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Tag Archive: Sweet Potato

Fat-Free Sweet Potato Soup

Written on November 6, 2014 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

Normally I wouldn’t drop off the face of the earth for 3 weeks but moving has that effect. While my pots and pans are still in boxes, I thought I’d share this recipe I wrote for Life By Dailyburn.

Any trip to Panera will show you soup’s one of those healthy-not-so-healthy foods that always sounds like a good idea at the time. Meanwhile, you don’t need a fancy immersion blender to make your own at home; anyone with a food processor or high-end blender can healthify their favorite soups.

Sweet potato is a great base for a soup because it’s naturally fat-free and creamy. Instead of fake cheese and artificial ingredients this recipe celebrates vegetable broth and fresh vegetables to give it a healthy dose of flavor. It’s also a decent defense against the office cold going around with vitamin C and vitamin K.

Check out the full recipe on Daily Burn’s blog and let me know if you try it!

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Burnt Caramel Sweet Potato Mash

Written on April 4, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

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I try not to oversell anything. Just this once I’m going to tell you this is one of the best recipes of the year, and it’s only April. I’ve never made mashed sweet potato because I thought “How can you improve on a roasted sweet potato?” Oh, you definitely can. Burning the caramel adds a bitter flavor which balances out with the natural and added sugars. The taste is totally unique and even if your guests can’t tell what it is they’re bound to love it.

Burnt Caramel Sweet Potato Mash

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups mashed or pureed sweet potatoes*
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup milk
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt to taste
Nuts for garnish(optional)

*I would recommend either roasting your own sweet potatoes or buying the canned puree kind. Microwaved sweet potatoes tend to be too starchy and not sweet enough after cooking.

Combine the butter, sugar, and water in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Keep mixing the ingredients until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.

Continue boiling until the caramel starts to burn and turn a light brown. Err on the side of caution and go on to the next step as soon as it starts browning, but mine turned a little too black and still tasted fine in the end.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sweet potato, milk, and salt. Mix. Return to the heat until the dish is hot enough to serve.

Paula Deen would be so proud. I love the uniqueness the burnt caramel adds to the flavor; you can tell it’s not maple syrup or just plain sugar that sweetens this. It was especially good with the richness of the pecans on top. It’s the perfect recipe for Thanksgiving, but I really hope you don’t wait that long to try it.

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Sweet Potato Rounds

Written on February 25, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

I’m constantly falling in food ruts. All through Winter I ate roasted sweet potatoes like they were becoming extinct. I completely forgot how tasty and simple sweet potato rounds are to make. I love these because they take a little less time to cook, and because the oil flavors them well. At this point, if I eat any more I’ll turn into a sweet potato. And I’m OK with that.

Sweet Potato Rounds

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Slice a sweet potato into 1/2-inch thick pieces and lay them out in a single layer.

Liberally pour the olive oil over the sweet potatoes and spread it out with your hands to ensure an even coating.

Bake for 1 hour. Sprinkle with sea salt before serving.

I have something of a sweet tooth so any time that vegetables can be sweet and I’m happy. I like to use olive oil with these because it makes them taste a little fruity, but for a less strong flavor try something like safflower or canola oil. Really, whatever you try, you can’t go wrong.

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Sweet Potato and Brussel Sprouts With Bacon

Written on December 18, 2010 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

As you could have guessed, I’ve been reuniting with a lot of things around here since I’ve been home, things like my own bed, Tivo, and bacon. Yes, bacon. I can’t believe it’s been over 4 months since I’ve cooked with bacon; I could feel Jessica’s heart breaking the whole time. The reason I didn’t buy bacon sooner is because I like to keep it in the freezer and my mini-fridge’s freezer was never that good. I learned from Food Network that if you keep bacon in the freezer, you can take it out, cut off the amount you need, and stick it back in and keep it like that for months! Genius, right? Because we all would like to believe that if we bought bacon we’d “eat 2 strips to satisfy the craving and then the rest would just go bad.” A likely story.

Now that I’ve gushed about bacon for too long, I’ll just say that, besides bacon, I love sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts, and combining them all in one pan is a recipe for comfort.

Sweet Potato and Brussel Sprouts With Bacon

Ingredients:

4 strips smoked bacon, diced*
1 small sweet potato, cooked and cubed
1/2 halved and cooked brussel sprouts
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

*You could make this recipe vegetarian by using a tempeh bacon or other bacon substitute. However, since those tend to be less fatty, add about a tablespoon of cooking oil in with the vegetables.

Heat a pan at medium over a burner. Add in the diced bacon once it has come to temperature and par-cook the bacon until it slightly browning but still flimsy.

Next, add in the brussel sprouts, sweet potato chunks, and soy sauce. You can cook these in the microwave or use them leftover from another meal(I steamed mine in a microwave).

Continue stirring the pan every few minutes until the fat has been absorbed and the edges start to brown/burn. Note: A little burning adds flavor into your dish. A lot of burning adds firemen into your kitchen. Serve hot.

There’s something great about eating a food you love. There’s something amazing about eating all the foods you love and their flavors come together. This is sweet, smoky, savory, and wholly comforting. Now someone please hide the bacon from me for the next month.

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