I know. This is the third week of yam and sweet potato recipes. If you're tired of them, you should probably stop reading now. There's an interesting post about autumn olives over at Making Love in the Kitchen. It's guaranteed to be yam and sweet potato free. If you're feeling brave enough to read on, I promise this will be the last post on the topic for a while. I think. Probably.
I had a baked yam left over after I made last week's sweet potato and yam soup. In hindsight, I probably should have baked more. I keep finding recipes I want to adapt. Though it's probably just as well that I didn't. I'm guessing hubby's tolerance for these little tubers may not be quite as high as mine.
What to do with my lonely little yam? I could have tried it with some of the toppings I suggested a couple of weeks ago, but that seemed rather predictable. Once again my trusty blender called, and my yam-tastic orange buddy ended up in a beverage.
This Week's Soft, Moist Selection
Yam Bake-N-Shake
(This one is quite thick. Much more like a shake than a smoothie. I tasted it, then added flax oil at the end. I wish I hadn't. It may have boosted the health-appeal, but it certainly didn't do anything for the taste. Blech. I've left it in the recipe for you to decide what works for you. Oh, and make sure the yam is COLD before you put it in the blender. Mine had been baked the day before.)
Makes 3 1/2 cups
1 baked yam
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp flax oil (optional)
- Scoop flesh from the yam and place in blender.
- Blend yam and apple juice
- Add syrup, milk, cinnamon and nutmeg and blend.
- Add flax oil, if you really like flax oil. Blend.
Note: To bake a yam - wrap individual yams in foil and bake at 400 degrees until soft. About 45 minutes. Do several at the same time. You'll be happy you did.
Showing posts with label Sweet potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sweet potatoes. Show all posts
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Successful Soup - Sister's Soft, Moist Sunday X
My sister has always been a wee bit accident-prone. Sometimes I think nursing was a natural career choice for her. She spent so much time in the emergency room as a child that she had the details of the job figured out before she ever got to nursing school.
Sharp objects and my sister have never been a good combination. In grade school she almost amputated the tip of her middle finger while using the paper-cutter. This was on the last day of school before Christmas. She spent her holiday gleefully flashing her bandaged finger at people. I was disappointed that I missed my class Christmas party. I'm sure the staff thought I was heartless, but even at that early age my sister's injuries were common occurrences in our lives.
Given her tendency to attract disaster, the kitchen has never been the safest place for my sister. Beyond the obvious hazards, like hot stoves and sharp knives, there are hidden dangers like explosive turkeys, but we don't talk about that. Much.
MS has made working in the kitchen even more challenging for my sister. It affects her vision, balance and dexterity. These symptoms, combined with her accident-prone nature, make her the last person you want handling a sharp knife. I try to keep this in mind when writing this feature, and I try to adapt recipes to minimize chopping and peeling. This week I had a brainstorm that allowed me to eliminate both.
It started with last week's sweet potato ideas. Knowing that my sister will eat sweet potatoes made me want experiment further with them. Soup came immediately to mind, but every soup recipe I found called for chopping and peeling the sweet potatoes, onions etc. This sounded like a recipe for disaster to me.
Then I realized I could used baked sweet potatoes for the soup. Once I had that figured out, the next logical step was to bake the onion as well. I've baked garlic before, so I thought it should work for the onion. They are part of the same family after all.
Here's where I ran into a snag. While sweet potatoes may be common in the southern states where my sister lives, they aren't so easy to get here. There were plenty available at the grocery store, but they were kind of spotty and yucky. I could only find one that was worth purchasing, and even it wasn't a perfect specimen. I supplemented my sweet potato purchase with a couple of yams. (Or at least they were labeled sweet potato and yam. Apparently there's a lot of confusion about which is which, and I certainly don't know the difference.)
Once home I wrapped the sweet potato and the yams in foil and put them in a 400 degree oven. The onion got a similar treatment, but I sliced a bit off the top first and drizzled on olive oil and water. I didn't want it to dry out. Because of the extra liquid I wrapped the onion in a double layer of foil before putting it in the oven with the other veggies. Everything was soft after about 45 minutes.
Once everything was cool enough to handle I unwrapped my veggies and prepared them for the soup pot.
Ignore the large knife in this photo. The onion was so soft that a butter knife would have been sufficient. Even the peel came off easily.
I was able to scoop the flesh from the sweet potato with a spoon.
Same with the yam.
The onion, yam and sweet potato went in the pot with some spices...
... and my lovely homemade veggie broth.
I let things simmer and soften further, then hit them with my immersion blender.
I added coconut milk and heated the soup. I served it with a pinch of cinnamon on top. The cinnamon in hubby's bowl formed a wee heart all on it's own. How appropriate.
This Week's Soft, Moist Selection
Sweet Potato and Yam Soup
1 baked sweet potato
1 baked yam
1 baked onion
2 tsp butter (or oil)
2 1/2 cups broth
1 heaped tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 can coconut milk
- Melt butter in pot.
- Remove flesh from yam, sweet potato and onion. Add to melted butter.
- Add curry powder, cumin, and ginger.
- Cook for 2 - 3 minutes until veggies soften further and you can smell the spices
- Add broth and cook for 10 - 15 minutes. The yam and sweet potato will have almost melted into the liquid.
- Remove from heat and puree carefully with an immersion blender.
- Add coconut milk and maple syrup. Return to heat and warm.
- Serve topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Sharp objects and my sister have never been a good combination. In grade school she almost amputated the tip of her middle finger while using the paper-cutter. This was on the last day of school before Christmas. She spent her holiday gleefully flashing her bandaged finger at people. I was disappointed that I missed my class Christmas party. I'm sure the staff thought I was heartless, but even at that early age my sister's injuries were common occurrences in our lives.
Given her tendency to attract disaster, the kitchen has never been the safest place for my sister. Beyond the obvious hazards, like hot stoves and sharp knives, there are hidden dangers like explosive turkeys, but we don't talk about that. Much.
MS has made working in the kitchen even more challenging for my sister. It affects her vision, balance and dexterity. These symptoms, combined with her accident-prone nature, make her the last person you want handling a sharp knife. I try to keep this in mind when writing this feature, and I try to adapt recipes to minimize chopping and peeling. This week I had a brainstorm that allowed me to eliminate both.
It started with last week's sweet potato ideas. Knowing that my sister will eat sweet potatoes made me want experiment further with them. Soup came immediately to mind, but every soup recipe I found called for chopping and peeling the sweet potatoes, onions etc. This sounded like a recipe for disaster to me.
Then I realized I could used baked sweet potatoes for the soup. Once I had that figured out, the next logical step was to bake the onion as well. I've baked garlic before, so I thought it should work for the onion. They are part of the same family after all.
Here's where I ran into a snag. While sweet potatoes may be common in the southern states where my sister lives, they aren't so easy to get here. There were plenty available at the grocery store, but they were kind of spotty and yucky. I could only find one that was worth purchasing, and even it wasn't a perfect specimen. I supplemented my sweet potato purchase with a couple of yams. (Or at least they were labeled sweet potato and yam. Apparently there's a lot of confusion about which is which, and I certainly don't know the difference.)
Once home I wrapped the sweet potato and the yams in foil and put them in a 400 degree oven. The onion got a similar treatment, but I sliced a bit off the top first and drizzled on olive oil and water. I didn't want it to dry out. Because of the extra liquid I wrapped the onion in a double layer of foil before putting it in the oven with the other veggies. Everything was soft after about 45 minutes.
Once everything was cool enough to handle I unwrapped my veggies and prepared them for the soup pot.
Ignore the large knife in this photo. The onion was so soft that a butter knife would have been sufficient. Even the peel came off easily.
I was able to scoop the flesh from the sweet potato with a spoon.
Same with the yam.
The onion, yam and sweet potato went in the pot with some spices...
... and my lovely homemade veggie broth.
I let things simmer and soften further, then hit them with my immersion blender.
I added coconut milk and heated the soup. I served it with a pinch of cinnamon on top. The cinnamon in hubby's bowl formed a wee heart all on it's own. How appropriate.This Week's Soft, Moist Selection
Sweet Potato and Yam Soup
1 baked sweet potato
1 baked yam
1 baked onion
2 tsp butter (or oil)
2 1/2 cups broth
1 heaped tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 can coconut milk
- Melt butter in pot.
- Remove flesh from yam, sweet potato and onion. Add to melted butter.
- Add curry powder, cumin, and ginger.
- Cook for 2 - 3 minutes until veggies soften further and you can smell the spices
- Add broth and cook for 10 - 15 minutes. The yam and sweet potato will have almost melted into the liquid.
- Remove from heat and puree carefully with an immersion blender.
- Add coconut milk and maple syrup. Return to heat and warm.
- Serve topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Sweeten Up - Sister's Soft, Moist Sunday IX
There's a reason my sister and I live on opposite sides of the continent. We don't see eye-to-eye often enough to safely live any closer! All kidding aside, this has been a rough week. I think my sweet sister and I are going to have to agree to disagree. Either that or one of us is going to have to get a lobotomy.
In spite of our differences, I don't want my sister to starve, so I'm here with this week's Soft, Moist Selection. I've tried to make it as easy as possible to prepare, as she experienced another health set-back this week. No wonder she's so difficult to get along with. If I was in her situation I'd be cranky too. Actually, I'd probably be crankier. I'm older, so I've had more time to hone my cranky skills.
A couple of weeks ago, when I posted a recipe for mashed potatoes, Meghan from Making Love in the Kitchen suggested that a similar dish could be made with sweet potatoes and cauliflower. I thought it sounded great, but I didn't think my sweet sister would eat sweet potatoes. (I believe I've mentioned that my sister's a fussy eater.) Recently I discovered that she likes sweet potatoes. I guess there's something we agree on after all. Who knew?
This Week's Soft, Moist Selection
Baked Sweet Potatoes with Assorted Toppings.
(I must admit that I haven't personally tried any of these toppings. Most are adapted from suggestions on other websites. I chose them because they sound good, they're easy to prepare and they're things I think Sister can and will eat. I'd love to hear your suggestions. Feel free to comment with your favourite.)
Begin by wrapping the required number of sweet potatoes in foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.
Top with:
- Butter, brown sugar, cinnamon (sister's current favourite)
- Salt, paprika, olive oil
- Black beans, cheese
- Yogurt, maple syrup, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg
- Almond butter or hazelnut butter, maple syrup
- Raisins or dried cranberries, sunflower butter, maple syrup
- Marmalade, ground ginger
- Tamari or soya sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds
- Flax seed oil, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg
(Note: I think chopped nuts could be substituted for the nut butters and sunflower or pumpkin seeds could be used instead of seed butter. I didn't list them here, as they're among the foods that Sister has difficulty eating.)
In spite of our differences, I don't want my sister to starve, so I'm here with this week's Soft, Moist Selection. I've tried to make it as easy as possible to prepare, as she experienced another health set-back this week. No wonder she's so difficult to get along with. If I was in her situation I'd be cranky too. Actually, I'd probably be crankier. I'm older, so I've had more time to hone my cranky skills.
A couple of weeks ago, when I posted a recipe for mashed potatoes, Meghan from Making Love in the Kitchen suggested that a similar dish could be made with sweet potatoes and cauliflower. I thought it sounded great, but I didn't think my sweet sister would eat sweet potatoes. (I believe I've mentioned that my sister's a fussy eater.) Recently I discovered that she likes sweet potatoes. I guess there's something we agree on after all. Who knew?
This Week's Soft, Moist Selection
Baked Sweet Potatoes with Assorted Toppings.
(I must admit that I haven't personally tried any of these toppings. Most are adapted from suggestions on other websites. I chose them because they sound good, they're easy to prepare and they're things I think Sister can and will eat. I'd love to hear your suggestions. Feel free to comment with your favourite.)
Begin by wrapping the required number of sweet potatoes in foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.
Top with:
- Butter, brown sugar, cinnamon (sister's current favourite)
- Salt, paprika, olive oil
- Black beans, cheese
- Yogurt, maple syrup, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg
- Almond butter or hazelnut butter, maple syrup
- Raisins or dried cranberries, sunflower butter, maple syrup
- Marmalade, ground ginger
- Tamari or soya sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds
- Flax seed oil, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg
(Note: I think chopped nuts could be substituted for the nut butters and sunflower or pumpkin seeds could be used instead of seed butter. I didn't list them here, as they're among the foods that Sister has difficulty eating.)
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