Tag Archives: sweet potato

Parmesan-Sage Mashed Sweet Potatoes

For someone with a massive sweet tooth, I didn’t like sweet potatoes as a kid. You would think that with them being smothered in brown sugar, maple syrup or marshmallows, my chubby face would have been all over these. But it never took with me. I liked my sweets after dinner, not next to my chicken. In fact, I actually thought they were too sweet. Now that I have a newfound affection for sweet potatoes, I’m happy to try new recipes and have found that when they are made in a savory way, I’m all over them. These Parmesan-Sage Mashed Sweet Potatoes are a perfectly non-sweet way to enjoy these sweet spuds.

Sweet potatoes are microwaved (I used the pre-wrapped sweet potatoes from the grocery store) and then cooled before the pulp is scooped out and mashed with a little bit of butter, fresh sage, and salty Parmesan cheese. That’s all there is to it. In about 9 minutes, you can have yourself a healthy, superfood side dish. If I liked having sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving, I might consider making these on Thursday but this year I’ll be sticking with plain old mashed potatoes like I had when I was a kid. I’ll save these sweet potatoes for every other night of the week.

If you like this, also check out Roasted Chipotle-Lime Sweet Potatoes and Twice-Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle.

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The ingredients:

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Pierce each potato with a fork 3 to 4 times on each side. Wrap each potato in a damp paper towel. Microwave at HIGH 8 minutes, turning after 4 minutes. Cool slightly. Cut potatoes in half; scoop pulp into a bowl. Mash pulp.

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Stir butter, milk, sage, Parmesan cheese, and salt into potato pulp.

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Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions: None

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light magazine

Roots, Greens, and Shoots Quinoa

Have you been hearing about “superfoods” lately?  Foods that are supposedly the most nutritious food we can put into our bodies?  Well, I have.  The list of the top superfoods can vary by professional or article but I’ve seen enough written on the topic to know that quinoa, sweet potatoes, and spinach are all top contenders.  So when I came across a feature in Cooking Light magazine of different low-calorie quinoa combos, I was drawn to this Roots, Greens, and Shoots combination.

With nothing more than roasted sweet potato, baby spinach, toasted pecans and scallions, this quick meal is about as nutritious as you can get.  If you have a spare sweet potato or some leftover cooked quinoa, you also have a speedy meal.  But if not, either roast a sweet potato in a 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or buy a super-simple pre-wrapped sweet potato and microwave according to the directions.  Quinoa, which has become an easy replacement for rice in my house, can be cooked in 15 minutes with a 2:1 water ratio.  Although there isn’t any dressing or other flavoring to this dish, you might think this would be pretty bland but on the contrary, the combination of the sweetness in the potato, the crunch of the pecans and the zing of the scallions made this easily one of my favorite quick meals I’ve ever made.  In fact, it’s super.

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The ingredients:

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Combine chopped sweet potato, torn spinach, and sliced scallions in a bowl.

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Top with toasted pecans.

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Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light magazine

Smoky Chicken and Potatoes

I put up my Christmas tree this weekend and it seemed a little strange to be doing it when the temperature was in the 50s.  Tomorrow we are having our work holiday party and it’s supposed to be almost 65 degrees.  Strange.  I feel like when it’s December and I’m decorating for Christmas that I should be making food like soup, chili, cookies or some other cold weather comfort food.  But when it’s not very cold out, what is there to make?  I’ve been trying to stock up on chicken when it’s on sale lately so that’s pretty much all I had in my freezer.  I’ve been eyeballing this recipe for Smoky Chicken and Potatoes so I decided this was as good a time as any to make it.

Chicken breasts, potato, sweet potato, green pepper, onion and lemon are tossed with garlic and smoked paprika and roasted in the oven until the chicken and potatoes are perfectly cooked.  You can use all white potatoes or all sweet potatoes for this recipe but I loved the combination of both here.  The chicken is juicy, the potatoes are tender and the addition of lemon and parsley adds a fresh touch.  The smoked paprika gives a ton of flavor to the whole dish.  This dish was simple to make and didn’t stand a chance before it was all gone.  Next time I’m craving sweet potatoes, I’ll remember to make this again.

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The ingredients:

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In a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray, combine chicken potatoes, onion, green pepper and garlic.  Toss with olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper.

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Squeeze lemon wedges over the mixture and add wedges to the baking dish.

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Bake in a 450°F oven for 30 minutes or until chicken reaches 165 degrees, stirring once after 20 minutes.  Top with parsley before serving.

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Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Family Circle Magazine

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