Slow Baked Sweet Potatoes

I haven't posted for what seems like ages, but I have good reason! I just moved into my apartment, meaning I moved into a new kitchen! Tonight I cooked my first meal in the apartment! I'm excited to say my kitchen is fully stocked and ready to be cooked in.

I wanted to make something easy in case the oven didn't work properly or the stove blew up. Luckily, all things went smoothly. If I make this recipe again, I'm definitely going to try to keep the skins on the potatoes from getting as tough, but overall, they were delicious. I didn't do a complicated base for the sweet potatoes, but I liked the simple combination of beans and rice.

Slow Baked Sweet Potatoes
Adapted from Edible Perspective
Serves 2
Ingredients:
2 Sweet potatoes
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Everyday Seasoning (From Trader Joe's)
1 bag brown rice (I used the frozen kind from TJ's)
1 can Cuban style black beans

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the sweet potatoes into 1/2 inch discs

Step 2: Spread slices across a casserole dish, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with seasoning.

Step 3: Bake potatoes for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through. Bring temperature up to 400 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Step 4: While the potatoes are baking, heat beans in a pan over medium heat. Make brown rice and mix the two together once heted.

Step 5: Serve sweet potatoes over beans and rice.

Enjoy!

Creative Hydration

Because of the ballet intensive I've been in for the  past two weeks I've been seriously slacking on my blogging duties. I honestly have not cooked at all, mainly because I didn't want to be on my feet any longer than necessary. As a result, I sat on the floor icing my feet while my mom whipped up dinner. Despite my lack of food experimentation, I was able to mess around with hydration.

I am definitely not an avid water drinker. I tend to stick with teas, Vitamin Water Zero, Zevia, Kombucha etc. I simply don't find water particularly interesting, which results in me not drinking it as much as I should. Lately, though, I've been trying to avoid the vitamin water and hit the regular water... but in an tasty way: Infusion! The basic idea of infusing water? Combining flavorful fruits and herbs in water to make it more interesting and enticing. I've read a lot of articles and have found many websites providing yummy recipes (One good one is fruitinfusedwater.com). I even purchased a special pitcher that has a place to put fruit, herbs, vegetables, and whatever else I may want to use to flavor my water. I haven't made any set recipes yet, because there really isn't a set recipe to use! Here are a few flavor combinations that have been good so far.

Cucumber and Watermelon Infusion
~ Combine lemon juice, about 1 cucumber, sliced, and chunks of watermelon in a pitcher of cold water.
~ You can mash up the watermelon a little to help the flavor spread
~ Let the water sit for a few hours, and enjoy!
~Water will last for a while an you can refill the pitcher a few times, leaving the same ingredients. Just keep an eye on the fruit, making sure you toss it before it starts to rot/ taste bad.

Cucumber, Lemon, and Rosemary Infusion
~ Combine slices of fresh lemon, cucumber, and a few sprigs of rosemary to create a refreshing summer drink!

Here are a few other ingredients that I plan to mix and match in the near future...
~Oranges
~Strawberries
~Lime
~Raspberries
~Basil
~Mint
~Ginger
~Grapefruit

Hope this helps make hydrating a bit more interesting!

Vegan Ratatouille

Saturday was a big cooking day for me. I made my Garlic Green Beans with Lemon for the potluck the next day, but also had to make something for dinner that evening. My mom had picked up some delicious summer squash earlier in the week and I wanted to make something that incorporated the colorful veggies. My mom suggested making a ratatouille. I thought that sounded great and went ahead with it! I can't give a definite recipe here, as I think it will vary from kitchen to kitchen depending on the ingredients on hand. I will share the general recipe I came up with, though, and you can do the rest!

Summer Ratatouille

By Caroline Mac

Ingredients:

Variety of summer vegetables, chopped into large chunks (I used assorted summer squashes, red onion, eggplant, and cherry tomatoes)

2 heads of garlic, cloves peeled and left whole (Less if you're doing a small portion)

Olive oil to coat veggies

Italian seasoning

1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 can Italian stewed tomatoes (canned), drained

Salt to taste

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the fresh veggies and garlic in a large casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil and mix until thoroughly coated. 

 

Step 2: Shake Italian seasoning over vegetables and mix again until evenly distributed. I was very generous with the seasoning, as I like a lot of flavor. Sprinkle veggies with salt to taste and mix again.

Step 3: Cover and bake for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove from oven and spread beans and canned tomatoes over the veggies. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with more seasoning. 

Step 4: Bake for 15 more minutes. Remove from oven and serve warm. 

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Bars

In honor of having my 500th hit today, I've decided to do a new bar recipe! My Everything Energy Bars have gotten the most page views of all my recipes, so I figure you guys might like some variety! I'm pretty proud of this one because I didn't look at another recipe as I created this. It was completely improvisational! The whole kitchen smelled like pumpkin as these were baking, and the taste is pumpkin pie-ish. I will say, if you prefer sweeter flavors, I would add some sugar or maple syrup to the mixture.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Bars
By Caroline Mac
Ingredients:
1 15-0z can pumpkin puree
2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup original soy milk
1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1.5 t pie spice
1 t vanilla extract
Dash of salt

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all wet ingredients and spices in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.

Step 2: Add oats, almond flour, and spices, followed by the dried fruit and nuts. Stir until mixture forms a moist dough.

Step 3: Line a medium sized, square baking pan with parchment paper. Transfer mixture to pan and spread evenly across bottom with a spatula.

Step 4: Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and crispy on top. Remove to cooling rack.

Step 5: Once cool, cut slab into bars of desired size.

Enjoy!

Hey guys! I have a little update on the pumpkin bars. As I learned the hard way today, these bars need to be refrigerated immediately after they cool. They have a shorter shelf life than my other bars, and consequently went bad in a few days when out of the fridge.

Thanks!
Caroline

Green Monster Smoothie

I've been wanting to try a green smoothie for a very long time. While some people stick their tongues out and gag when they see a smoothie the color of the grinch, my mouth starts to water. Smoothies are refreshing and perfect for hundred-degree weather like today. The main issue I have with smoothies, however, is that most smoothies sold in smoothie shops have so much sugar that they are no longer healthy. My Green Monster smoothie that I've created has no added sugar and is jam-packed with protein, fruits, veggies, and flavor. I will warn you, this smoothie isn't probably for someone looking for an ultra sweet, dessert smoothie. Yes, it is slightly sweet, but not excessively so. I'll definitely be making this one further down the line.

Green Monster Smoothie
By Caroline Mac
Ingredients:
1 cup frozen mango
1/4 cup frozen edamame
1 c spinach
1 T shredded, dehydrated coconut
2 T quick-cooking rolled oats
1/4 cup plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
1 cup Original soy milk, or other milk substitute

Step 1: Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, thick, and creamy.

Enjoy!

Garlic Green Beans with Lemon

I have a feeling this recipe is going to become one of my all time favorites. Tonight was my second time making these delicious green beans and I'm positive it won't be my last. This recipe requires quite a bit of prep, but it may seem like that simply because I tripled it today for a potluck. Thus, I had to zest and juice three lemons, peel and slice nine cloves of garlic, and chop the ends off of more green beans than I can count. I think it was worth it, though. This dish works great as a side or as a salad. You could also make only the dressing and use it on a regular basis for roasting veggies or as a salad dressing. This dish can be served hot, cold, or any temperature in between.

Garlic Green Beans with Lemon
Adapted from Vegalicious Recipes
Ingredients:
3 cups fresh green beans
1 lemon, zest and juice (separate some zest for garnish)
2 T olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup sliced almonds, or to taste

Step 1: Cut the tips off of the green beans and steam until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Step 2: Heat the olive oil in a small sauce pan. Once heated, add the garlic and saute until golden.

Step 3: Add the lemon juice to the pan, followed by the zest, salt, and pepper. Stir until thouroughly mixed and heated.

Step 4: Transfer the green beans to a large bowl. Pour the dressing over them and mix until evenly coated. Add the almonds and mix well. Garnish with extra lemon zest.

Enjoy!

Pesto Coated Beans and Cous Cous

Tonight's dinner was one of my first completely original recipes, and I really enjoyed the final outcome. I'm a huge pesto fan and I could eat it on everything. Combined with the chewy Israeli cous cous, sauteed fresh veggies, and beans, the dish makes for a healthy and hearty dish. I was very happy with the pesto, as I didn't use completely conventional ingredients (though it was pretty close to the classic recipe). Despite the tasty pesto and wonderful cous cous texture, my favorite part had to be the tomatoes. After they were sauteed, the tomatoes took on a juicy and extremely sweet quality. They practically burst in your mouth as you bite them, and add great contrast to the texture of the beans and cous cous. This dish could also be served chilled as a summer salad.

Pesto Coated Beans and Cous Cous
Ingredients:
Dressing:
2 1/2 cups fresh basil
2 T avocado
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup walnuts
1/2 cup olive oil
2 T lemon juice
1 t whole grain mustard
Flower pepper to taste

1 1/3 cups uncooked Israeli cous cous
1 can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 T shallots, chopped and separated
1 1/4 cups chopped carrots
1 cup golden cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped basil
Whole basil leaves for garnish
2 T olive oil

Step 1: To make dressing, process all dressing ingredients in a food processor until completely blended.

Step 2: Prepare cous cous according to directions on the package, adding 1 tablespoon of shallots to the pot. Once finished, set aside.

Step 3: Heat olive oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Add carrots and other tablespoon of shallots and sautee until carrots begin to soften. Add tomatoes and saute until they become soft and juicy, stirring the whole time. The tomatoes took me about 5-7 minutes.

Step 4: Add the beans and chopped basil to the vegetable mixture and stir until completely heated through. Reduce heat to medium-low. Once heated, add the cous cous and stir until thoroughly mixed. Finally, stir the pesto in with the cous cous mixture until everything is evenly coated.


Step 5: Serve warm, topped with fresh basil leaves.

Enjoy!