sweet tater 2 ways

Today was another crazy, busy day.  Despite the hectic schedule, I managed to have a stellar day of eats.

It started with a lovely buckwheat bake.

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I obviously made the microwave version, as we are still stove-less. 

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This was a pretty basic bake, but delicious nonetheless!

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  • 1/4c raw buckwheat flour
  • 1T raw buckwheat groats
  • 1T chia seeds
  • 1t cinnamon
  • 1/2 banana, mashed well
  • 1 large egg
  • 3T milk
  • 1t vanilla
  • 1/4t baking powder
  1. Whisk egg + mashed banana in a bowl. 
  2. Add milk + vanilla and whisk.
  3. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
  4. Pour batter into a well-greased bowl and microwave for 1min 30sec – 1min 45sec, depending.  The consistency should be like muffin batter.  If it’s really thick add another 1T of milk.

Before cooking, I topped the bake with about 5 frozen cherries, the rest of the banana, and some Love Grown Foods granola.  Instead of mixing it in, or adding it after, I just lightly pressed it in before cooking. 

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I topped this bad boy with maple cinnamon almond butter, almonds, and honey.  Lately,  I am just obsessed with honey.  I’ve been using a local, raw honey, that it outstanding!

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Per usual, the buckwheat bake held me over for a good 4.5-5hrs!  I initially always want to eat more, but after letting it sink in [~20min] I’m perfectly full for the whole morning.

For lunch, I had a monster sweet tater that was just waiting to be chomped on.  This spud was large + in charge!

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In lieu of microwaving, I decided to do another grill-bake experiment!  I cubed the tater and gussied it up with tons of flavor.

curry + turmeric + cinnamon + cumin + coconut oil + salt + pepper + garam masala

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I preheated the grill to about 400*, lined my pan with parchment, tossed the taters with the spices + threw the pan on the grill.

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I initially thought I burnt them, but realized the charred look was exactly what I wanted.  The darker they were, the more delicious.

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You can see how blackened some of them were.  They did not taste burnt in the least!  About half way through cooking, I made room on the pan for shrooms, cherry tomatoes, and frozen chickpeas [cooked a few weeks ago + frozen].

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After another 15min, my lunch was complete.

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Grilling veggies in a pan is so easy!  We have a grate that sits in the grill for veggie cooking, but the pan method is much easier!  Make sure to use parchment paper and not foil or wax paper.

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There was one more component to lunch.  An egg!  I just barely whisked this guy around in a well-greased dish.  I didn’t want to fully cook the egg, so I microwaved it on 50% power for only about 40sec.  The white was perfectly cooked and the yolk stayed a bit runny.  Eggzactly what I was going for!

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The flavors were bold.

The textures were crunchy, yet soft and also juicy from the tomatoes.

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Topped with a partially runny egg + more grill-baked veg, this meal was way more than I was hoping for.

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Curried Grill-baked Sweet Tater

  • 1 large sweet potato [large enough for 2 servings]
  • 2T curry
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/2t turmeric
  • pinch of cumin
  • 1/4t cinnamon
  • 1.5T unrefined coconut oil,melted
  • 1/4-1/2t garam masala [depending how spicy you want it]
  • 1/4t salt
  • black pepper
  • 8 button mushroom, sliced
  • 6-10 cherry tomatoes,sliced
  • 3/4c pre-cooked chickpeas
  1. Preheat your grill to 400*/med-high.
  2. Cube the sweet potato, into about 1/2-3/4” cubes.  I first slice the sweet potato into 1/2” slabs and then cube from there.
  3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and throw the cubed sweet potato on.
  4. Add all ingredients on top and toss until well coated.
  5. Place the pan on the grill for 8-10min, then turn 180* to avoid hot spots on the grill. 
  6. Grill for another 8-10min, then toss and grill for another er 15-20min, turning once in the middle, again.  The sweet potato should be browned/charred + very soft.
  7. At the 1/2way point, when you toss the sweet potato, slide it to 1/2 of the pan and add other veggies with a 1/2T [or so] of olive oil.  Toss to coat and cook for the remaining 15-20min, stirring once.  [*You can mix them all together if you’d like.  I kept them separate, so I could make a sweet potato soup. See below.]
  8. Remove pan from the grill and enjoy!

*You can add the veggies to the pan initially if you would like.  I added these half way through because they are quicker cooking. 

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The sweet potato was HUGE, like I said.  What to do with the leftover cooked cubes?  Reheating these tomorrow would be an option, but I know they’ll get mushy + dry out in the micro.  So…what to do?

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The other day I saw Jenna make a super simple coconut curried sweet potato soup.  She cooked the potato, then blended it with spices, coconut milk + veggie stock.  Brilliant idea for a quick + easy soup!

I threw the extra 1.5c of cubed sweet potato into the Vita-Mix.

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Then I found a can of coconut milk. 

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Then I dug around for 10min trying to find the can opener…

Found it!

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Then I added 1c of light coconut milk and blended until creamy smooth.

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And then I was in foodie dreamland….

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The char-grilled flavor really came through as well as a ton of warmth from the spices.  I recommend baking or grill-baking with the spices and then turning into soup, for a deeper flavor.

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Literally, the easiest soup, EVER.

Add coconut milk and you’re done!

Curried Sweet Potato Soup [inspired by Eat, Live, Run]

  • 1.5c cubed + cooked sweet potato from the above recipe
  • 1 – 1.5c light [canned] coconut milk
  1. Throw in a blender until smooth.  Start with 1c of coconut milk and add more if you want it thinner.  Or, you can add 1c of coconut milk and add a 1/4-1/2c water or veggie stock to thin out as well.

Lunch tomorrow…can’t wait!

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And that is how you can take 1 HUGE sweet tater and turn it into 2 meals.  Of course the soup will need a side!

Mock-kitchen disaster alert!

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Can’t wait to show you dinner…AND the counters!!!!!!!!!!!!  Installation happening this afternoon!

Ashley 

Don’t forget about the Love Grown Foods giveaway!