Spicy Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are such a great comfort food. This recipe adds some exotic spices into the mix. This recipe serves about four.

Ingredients:

3 medium sweet potatoes, washed, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped and sauted in 1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried hot chili peppers
chopped walnuts for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Place sweet potatoes in medium saucepan; cover with water and add pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook, covered for about 10 to 15 minutes until soft. Remove from heat and drain.
2. Add chicken stock, sesame oil, sea salt, nutmeg, cumin, garlic, sauted onion, ground black pepper & chili peppers to sweet potatoes.
3. Mash potatoes with a potato masher, then use electric hand mixer to blend until relatively smooth. Add more stock if potatoes are dry. Transfer to a small baking dish that has been lightly oiled with sesame oil. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven at 400F for about 10 minutes. Garnish with chopped walnuts if desired.

Chickpea Tomato Olive Salad

This is my husband's recipe. A wholesome, easy salad with protein from the chickpeas and a variety of vitamins and minerals from the vegetables. Very tasty!

Ingredients:

1 can (19 oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup sliced green olives
3 tbsps olive oil
3 tbsps apple cider vinegar
1 tsp picante hot sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chopped parsley
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Combine chickpeas, tomatoes & olives in a medium sized bowl.
2. Add remaining ingredients and toss lightly. Let sit for 10 minutes to allow flavours to meld.

brussels sprouts & mushrooms oven roasted

Oven roasting gives a very different flavour to brussels sprouts! Anyone who doesn't usually like these vegetables will gobble these ones down.

Ingredients:

1 lb brussels sprouts, washed and trimmed
3 tbsps olive oil
1/3 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 sweet vidalia onion, chopped into large chunks
2 large portobello mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (for garnish)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. After washing brussels sprouts, trim hard ends off bottoms and cut a small cross in the bottom of each sprout. Place in a large bowl.
3. Mix together olive oil, salt, pepper, minced garlic, chopped onions and sliced portobello mushrooms. Drizzle mixture over the brussels sprouts and toss lightly to coat.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and transfer ingredients to the baking sheet. Place in oven and bake until lightly browned for about 30 minutes. If they are browning too quickly, you can place another piece of parchment paper lightly over top during the last 10 minutes of cooking.
5. Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

Quinoa Pilaf

This is a variation of a recipe from the Eat Clean Diet Cookbook. Quinoa (pronounced "Keenwa") is an ancient Inca grain that is a complete protein. This recipe serves four but can easily be doubled. This is a vegan recipe.

Ingredients:

2 tsps extra virgin olive oil
1/2 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup red or white quinoa, well rinsed and drained (quinoa has a bitter coating that must be rinsed off before you cook it). It is best to rinse it in a strainer, then place it in a large bowl of hot water for 5 minutes. Then rinse it again in a strainer under cold water and drain well.
1 cup low sodium vegetable broth
2 tbsps freshly grated lemon zest
2 cups mixed greens, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 sweet yellow pepper, finely chopped
juice of 1/2 a lemon
juice of 1/2 a lime
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 green onion, trimmed and chopped for garnish

Directions:

1. Place olive oil in a large skillet and heat over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, carrots and peppers. Cook until onion is translucent, about 8 minutes, stirring regularly.

2. Stir in rinsed and drained quinoa and cook for 5 minutes. The grains should become lightly browned. Add veggie broth, lemon zest & mixed greens. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let cook, covered for 20 minutes, until quinoa becomes translucent.

3. Remove pan from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and toss in the citrus juices. Season with salt & pepper. Serve immediately. Garnish with chopped green onion.