Anything With Ginger Just Has to be Good!

I love ginger. Fresh, dried, candied, dipped in dark chocolate. And, no, I'm not swayed because I AM Ginger!

This is a Woman's Health recipe that I found in an article on FlipBoard. It is quick and easy and perfect for a rainy fall Seattle supper.

Gingered Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, finely diced

1 cup vegetable broth (plus extra for thinning soup, if needed)

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

8 medium sized carrots, peeled and sliced

1 tbsp fresh finely chopped or grated ginger root

Plain vegan yogurt or sour cream (optional)

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp (or more) cayenne pepper

Heat oil in a stockpot.  Add onion and cook on medium-low heat until the onions are caramelized.  Add stock plus 2 cups of water; add sweet potato, carrots, and ginger.  Bring to a boil; reduce to low and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.  

When the vegetables are tender, puree soup in small batches in a blender or food processor.  Be careful to vent the top if using a blender or you'll end up with burns on your arms and soup on the ceiling.  (Ask me how I know.)  

Return soup to the stockpot.  Season with salt and cayenne pepper  Taste and adjust if necessary.  Serve with yogurt or sour cream if desired.  

Sweet Potato and Bean Burritos

When I saw a recipe entitled "Amazing Sweet Potato Burritos" on the Safeway website, I was intrigued.  The ingredients combined sounded quite odd, but appealing in a way.  I put it on my radar for "recipes I want to veganize."  The other day at the store, I picked up some enormous sweet potatoes that just happened to be calling my name and made this dish based on the Safeway recipe.  Brooke liked them.  Steve liked them.  Morgan didn't even taste them.  Okay, I'll take two out of three rave reviews.  I loved them!  The combination of the spicy bean mixture and the sweetness from the potato was very satisfying.  I did pick up some Daiya vegan cheddar cheese shreds and used them for the original recipe, but not for my leftovers.  I went cheese-less for my leftovers (regular dairy cheese for Steve) and preferred mine without.

The only photo I remembered to take was with my phone, so please forgive the poor quality of the photograph.  I need to keep my Canon SLR out and handy.

Sweet Potato and Bean Burritos

1 tbsp oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

6 cups of beans (Okay, the original called for 6 cups canned beans, drained, then 2 cups of water.  I used 6 cups of cranberry beans that I had cooked and frozen.  I thawed them and used them with their cooking liquid.  They had been cooked without salt or other seasoning, so I did season the beans to taste for that reason.  The cranberry beans made the refried bean mixture very silky in texture, which is one reason I love cranberry beans, but I think black beans would also be very tasty in this dish.  Play around with what you have on hand or what you like.)  

3 heaping tbsp chili powder (I used ancho chili powder)

2 heaping tsp cumin

4 tsp prepared yellow mustard

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)

3 tbsp soy sauce (if you salt the dish, do so after adding the soy sauce)

4 cups cooked sweet potatoes, mashed with 1-2 tbsp of vegan butter to keep them from being dry (I had "baked" three enormous sweet potatoes in the microwave until tender.  They definitely yielded more than 4 cups, but in this house, it was not a concern.  We now have no more sweet potatoes left.)  

12 10-inch flour tortillas, warmed (I used multigrain tortillas)

8 oz shredded vegan cheese (or regular cheese for the non-vegans in the house) or no cheese at all, if that is your preference

Saute' the onion and garlic in hot oil until softened and starting to caramelize.  Add beans and mash.  Stir in seasonings, mustard, soy sauce, and stir to combine.  Taste to check seasonings and adjust if necessary.  

To assemble, place a few spoonfuls of beans, a few spoonfuls of sweet potato, and a sprinkling of cheese (if using) on a warmed tortilla and roll up burrito style (I fold my ends in to make it less messy to eat).  Place burritos side by side in a baking dish and place in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes or until warmed and cheese is melted.  

You can serve these with additional shredded cheese, vegan sour cream, salsa, or the hot sauce of your choice if you wish.  We ate them "naked" at our house.  They were delicious!  

Sweet Potato and Bulgur Pilaf

I saw a recipe online and it sounded good.  But I didn't have half of the ingredients, and some of the ingredients didn't seem to "go together" to me, so I decided to go with the idea and do my own thing.  

Sometimes just tossing things in a pot works, sometimes it doesn't.  I was definitely taking a chance with this recipe because my husband doesn't like sweet potatoes unless they are mashed into a super sweet casserole and topped with toasted marshmallows.  

1 tbsp oil - I used grapeseed 

4-5 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced

4 ounces of crimini mushrooms, sliced

4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" chunks

1 cup bulgur wheat

1 quart vegetable broth

1/2 tsp celery salt (I used this because my celery had seen better days.  I would substitute 1-2 stalks of celery the next time.)  

1 tsp sage

1 tsp Greek seasoning 

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (other nuts or seeds would work well in this or you could omit them altogether)

3-4 green onions, thinly sliced

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large skillet that has a tight fitting lid.  Add garlic and saute' for about 30 seconds; add mushrooms and saute' until soft.  Add the sweet potatoes and continue to cook, stirring, for about 4-5 minutes.  Add bulgur and seasonings; stir for a minute or two, then add the apricots.  Mix well and pour in the vegetable broth.  Cover and reduce to low heat; simmer for 10-15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed and the bulgur is tender.  Toss with the green onions and pumpkin seeds and serve.  

Hubby loved it (we all did) and even went back for seconds.  Score!  Actually, we ate it all so quickly that it was only when we were scraping the last spoonful from the pan that I thought, "Ooops!  No finished dish picture for the blog!"  So you'll just have to make it for yourself to see what it looks like afterwards.  I bet you don't have time for a picture either!  :::wink:::

The Recipe Thief

I must admit, there are a few recipes I make and don't mess with at all.  The first is Susan from the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen's Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping.  It is to die for!  This actually could be a dessert! I absolutely love it.  I made it for the first time last year along with the traditional marshmallow topped one that was my Mama's holiday standby.  This one disappeared before Mama's!  I even had to reluctantly admit I liked it better!  So I highly recommend you go to her blog and check it out.  You will NOT be sorry!

The second recipe is Sunny Anderson's Crunchy Sweet Brussels Sprouts Salad.  I saw this recipe on TV while cleaning in the kitchen a few days before Thanksgiving last year and thought it would be a nice, fresh addition.  And I was right.  It is delicious!

Sweet Potatoes and Keen-What?

My friend found a great deal on sweet potatoes and let me in on it. I have a :::few::: lying around now and wanted to do something different with them

In Cajun Country, sweet potatoes can be found one of three ways: candied, baked, or in the holiday favorite Sweet Potato Casserole, which could double as a diabetic-coma-inducing dessert. Good, yes. Healthy? Not on your life!

I wanted my sweeties to be spicy. And roasted. Nothing new and inventive here, but they were spicy and really tasty!

Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes

4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" chunks

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

1/4 heaping tsp cayenne pepper (or less if you aren't Cajun or don't like spicy stuff)

3 cloves of garlic

Salt to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

Combine in a heavy roaster or stoneware dish. Roast potatoes at 400° for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring every 10 minutes or so.


We are also in dire need of a major grocery shopping trip so I'm scrounging in the cupboards until I can make the time. This is shaping up to be an incredibly busy week. I love quinoa and had quite a bit on hand. So it sounded like a quinoa kind of night to me.

If you've never tried quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WAH), you definitely should. It is the only grain that is a complete protein. It is very versatile and can be used in place of rice or other grains in many dishes. My favorite way to use it is in a salad, either warm or cold. I saw a recipe with apples and Gouda cheese with quinoa in a recipe. The cheese was out and it called for other ingredients I didn't have so I simply used the recipe as a jumping off place and did my own thing. The slightly sweet, crunchy notes in this salad complemented the spicy sweet potatoes very nicely. I can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch.

Fall Quinoa Salad 

1 1/2 cups quinoa

sea salt

4 tbsp olive oil, divided

1 onion, cut in half and then sliced thinly

5 tbsp red wine vinegar, divided

4 oz radish greens, thinly sliced (about 3 cups) - this was what I had from my sister-in-law's garden - kale would work well, as would arugula, but you would probably want to leave that raw

3 medium celery ribs, slice thin

1 large crisp apple (I had a big Jonagold)

1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped and toasted

3/4 cups dried fruit (I used blueberries and golden raisins - cherries or cranberries would work well, too)

salt and cracked black pepper, to taste

In a bowl, rinse the quinoa with water a few times.  Quinoa has a bitter alkaloid on the outside of the grain, but it is easily washed off.  Just make sure to rinse it three or four times.  Drain and transfer to a 3 quart pot.  Add 2 1/2 cups water and about a teaspoon of salt.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes.  When the quinoa is cooked, the germ will spiral off slightly.  Unlike rice, it gives you a visual clue!  Isn't that nice of it?  When the quinoa is cooked, fluff it with a fork and put it in a bowl to cool slightly.  You don't want it to be hot for this dish.  

While the quinoa is cooking, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet and saute' the onion over medium heat until the onions become nicely caramelized.  Add 2 tbsp of the vinegar to the onions and stir it around while the vinegar cooks away.  Remove and cool slightly.  

In the same pan, without added oil, add the radish greens (or whatever greens you are using if you need them to be cooked) and toss them around just until wilted.  As you can see, my 3+ cups cooked down a lot.  I could have used more.  

Mix the remaining 3 tbsp olive oil with the remaining vinegar, a few grinds of pepper and a little salt.  Whisk together and toss with the quinoa and all the other ingredients.  Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.