these quesadillas with a pizza cutter. Usually we just eat them whole with our fingers & forks.

Last night I also made a hot sauce to go with them. Since we were woefully out of both salsa & cholula. I took some tomato paste and added some milk to it. Then I warmed it up slowly on the stove with cumin, garlic powder, coriander & our extra hot chili powder.

It was truly a surprise success. Sweet & creamy with a kick. Quite the nice complement to the quesadillas.

Favorite Song (on my favorite radio station during prep time): Breathe Owl Breathe- Dragon

Black Bean Sweet Potato Burritos

This is quite possibly the simplest recipe I've posted on yet. But I am a huge burrito fan, so here goes...

Chop up two large sweet potatoes & half an onion. Saute them just until tender in one tbsp oil, adding apple juice (or water) if they start to stick. Then add two cups of black beans, some cumin, & some cinnamon. Cook until heated. Then put into tortillas with some shredded cheddar cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for twenty-five minutes. Pretty easy, no?

If you want to cut down on the cook time, & eliminate the need for the oven, then just grate the sweet potatoes instead. This is also a great way to make sweet potato quesadillas. Personally, I think the sweet potato flavor comes out more when they are shredded & it makes this meal even quicker/easier. If you don't mind grating.

Garnish with plain yogurt (or sour cream), salsa (in this case homemade), & fresh cilantro (so good).

It was recently Sandy Denny week over at my favorite radio station, & this is one of my favorites by her: Fhir A Bhata

Sweet Potato Soup

This is a simple soup that is both sweet & festive. Better yet... Only six ingredients and only five steps!

In fact, I'm going to do something I generally don't and basically post the recipe. I don't want to do this every day, because then I feel like I'm just stealing the cook book.

Did I mention the book has interesting articles under many of the recipes? Just another reason I think Simply in Season is simply amazing.

1. Saute one medium onion, chopped, in one teaspoon oil. In a soup pot.

2. Bring to boil 5 cups of beef or vegetable broth. Then add 2 large sweet potatoes, chopped. Let simmer for 20-25 minutes.

3. Add 2 cups, about one can, of diced tomatoes with juice. & 1/4 teaspoon white pepper.

4. Puree in blender or food processor.

5. Add 3/4 cup orange juice & heat gently until hot.

I also made crackers. Simple grainy goodness. I used this recipe but I added a bit of rye flour in for some of the all purpose. Enjoy!

Favorite Song (on my favorite radio station during prep time): Pentangle-Once I had A Sweetheart

Wild Rice Bake

Yesterday I made the "Wild Rice Bake", and earlier in the day there was actually some sunshine coming into our apartment!

The wild rice & pearl barley were so visually appealing to me, and I enjoyed capturing that a bit in that sunlight.

The first step to this dish was rinsing and then boiling one cup of wild rice. This filled the apartment with an almost herbal aroma.

Next I sauteed the

two cups of onion in two tablespoons of olive oil. My brother taught me to pile the onions up in the pan, pour the oil over them, and then leave for five minutes. The onions cooked up quite nicely this way. He tells me they cook up quicker this way because they are containing the heat.

Next I mixed the wild rice, onion, and one cup pearl barley together in a 9X13 dish.

Then I chopped up four cups of sweet potatoes. The recipe called for two cups parsnips and two cups sweet potatoes. I think the parsnips would have definitely added to the dish. However, it was reaching the end of our grocery-week and this is what I had to work with.

I also chopped up two cups of butternut squash, any winter squash would do. I found a pretty easy way of chopping up butternut squash over here. I microwaved it for three minutes first, and this made the skin softer to cut through.

Then I mixed the squash & sweet potatoes with one pound of whole mushrooms (which the recipe reassures are optional). I spread this on top of the grain mixture, & sprinkled it with salt and pepper. In the future I may add some oregano or paprika. I'm not really a salt & pepper only person. But I tried to stay true to the recipe since it was my first go at it.

Then I poured over the top three cups of our homemade chicken broth & one cup of apple cider.

It baked for an hour at 375 degrees, filling the house with a grainy-sweet & chicken smell.

The result was what I would describe as a playful dish. The colors and textures of the meal were visually appealing and the flavors were equally tantalizing. The texture was firmer than I would have supposed. The result was a filling dish made to feel even more satisfying by mouthfuls of chewy goodness. The mushrooms were cooked to perfection, and balanced out the heartiness of the rest of the meal with a bit of softness.

The recipe said it serves 6-8. I would say it serves more like 8-10. We certainly have plenty of leftovers. I would also not recommend serving this dish as a side, I think it felt like the feature dish it was.

I served this dish with mulled apple cider. This added the smell of cinnamon to the aromas wafting through our apartment. The apple cider was great, but I felt its flavors were lost when paired with the meal. It made a fine dessert, however.

The meal gave us plenty of positive energy, which we spent grocery shopping for next weeks adventures...

Favorite Song (on my favorite radio station during prep time): Kathryn Tickell-Peter Man