Fish tacos

This recipe is adapted from Alton Brown's fish tacos.  Kristian and I are in love with Alton Brown ever since Mark and Sariah introduced him to us.  He's become somewhat of an obsession.  If ever we are looking for a recipe we first see if Alton Brown has one.  It's become somewhat problematic because typically you need three or four days to cook something from one of his recipes and all of the sudden we feel like that must be the only right way to do it.  Anyway, we adapted this recipe, not because it took three or four days, but because I didn't have any tequila on hand.  Wierd, I know.

We had this for dinner tonight and it was quite delicous.  All of the kids liked it, though they are pretty fond of fish as a rule, so not too surprising.  As I'm typing this I can hear something banging around in the dryer that surely should not be in there.  I'm not getting up to check it out or anything, but I can guarentee I will be sorry later.  That being said, let's get back to the tacos.

This recipe calls for tilapia.  For those of you who aren't fish crazy, tilapia is a very mild flavored fish.  Combine that with the marinade and throw it in a taco and I would go so far as to say it doesn't taste fishy.  Jessica always tells me, "you can't taste that in there because you like that.  If it was something you didn't like you would be able to taste it."  So, if you don't like fish, you may disagree with me.  If you do try this one, post a comment so the non fish lovers can know what you think.

Ingredients

3 cloves garlic
1 cup packed cilantro leaves
2 limes, zested
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teasopon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound tilapia fillets
8 tortillas
crema, recipe follows
shredded cabbage
lime wedges

Crema:
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

1. Put the garlic, cilantro, lime zest, cumin, salt and pepper in a small food processor and pusle until combined, approx 20 seconds.  With the processor running, add the olive oil a little at a time.  Put tilapia fillets into a 1 gallon resealable bag, add garlic mixture and move around to coat each fillet.  Set aside at room temperature for 15-20 minutes.
2. Heat an electric nonstick griddle to 375 and brush with olive oil.  Cook the fillets until just cooked through and opaque (about 3-4 minutes per side).  Cut into strips and serve in warm tortillas with crema, shredded red cabbage and lime wedges.

Crema:
Put the heavy cream in a 16 ounce microwave safe glass jar.  Microwave on high until the cream is just under 100 degrees F.  About 30-40 seconds.  Add the buttermilk.  Close the jar and store in a warm place for 24 hours.  The cream will have thickened to the consistency of thin yogurt.

Add the chipotle chile and salt and process with an immersion blender in the jar until smooth.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

ENJOY!

Oh, as a side note, I like the uncooked tortillas you get at costco that you fry up at home.  They are Tortillaland brand.  So good, if you haven't tried them you really should.  I was out of those tonight, so I made my own, they weren't great.  If you have a good tortilla recipe, I'd love to hear it.

Soy sauce and brown sugar salmon

Here's my plauguerized picture of the day.  I feel like my spelling of that word gets more creative every time.

I'm not a huge fan of the flavor of salmon, and I really like it cooked this way, so if you are a huge fan of that salmon flavor, this recipe might ruin it for you.  That was my little disclaimer.

My whole family loves this recipe.  My 16 month old in particular can't get enough.  On top of all that, it's super duper easy to make.

Soy Sauce and Brown Sugar Marinade

Ingredients

• 1½ pounds salmon fillets
• lemon pepper to taste
• garlic powder to taste
• salt to taste
• ⅓ cup soy sauce
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• ⅓ cup water
• ¼ cup oil of your choice (I used olive oil, but you could also use vegetable, or canola or whatever you prefer)

Instructions

1. Season salmon fillets with lemon pepper, garlic powder, and salt.
2. Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and oil until sugar is dissolved. Place fish in a large resealable plastic bag, pour soy sauce mixture over fish, seal, and turn to coat.Marinate for at least 2 hours.  
3. Wrap it in foil and bake at 425° for approx. 15 minutes.

Baked cod and 3 grain vegetable feta salad

Here's another post to prove I'm the worst food photographer ever.  This was our dinner tonight and it was quite delicious.  Or so I thought, and Kristian liked it as well.  I've really got to get better at taking the pictures because everytime I look at one, it is so unappealing.  It really was good.  I also served it with pita bread left over from last night.  
I used 3 cod filets and it was enough for my family.  More than enough if you ask the children. 


For the baked cod:
3 cod fillets (or white fish of choice)
 6 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 a lemon, juiced, plus more for serving
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
 1 clove garlic, minced
sea salt and fresh black  pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Line a large baking pan with parchment paper and place fish on it.
In a medium bowl whisk together the butter, lemon, mustard, parsley, dill and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
Divide the sauce between fish. top evenly
Bake for 15-16 minutes depending on the size of the fish, Then broil for 1-2 minutes or until top turns golden, checking every 20 seconds. Serve immediately with additional lemon.

Beware of overcooking.  Cod is very easy to overcook.  Probably any fish, but you know... be aware.

FOr the 3 grain salad:
http://naturallyella.com/2014/07/01/three-grain-grilled-vegetable-and-feta-salad/

For the grain salad, beware of overcooking the grains.  They will get mushy and that's not nearly as appetizing. 

The theme in this post seems to be don't overcook.  I totally overcooked everything in case you hadn't guessed.  Also, I went to 4 different stores today to find sorghum (which I had never before heard of but suddenly had to have).  I tried Winco, Trader Joe's (where my pronunciation was corrected.  It's Sore-gum, not sour-gum), Natural Grocers and finally found it at LifeSource where I pronounced it like a pro.  It was delicious.  The cook time on it is longer than the other grains, but it held it's shape and texture well and I liked it.  I will try it again in other things.  I don't know what, so don't ask me. 

I should have posted this as two separate posts because it's two different recipes.  Well, really a recipe and a link.  Anyway, I didn't, so...

These recipes can also be found on my healthy habits pinterest board. 

Creamy Tomato Soup

This has become a favorite in our house. I like it, because you blend it up at the end, so the kids dont know they are getting lots of good veggies in there. The hot soup plus some fresh baked bread and a salad was a perfect meal on our first chilly night. I think it would be a perfect base for the Three Cheese Tomato Soup that the soup cart on UOs campus sold, which, in case you don't know, is the most amazing soup on earth. I am now working dilligently to duplicate it but may need to wait for Danieele to be back on dairy so I have a secon set of taste buds on the project. Could Easily be made without the dairy, just would not be creamy :) 1 1/2 cup chopped carrotts 1 1/2 cup chopped celery 1-2 white onions (I really like onion so I use 2) 2 tbsp Olive oil 2-4 cloves of garlic (again depending on how much arlic you like) Cook this in a large stock pot until onion is traslucent and other veggies are aldente. Next Add: 3 cans diced tomatos with juice 1 Jar tomato juice (could substitue tomato paste and 2 C water) 4 cups of water or broth (if using water add 4 Bouillion cubes) I prefer Chicken 3 oz cream cheese 3 cups heavy cream Bring to a boil then let simmer for 20 minutes. Next blend it up. Pour and enjoy!

Oven baked chicken fajitas

A couple of weeks ago I asked my dear husband to get on pinterest and see if he couldn't find some wholesome dinner ideas he would be interested in eating.  He came up with some good stuff.  One of which was oven baked chicken fajitas.  It was incredibly easy and so yummy.  I'm just going to put a link here and it can also be found on my healthy habits pinterest board.  The only think I would recommend is to maybe drain the diced tomatoes some or all of the way so your fajitas aren't swimming. 

http://www.alexaeatsclean.com/2013/11/recipe-oven-baked-chicken-fajitas.html?m=1

quinoa stuffed squash

Today I was given these beautiful crookneck squash by my dear sister-in-law's grandmother.  They were the inspiration for dinner tonight (my children were not pleased).  Get ready people, you are in for a treat.  My first attempt to write my own recipe.

Things you will need (AKA stuff I had on hand):
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 bullion cube (I used chicken, but veggie would be good too)
3 crookneck squash (other squash would probably work fine too, though you'd need more than 3)
1 large onion
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup minced fresh basil (or other herbs of your choosing)
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast (or Parmesan if you prefer)
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 Italian vegetarian sausage links (or regular sausage or no sausage at all!)
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Bring 2 cups water and bullion to a boil, add quinoa, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes (or throw it all in the rice cooker, works like a charm).

While the quinoa is cooking, slice your squash in half and scrape out all the insides.  Give the seeds and stringy stuff to the chickens, or compost it, or whatever you like to do with that stuff.  Scrape out as much of the rest of the inside of the gourd as you can, reserving it to go back in the middle.  If it's excessively wet, set it on a paper towel to absorb some of that moisture. 

Set the shells of your beautiful squash plants face up on a baking sheet and drizzle them with oil and sprinkle them with a little sea salt, or kosher salt, or whatever kind of salt you have laying around. 

In a large saute pan, cook diced onion in a little olive oil over medium high heat for about  5 minutes or until it starts to brown.  While your onion is cooking dice up that scraped out squash into bite size pieces.  Take the casing off the sausage and chop it up as well. Add the squash and the tomatoes to the pan to cook with the onions.  Turn heat down to medium and cook five minutes more.  Please note that the sausage I used was vegetarian, if you are using regular sausage, make sure it is mostly cooked through. 

When your quinoa is done cooking add it to the saute pan with the nutritional yeast (or parmesan), fresh herbs and white wine vinegar.  Stir to combine.  Season to taste with salt (and anything else you might want to throw in there.  Heat through.  Scoop mixture into your hollowed out gourd shells.  Pile em high.  Mine looked like this.

I wish I had scraped those gourds a little more.  I ended up cutting out some of the squash after I cooked it to eat.  The outside was woody and not very chewable (which didn't stop me from trying to eat it), but the inside was delicious.  Also, I can't figure out how to rotate that picture. 

OK, cover those bad boys with foil and bake them for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and give em another 10 minutes in the oven. 

Here's my finish product.

Ooooh, yeeeah.  Scrumptious.
The hubs and all the kids except Solveig liked it.  The baby screamed through the whole meal, which I took to mean he really wanted some too.

real pitas stuffed with chicken avacado salad

I once again apologize for my less than appetizing photography.  It's just not my strong point. 

These  were so good.  I was so excited to make pita bread with flour after my gluten free attempt.  It went so well and I couldn't believe how easy it was.  Super easy.  I say that and then you will read my recipe and probably think it doesn't sound easy at all, but please try it.  It is really easy and they are so good.  I used whole wheat flour in these, though of course you could use white flour.  They are stuffed with a chicken avocado salad which was so fast and easy and also super good.  This will definitely become a regular.  I wish I had some alfalfa or lentil sprouts to shove in there for a little crunch.  Maybe some lettuce would have been good.

Experiment with these and let me know what you come up with and what you put in there.  I'm serious, make these, they are worth the effort. 

Both of these recipes can be found on my healthy habits pinterest board and I am going to attempt to attach a link as I have seen Genny do. 

avocado chicken salad - http://bakersblessings.blogspot.com/2013/07/avocado-chicken-salad-no-mayo.html

pita bread - http://bakersblessings.blogspot.com/2013/07/avocado-chicken-salad-no-mayo.html

there, I hope that works out for you.

gluten free pitas

I realize this recipe probably appeals to no one but myself, but as I'm chronicling my adventures into ingredient deprived food world, here it is anyway.  By the way, side note.  Depriving oneself of the bad stuff for long enough eventually makes the good stuff taste really good and the cravings for the not so good, lessen and eventually go away altogether (except chocolate, why won't that one go away?) 

Anyway, this recipe.  Let me tell you that originally my pitas were going to be much bigger and more delicious and I was going to stuff them with a chicken avocado salad I planned to make.  My pitas turned out considerably smaller than I thought they would (what?  I thought they would grow in the oven, it happens) and there just weren't enough to make for dinner.  So, I ended up stuffing them with the chipotle black bean hummus I made earlier this week and the lentil sprouts I've been sprouting all week.  My kids loved the pita bread itself and Laila ate two of them with hummus in them, but no one was brave enough to eat the sprouts, not even Kristian.  I loved the sprouts in there.  I thought they were so yummy.  The whole combination was a win win in my book.  My pitas didn't ever puff the way they should and I think my using home made unstrained almond milk was a little too heavy for them.   I used gluten free flour from trader Joe's.  If you are just using regular flour, you could omit the xanthan gum.  This recipe is also on my Healthy habits pinterest board.



Gluten-free Pita
MAKES 8 TO 10 PITAS, depending upon size
Ingredients
3 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour, divided
2 teaspoons xanthan gum (omit if using Better Batter all-purpose gluten-free flour)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons canola (or vegetable) oil, plus more
2 1/2 cups warm milk, about 100 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit (low-fat is fine, non-fat is not)(nondairy is fine provided it has some fat)
Baking & Preparation Notes:
*Please pretty please read through the whole recipe before you begin. We’re all very excited, but we.must.remain.calm. Deep breath. Read on.
*These directions assume a stand mixer. If you do not have one do not despair. Use a large bowl and a spoon, and just do your best stand mixer impression. You can also use a food processor.
*You will need some sort of hole-y (not necessarily holy (but who am I to judge?), just with lots of holes) surface upon which to bake the pitas. You need lots of air circulating around them to get them to fill with steam. I use a pizza crisper. For pizza, I use a pizza stone, but it doesn’t work for pitas. It looks like this. Anything oven-safe up to about 500 degrees F that has lots of holes in it will do, though.
*You need a screaming hot oven. And NO PEEKING. It’s kinda like a souffle. It’s modest. No peekaboo. You’ll ruin everything.
*Here’s the biggest secret of all: You don’t need every single pita to puff all the way through. The essential feature is that the pita be cooked until a tiny bit crusty on the outside, and kinda fluffy on the inside. If you get that far, and it puffs on at least part, you can let the pita cool a bit, slice it in half through the center, and slide a knife (horizontally and with care) through the center to free the pocket. Free the pockets! Free all the pockets!
*Ideally, when shaping the dough, you’re going for a seamless, airless form. You have to squeeze out all the air pockets that were created by the yeast. It seems like madness, since you just let the dough rise. Seriously? Humor me on this. ;)
*No rolling pins allowed. Just alternating flour and oil, finger tips, and turn turn turn to every season turn turn turn. You’ll see.
1. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place 3 cups of flour and the xanthan gum, along with the salt, and mix to combine well. Add the yeast and sugar, then the oil, mixing well to combine after each addition.
2. With the mixer on low speed, add the milk in a slow pour. The dough should begin to come together. Continue adding the milk until it’s all in there, baby.
3. Now comes the part where it would be super-helpful if I had a picture for you of the dough as it begins to take shape. But I don’t. And I feel real bad about that. So I’ll paint you a picture: Add enough additional flour so that the dough is thick and kinda creamy looking – not dry, and not really sticky, but tacky (not like it’s poorly dressed, but like if you touch it some of it sticks to your finger).
4. Dump the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over a few times to coat with oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to rise in a warm, humid place for about an hour, or until nearly doubled in size.
5. Once the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 475 degrees F. Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface (if you have a silicone mat, this would be a great time to break it out). Divide the dough into 8 to 10 pieces, roll each in the flour on the mat, pick one to work with first, & let’s get the initiation over with, shall we?
6. For each ball of dough, begin to flatten it (& squeeze out the air) with the heel of your hand, staying away from the edges, taking care not to make it too thin and sprinkling flour on sticky spots. Using floured fingertips, press the dough toward the edges (without pressing down the edges). Keep the form relatively small, no more than about 6 inches. Rotate the round of dough on the floured surface, and flip it frequently. As the dough begins to resemble a round, continue pressing toward the edges with your fingertips, and press back toward the center of the round with the side of your other hand, rotating and flipping the dough as you go. If this sounds confusing, go back and read this paragraph again, keeping in mind that we’re trying to create a seamless piece of dough with integrated sides. If you have added too much flour at any point, drizzle in some canola (or vegetable) oil. And don’t be afraid to oil up a piece of dough and start again. It’s more forgiving than you think. If you see any concerning spots, try to seal them up with either flour or oil, depending upon what the issues seems to be.
7. Place only as many pita-to-be rounds on your pizza crisper as can fit without touching. Stepping lively, place the crisper in the preheated oven and shut the door right quick. Bake for between 5 and 8 minutes, taking care not to allow the pita to burn (it will be crunchy and very hard to work with). Watch in amazement.
Remember – if not every pita pops, don’t.worry.about.a.thing. Don’t get discouraged. If one pita doesn’t work, pull it out before it burns, call it Naan, and keep on keepin’ on.
Cut pitas in half, gently slice open the more reluctant ones,

Healthy Creamy Mexican Kale Salad

 

 

I made this salad tonight.  It was delightful.  I forgot to get a jalapeno, so it wasn't really spicy at all.  I was thinking you could also add the jalapeno to the dressing instead of chopped in the salad.  I can't really tell you what my family thought of it as we took it to burrito night and they all opted for burritos.  I also added some chopped chicken breast to make it more of a filling meal. 

 

I'd make it again.

 

The recipe is below, or also on my Healthy habits pinterest board.

 

 

Ingredients

Salad:
• 4 cups baby or full-grown kale (stalks removed & coarsely chopped), packed
• 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (I used my cooked beans)
• 1 cup corn (thaw if using frozen)
• 2 large bell peppers (any colour), finely chopped
• 1 + 1/2 large avocado, finely chopped
• 1 large tomato, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp jalapeño peppers, seeded & minced
Dressing:
• 1/2 large avocado
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 lime, juice of
• 1 tsp cumin
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

 

Directions

1. Add Salad ingredients to a large bowl. In a food processor, blender or Magic Bullet, process Dressing ingredients until smooth. Pour over salad, toss and serve. P.S. You could prepare Salad and Dressing in advance and combine before serving. The Dressing does get brown a bit but once mixed with the Salad, it's not noticeable.
Storage Instructions: Refrigerate tossed or separately for up to 24 hours.

One pan mexican quinoa

I made this for dinner tonight.  It's basically quinoa, tomatoes, corn, black beans, and some spices all thrown into a pan and cooked for 20 minutes with some veggie broth (I used water cause I didn't have any veggie broth).  It was super fast and easy and I'm on a quinoa kick.  After it's all done cooking you are supposed to mix in the juice of one lime a chopped avocado and some chopped cilantro.  I mixed in the lime juice, but decided to put the avocado and cilantro on top for the sake of presentation.  It tends to make a difference in terms of how my husband and children think of the food.  The kids were surprised to find they like it.  I was also surprised to find I like it, cause in the end it was just a big pan of mush and didn't look too appetizing.  The avocado and cilantro make a big difference. 

It was yummy, I will put it into my recipe box.  This is Kristian's.  It's still on the table cause he probably won't be home till 9:30ish.  I think it will be fine cold.  I never think to take a picture before I eat it, so his absence is the only reason there is a picture.  I'm trying to remember

Another reason I like this one is that I almost always have the ingredients for it laying around, so it's a good go to if I didn't plan anything. 

I was thinking this could also be a good one to make and freeze in individual portions to be thawed the night before for lunches.  Minus the avocado and cilantro of course.  You'd want to add those fresh.  it may also just turn into a pile of mush.  I don't know.

One Pan Mexican Quinoa

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Yield 4 servings

Wonderfully light, healthy and nutritious. And it's so easy to make - even the quinoa is cooked right in the pan!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapenos, minced
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14.5 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 cup corn kernels
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and jalapeno, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Stir in quinoa, vegetable broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder and cumin; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until quinoa is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Stir in avocado, lime juice and cilantro.
• Serve immediately.

Chipotle chicken lettuce wraps.

I made chipotle chicken lettuce wraps for dinner tonight.  They were surprisingly quick and easy to make.  Partially because I made the chicken ahead of time, partially because they are just quick and easy to make.  They were delicious.  Kristian even loved them.  The recipe calls for 2-3 chipotle peppers and I just added once as I was planning on making the kids eat it.  It was still pretty spicy with just the one, so I ended up making something else for them, which was a good thing cause Kristian and I polished off all of it by ourselves and could have eaten more if there had been more.  It was super good.  Other than the pepper count, I didn't modify the recipe at all.  I forgot to add the green onions at the end even though I cut them up and set them out.  Oh well, it was amazing without them. 

This recipe comes highly recommended and it can be found on my healthy habits pinterest board.


Chipotle Chicken Lettuce Wraps:
What it took for about 8 lettuce cups:
* 3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
* 1 cup frozen corn
* 1 pound chicken breast
* 2 – 3 chipotle peppers (depending on your love of heat)
* 3 Tbs. adobo sauce (that comes from the jar)
* 1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro
* 1 lime
* 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
* 3 scallions, thinly sliced
* 1 head butter lettuce, rinsed and leaves separated
* coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Turn on the broiler. Arrange the corn on a rimmed baking sheet with a Tbs. of oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Broil the corn for about 5 minutes, or until they start to slightly char and turn crispy. You can toss them a couple of times throughout. Set aside.
Heat the remaining 2 Tbs. oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and sear for 6 minutes on each side until cooked through and browned all over. Move to a cutting board and let sit for 5 minutes. Then dice the chicken.
In a food processor, combine the cilantro, lime juice, chipotle peppers and the adobo sauce. Process until smooth.
Add the chicken back to the pan, along with the chipotle sauce, freshly diced red bell pepper and roasted corn. Toss until combined.
Serve a couple of Tbs. (or more if you’re a freak like me) of the chicken mixture in each lettuce cup and garnish with scallions!

quinoa salad with cilantro lime dressing

Tonight I made quinoa salad with a cilantro lime dressing.  I topped it with avocado, tomato and some chicken.  This is Kristian's plate.  Most of us did not have that much chicken.  It was super good.  I really loved it.  I've made this one before and you can do all sorts of add ins.  Corn would be good in here too, though, you know, very little nutritional value.  This is a protein packed meal with the quinoa, black beans, avocado and chicken pack a punch that doesn't feel super heavy when you eat it, but stays with you a long time. 

There's a trick to quinoa, I have learned.  If it is not well rinsed before you cook it, it will have a very bitter flavor.  I put mine in a bowl, fill it with water and rub it between my hands several times, drain and repeat.  If you wash it well, it will not have any bitter flavor at all.  The kids ate this one pretty well with minimal complaints, but the only meal they don't whine about is rice bowls, so....

Anyway, I can't find my original recipe.  I deleted it for some reason, but I posted a similar one on my healthy habits pinterest board.  This one is definitely a keeper. You could also just do the beans and quinoa ahead of time and add what you want later for a fast prep lunch.  Hey, I'm totally going to do that. 

sweet potatoes stuffed with chipotle black bean and corn salad

Tonight I made this for dinner.  I subbed the sweet potatoes for regular potatoes as the sweet potatoes did not go over so well for dinner the other night.  As usual I loved it and everyone else tolerated it.  The kids ate it all, but needed a lot of encouragement.  Kristian ate it, but his pace indicated he didn't like it.  He suggested it would be better served cold as a potato salad of sorts.  I think that may be true, but also like it as it was.  The recipe for this one can be found on my Healthy Habits pinterest board. 

Note: The kids may have eaten this better if I left the dressing off theirs.

Ingredients

• 4 small sweet potatoes or yams, baked
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup corn*
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
For the Vinaigrette:
• 2 limes, zested and juiced
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce (from a can of chipotles in adobo)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

1. In a bowl, add the black beans, corn, onions, and cilantro. Stir to combine. In a smaller bowl, mix together the lime zest and juice, oil, honey, adobo, salt and pepper. Pour over the black bean mixture and toss to combine. Slice open the baked sweet potatoes. Stuff potatoes with the Chipotle Black Bean & Corn Salad. Serve.

Notes

*Fresh corn is best, but when out of season, frozen (thawed and cooked) or canned is fine. If using canned, be sure to rinse and drain thoroughly.

lentil and sweet potato shepherds pie

I made this for dinner tonight (the recipe can be found on my healthy habits pinterest board).  It didn't go over well.  It's pretty much what it sounds like.  A shepherds pie made with lentils (I did a combination of red, yellow, French green and regular green lentils, I don't recommend doing that as they all cook at a slightly different rate leaving you with some mushy lentils and some crunchy ones), tomatoes, basil, chopped spinach and topped with mashed sweet potatoes and baked.  I thought it was delicious.  Seriously, I loved it.  I was also starving.  Kristian felt it necessary to make a face with every bite he took, though he ate the whole thing and the kids ate it very reluctantly.  Not even Laila liked it.  A poor endorsement indeed.  I will probably not make this again, though I might consider portioning it and freezing it for lunches for me.  Oooo, I'll put that in the labels.