Senegalese Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup

Mom and I made this at a Sur La Table cooking class and it was really tasty! There's a fair amount of chopping, but after that you basically put everything together in a pot, and it worked great in our Le Creuset :). 

Serves: Makes 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, cut into small dice
• 3 ribs celery, cut into small dice 
• 3 large carrots, peeled cut into small dice
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into medium dice
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger
• 1 medium jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
• 1 bunch cilantro stems minced, leaves set aside for garnish
• 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
• ⅔ cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Procedures:

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions, celery and carrots and sauté until onions are translucent. Add the sweet potatoes, garlic, ginger, jalapeños and cilantro stems and sauté until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in vegetable broth and chopped tomatoes and simmer until sweet potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. 

Turn soup down to low and add peanut butter and coconut milk, stir until thoroughly combined and peanut butter has melted. Add chopped spinach and cook for about 1 minute to wilt spinach. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. 

To serve: Divide soup between 4 soup bowls and garnish with cilantro leaves. 

Spinach Salad with Chicken, Avocado & Goat Cheese

Link: http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/04/02/spinach-salad-with-chicken-avocado-and-goat-cheese/

SPINACH SALAD WITH CHICKEN, AVOCADO AND GOAT CHEESE

Yield: 4 servings 

prep time: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• SALAD:

• 8 cups chopped spinach (1 bag)
• 1 cup halved cherry or pear tomatoes
• 1/2 cup corn (frozen, canned, or cut off the cob)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1 large avocado, sliced
• 1/3 cup crumbled goat or feta cheese
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

DRESSING:

• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

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1. Place spinach in a large salad bowl. add remaining salad ingredients.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour over the salad and toss (a little at a time... as much dressing as you desire).

SOURCE: RecipeGirl.com

Southern Biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1 cup buttermilk, chilled

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda

and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry

ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better,

you don't want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in

the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The

dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold

dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1‑inch thick round. Cut

out biscuits with a 2‑inch cutter, being sure to push straight down

through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just

touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and

continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as

light as those from the first, but hey, that's life.)

Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

Southwestern Black Bean, Quinoa and Mango Medley

I made this the other week, and it was great for lunch @ work! Pretty easy to make too :-). 


Ingredients:

• 15-ounce can black beans, no salt added, rinsed and drained 
• 1 cup cooked quinoa (according to package directions)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup chopped fresh mango
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely diced
• juice from 1 medium lemon or lime
• 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric

Directions:

Mix together the beans, quinoa, corn, bell pepper, mango, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño in a mixing bowl.

Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and turmeric in a small bowl.

Drizzle over the mixture and toss. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Oatmeal-Yogurt Pancakes with Blackberry Crush (Sarah Copeland)

Here's the recipe for those pancakes I made in Brown County:

Blackberry Crush Ingredients:

• 2 cups/480 ml fresh blackberries
• 1/4 cup/50 g raw or turbinado sugar
• 1/4 cup/60 ml pure maple syrup, plus more if needed

Pancakes Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cups/190 g all-purpose/plain flour
• 2/3 cup/55 g old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 Tbs granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 heaping tsp backing soda/bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt or iodized salt
• 1 cup/240 ml Greek yogurt, plus more for garnish
• 1 cup/240 ml whole milk
• 4 Tbs/55 g unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
• 2 large eggs

Blackberry Crush Recipe:

Combine the blackberries and sugar in a medium bowl and mash slightly with a fork. Strain the juice into a small pot and reserve the berries. Heat the juice over medium heat and simmer until it is thick, syrupy, and easily coats the back of the spoon, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the maple syrup. Cool slightly, and pour over the berries. Adjust the sweetness with additional maple syrup if needed. Set the syrup aside.

Pancake Recipe: 

Whisk together the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, milk, the melted butter, and eggs. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and whisk in the wet ingredients until well incorporated. The batter should be thick with little bubbles on the surface.

Heat a cast-iron or nonstick griddle or heavy frying pan over medium heat until a drop of water sizzles when splashed on the pan. Brush the griddle lightly with melted butter. Drop about 1/3 cup/75 ml of batter per pancake onto the hot griddle, leaving about 1 in or so between pancakes. When bubbles form around the edges of the batter, gently lift and flip the pancakes with a flexible spatula. Cook on the other side until the pancakes are golden brown around the edges, about 2 minutes. Dont' worry if the first one doesn't come out perfect - just adjust your heat as needed and nibble on the practice pancake while you stack up a plate of beauties. Repeat, adding more butter to the pan as needed until all the pancakes are cooked.

To serve, stack the pancakes as high as you dare, and garnish with butter or additional Greek yogurt and a generous ladle of Blackberry Crush. Serve hot and fresh.

Broccoli Slaw

Here's the recipe for the broccoli slaw I brought to the family BBQ!

• 1 bag of broccoli slaw
• 2 bags of ramen noodles
• 2 chopped green onions
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup almonds, slivered

Dressing:

• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. olive oil
• 1/2 c. vinegar

Break up the ramen noodles, and then combine the rest of the slaw mix. Mix up the dressing and pour over the slaw mix...Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Here's the recipe to the buffalo chicken dip I brought to the family BBQ!

2 8 ounce containers of cream cheese (softened)
1/2 c. Frank's hot sauce
1 c. ranch dressing
1 rotisserie chicken or 2 chicken breasts
1 packet of monterrey cheese

If using the rotisserie chicken, take off the skin and shred. If using chicken breasts, cook and then shred. For the hot sauce, you can vary the amount depending on how spicy you or your company likes it :). Combine all of the ingredients and half of the cheese in a large bowl. Transfer the dip to an oven safe dish, and then top with the second half of the cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or microwave for around 10 minutes.

Dip tortilla chips, pita chips, carrot or celery sticks and enjoy!