Pan-Fried Sweet Potatoes (Garnet Yams)

I always forget that what I refer to as sweet potatoes are technically called “garnet yams.” I prefer the garnet yams, but this recipe works with yams or sweet potatoes just as well. You can even do a combination of the two. I find that the garnet yams are sweeter and I love the bright orange color. This recipe is simple, but requires patience since you have to stir the yams frequently while they’re cooking to prevent them from burning.

Ingredients

2-3 sweet potatoes or garnet yams
3-4 tbsp. or more olive oil
Optional herbs: ground rosemary, tarragon, black pepper
Optional: ½ c. walnuts or pecans

Directions

I usually leave the skin on the yams, but it can be tough, depending on the batch of yams. If you think you would prefer not to deal with the skin on the finished product, then scrape it off. Slice the yams into rounds about 1/8-inch thick. Put 3 tbsp. of olive oil into a large skillet and turn the heat on high. When the oil begins to smoke slightly (is very hot), turn the heat down to medium and put the sweet potatoes into the pan. Fry the sweet potatoes, turning them frequently, for 15-20 minutes. Add more olive oil if necessary to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pan. If you want to use any of the optional herbs listed, add them when you put the yams in to cook. If you wish to include the nuts, put them in at the start as well. Do not put a lid on the pan or the sweet potatoes will steam down and get mushy quickly. You can turn the heat up a bit on them if you watch them very carefully and keep turning them frequently. You don’t want them to burn. The thinner they are sliced, the faster they will cook. To see if they are done, take out one of the thickest slices and bite into it. Be patient and keep tending them until they are done.

Eat well, be well, live deliciously!

Tutti Frutti Pie

This was my mother’s recipe and remains one of my dad’s favorites. It’s simple and a delight for fruit-lovers. It requires a graham cracker crumb crust, which you can buy readymade at the store. For the homemade crust recipe, see the very end of this recipe.

Ingredients

1 graham cracker crumb crust (store bought or homemade—see end of recipe)
15 oz. can of fruit cocktail (use fruit packed in juice, not syrup)
½ c. chopped canned pineapple (optional—not necessary)
1 pint sour cream (Tofutti sour cream works, but it won’t gel up quite as well as real sour cream)
½ t. vanilla
¼ c. honey or maple syrup
¾ c. chopped walnuts
1 tsp. nutmeg

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350˚. Drain the liquid from the fruit cocktail. Combine the fruit cocktail, sour cream, vanilla, and honey. (Extra tip: add about ½ cup of canned pineapple cut into small pieces.) Pour the mixture into the pie shell. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts across the top then sprinkle nutmeg on top of that. Bake for 30 minutes at 350˚. Cool on the counter for 15 minutes then place in the refrigerator to chill. Let it set for about 2 hours before serving. If you use real sour cream, it will thicken up. The Tofutti sour cream does not thicken up so well but it works as a substitute for dairy well enough to use.

How to make a graham cracker crumb crust:
If you want to make a graham cracker crumb crust from scratch, here’s how. Put the equivalent of about 2 cups of graham crackers into a sturdy plastic bag. Wrap the bag in a thin dish towel. Then beat the graham crackers into crumbs with a hammer. If the bag breaks, transfer to another bag. Melt 1 stick of butter (¼ pound). Put the graham crackers into a pie pan and blend with ¼ cup of organic sugar. Then add the melted butter and blend thoroughly, pressing the crust into the pan to cover it completely.

Eat well, be well, live deliciously!

Sesame Green Beans

The things you can do with green beans are endless! This simple dish is tasty both hot or cold.

Ingredients

3 c. snapped and cleaned green beans
1 chopped red pepper
1 tbsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. sesame seeds
½ c. peanuts (optional)

Directions

Chop the red pepper and break the green beans into one- to two-inch lengths. Sauté the green beans, red pepper, and peanuts in 1 tbsp. of sesame oil and 1 tbsp. of olive oil, stirring frequently, until the green beans are just soft but still crunchy (about 5-8 minutes over medium heat). Put the other tbsp. of olive oil into a small frying pan and heat on low for a couple of minutes. Add the sesame seeds and toast them, turning often, until they are just brown. Add the sesame seeds to the green beans and red peppers. That’s all folks.

Eat well, be well, live deliciously!

Winter Squash, Garnet Yam, and Wild Rice Medley

Perfect for a cold and rainy autumn or winter night, this dish will fill you up faster than you would think. And it’s pretty to look at!

Ingredients

1 butternut or acorn squash
1 garnet yam (or sweet potato) or equivalent of about 2 cups of cut yams
½ c. uncooked wild rice
3 tbsp. olive oil (or more if needed)
1 crushed clove of garlic (optional)
½ chopped red pepper (optional)
1/3 c. dried cranberries
3 tbsp. chopped chives
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Cook the rice. It will take about 45-50 minutes so get it started before cooking the squash and yam.

The hard part about this recipe is that you have to peel an uncooked squash! It takes time and patience. The butternut is the easier to peel as you can use a vegetable scraper to get the skin off with relative ease. The acorn squash is a little more difficult to peel because of the ridges. After you have peeled the squash, cut it in half and remove the seeds and strings. Then chop or slice it into bite-sized pieces. (You can even do this recipe with a pumpkin, but who wants to peel a raw pumpkin?)

I like to leave the skin on my garnet yams, but some people find it too tough for their tastes. If you wish, scrape the skin off. Then slice the yam into rounds no wider than ¼ inch thick and cut the rounds into halves or even quarters. If you want to use the garlic and/or red pepper, then crush the garlic and chop the red pepper. The red pepper makes the dish more colorful.

Sauté the squash and yam in olive oil in a large frying pan (uncovered) over medium high heat turning frequently to prevent burning. It will take quite awhile for the squash and yam to get soft. Keep adding olive oil if necessary. Expect to be keeping a close eye on the squash and yam and stirring often for 15-20 minutes. After about the first 10 minutes, add the red pepper and crushed garlic clove.

When the rice is done, add it to the cooked squash and yam. Add the dried cranberries and chopped chives and blend everything together well. You may want to add a little more olive oil to the dish to moisten it (maybe another tablespoon).

A nice addition to this dish is crumbled feta cheese (if you eat dairy).

Potato Latkes

Latkes are the traditional food for Hanukkah. The trick to making perfect latkes is the temperature of the frying pan or griddle. Hanukkah is called the “Festival of Lights” because of the Hanukkah story, which tells that a small amount of oil miraculously burned for eight days and nights until more oil could be made for the ever-burning light in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The Holy Temple had been desecrated by Greco-Syrian invaders and when the Hebrews conquered the Greeks and restored the temple, there was no oil for the ever-burning light. Because oil is a key piece to the story, it is traditional to eat foods fried in oil on Hanukkah.

Ingredients

6 medium-sized potatoes (not huge baking potatoes)
½ average-sized onion
2 eggs (beaten)
1 tbsp. flour (wheat, rice, or teff)
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
Olive oil (for frying)

Directions

Grate the potatoes and onion either in a food processor or using a hand grater. You can rinse the potatoes and drain the water off to remove some of the starch if you prefer, but I usually don’t bother with this step (as the grated potatoes sit, starchy water will seep out of them and can be discarded). Combine the grated potatoes and onions with the other ingredients (except the oil, which is for frying), stirring everything together well. Heat a film of oil on a griddle or in a frying pan. Heat the oil to medium temperature or a little hotter than medium. Drop the latke batter into the oil. A latke cooks much like hash browns, and similarly has a very high potato content. If water accumulates in the latke batter as it stands, drain that off before frying.

Now this is the tricky part. The latkes should be cooked until just brown and crispy on both sides. Not gummy. Flatten the latkes with a spatula to keep them thin so they cook all the way through to the middle before browning on the outside. Don’t make them too big around, only about three or four inches across. Latkes take patience. Keep adding oil to the pan/griddle each time you put more latkes on to cook. You can keep the cooked latkes warm by placing them in a glass dish, covering them with foil, and placing them in the oven at 200˚ while you finish cooking all the latkes. Latkes also warm up well in the microwave. Depending on how many latkes you are cooking, it can take a long time to make enough for everyone! This recipe for latkes serves about four people. Just multiply for more.

Traditionally, latkes are served with sour cream and/or applesauce. (Tofutti sour cream is a great substitute for vegans and those who are lactose-intolerant.)

Eat well, be well, live deliciously!

Asparagus and Mushroom Frittata

Use this basic frittata recipe with other combinations of veggies as you follow your imagination. I especially like this version because of the lovely texture of the asparagus and mushrooms together. This is a quick and easy way to make a delightful egg dish, much easier than quiche or soufflé.

Ingredients

3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
¼ onion, chopped (about ¼ cup) or 1 tbsp. onion powder
20 asparagus spears (chopped)
5 baby Portobello mushrooms (sliced)
6 eggs
1 cup grated cheddar cheese 
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. oregano
½ tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Dusting of paprika for the top

Directions

Break the tough bottom ends off the asparagus and chop the asparagus into one-quarter-inch rounds. Slice the mushrooms. Chop the onion. Sautée the vegetables in about 2 tbsp. of olive oil over medium heat for about 7 minutes until they are soft. Set the vegetables aside when they are done.

Beat the eggs and add in the herbs (reserve the paprika for the top). Grate the cheese but do not mix it into the eggs yet.

Turn on the broiler in your oven (high).

Put 1 tbsp. of olive oil and 1 tbsp. of butter into a large oven-safe skillet (cast iron works well) and heat over medium heat until the butter melts. Next pour in the egg and herb mixture. Lower the heat to medium and set your timer for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, spread the vegetables into the eggs, dispersing them evenly. The bottom of the eggs should be firming up but the top will still be wet. Cover the skillet and leave it on the burner for 2 more minutes. The bottom of the frittata should set, but make sure it doesn’t begin to burn. After the second 2 minutes is up, remove the skillet from the burner.

Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly over the eggs, dust with paprika, and place in the oven (uncovered) for 2-3 minutes until set and bubbly. If you do not have a broiler in your oven, you can put the frittata in with it set on bake at 375°, but it will take a few minutes for it to set and you have to watch it carefully to make sure it doesn’t burn on the bottom while the top is firming up.

Eat well, be well, live deliciously!

Sauerkraut and Mushroom Bake

This dish has become a standard on our Thanksgiving table because it goes so well with the other flavors of Thanksgiving. It is a stunningly unusual dish to bring to any potluck and one of those foods that calls you back for seconds. It can be made either as a dairy dish or a vegan dish, as explained below.

Ingredients

1 quart sauerkraut
15 oz. cooked black beans
1 oz. dried Shitake mushrooms
1 Portobello mushroom
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 c. sour cream or tofutti sour cream for a vegan dish
½ tsp. black pepper
Salt to taste

Directions

Simmer the Shitake mushrooms in 3 cups of water for 1 hour in a pot with a lid on it. Save the water from the mushrooms after they have been cooked. Remove the stems and chop or slice the mushrooms. Chop or slice the Portobello mushroom and lightly sauté it in a bit of olive oil (for about 2 minutes).

Rinse the sauerkraut thoroughly in a colander. Rinse the black beans thoroughly in a colander. (The rinsing helps remove gases from these foods so that they are easier to digest.) Combine the sauerkraut, beans, mushrooms, dairy/tofu sour cream, pepper, and salt. Add a little bit of the water from cooking the Shitake mushrooms (no more than a half a cup).

Bake the mixture in a greased baking dish, covered, at 350˚ for one hour. This dish freezes well if you choose to make it in advance. It can be reheated long after it was baked with little damage to the flavor.

Eat well, be well, live deliciously!