Sweet Potato-Mango Smoothie

After make much noise about being able to use sweet potatoes in smoothies, I decided I should actually try this and see how it works. Sweet potatoes are a great source of potassium, even more than bananas, and also beta-carotene. I used 1/2 a roasted and peeled sweet potato (cold), 1 and 1/2 cups of mango juice and 1/2 a cup of frozen mango puree, chopped up. I threw it all in the blender and it made a very smooth shake that was very delicious. It had an almost pudding-like consistancy and did not get all loose and watery after I poured it into a glass. The color was richer and more orange than the mango juice. Definitely sweet, lots of mango flavor, just a hint of rich earthiness. It would probably be good frozen into a sorbet, or blending with some yogurt. Anyway, the sweet potato didn’t interfere with the flavor and gave the smoothie the same kind of body (or even better body) than a banana would have.

I can now confidently recommend at least one smoothie recipe using sweet potatoes. The experimenting will continue.

Sweet Potato-Apple Gratin

When it comes to superfoods, sweet potatoes lead the pack, each one loaded with vitamins and complex carbs. Their natural sweetness and dark orange color make them a welcome treat in the winter. They also have delicious applications at any point in a meal, whether diced and roasted and served with dried fruit as a cold salad, or baked and mashed with just a little butter and maple syrup, or baked into breads, pies and cakes. Next time you make a smoothie, try some mashed sweet potato instead of a banana. They are sweeter and higher in potassium, and provide a wonderfully smooth texture.

Sweet Potato-Apple Gratin

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled
1 granny smith or fuji apple, peeled and cored
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
½ cup shredded parmesan
½ cup shredded provolone
2 teaspoons minced sage

*Using a mandolin vegetable slicer or a very sharp knife, slice the sweet potatoes into 1/8” slices. Slice the apple into ¼ “ slices (you want the apples a little thicker so they don’t get too soft while cooking), then mix the potatoes and apples in a large bowl with the brown sugar, syrup, salt, pepper, ginger, cinnamon,nutmeg and sage until well coated.

*Thoroughly spray a 9X12 baking pan and begin to lay the slices of potato and apple into the pan, making sure to create an even layer all the way across the pan. Between each layer sprinkle parmesan cheese. Repeat until all the slices have been layered in the pan. Do not overfill your pan.

*Top with a layer of shredded provolone cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and place in a350 degree oven for about 45-60 minutes (the potatoes and apples may release a lot of liquid as they cook,so it is always a good idea to put your pan on a baking sheet or cookie sheet to keep the sugar-rich liquid from dripping out of the pan and onto the bottom of your stove).

*Use a skewer or a knife tip to test the doneness of the potatoes. Cooked potatoes will still be a bit firm, but the skewer will pass through them without resistance. Carefully remove the foil and cook for another 10 or 15 minutes, until the provolone
cheese on top browns just a little.

*Remove from the oven and allow to rest for another 15 minutes. Use a knife to carefully cut the gratin into squares and dish out with a spatula.

The Justice League of Super Foods

^{Sweet Potato, kale, tomato stew}

We all know that a truly healthy diet depends upon diversity in what we eat, but there are some foods that are soooo good for you, you could eat them every day. I have found what I think are four such foods, ones that I can add to my diet on a daily basis that are packed with nutrients, fiber, and contain special benefits that are easy to absorb. They are all vegan, cholesterol-free, rich in flavor, common enough to be very inexpensive, and wonderfully versatile in the kitchen. I want to try making these four foods a part of my daily food intake to see if I gain the kind of health benefits I desire, and also as a challenge to be creative and diverse in my dish-making skills.

The four food items are: sweet potatoes, kale, tomatoes, and mushrooms. All are easily available through the year in many different forms, be they pickled or canned or bottled or jarred. Each one can be consumed either raw or cooked and each one is a powerhouse of numerous helpful components to improve health and fitness.

^{Sweet Potato and Kale with Pasta}

Sweet Potatoes:

Sweet potatoes are among the highest ranking “super foods” in the vegetable world. With the skin, they have more fiber than oatmeal, as much or more Vitamin A than carrots, Vitamin C(nearly half the RDA), Vitamin B6, Vitamin E, vegetable based protein, potassium, iron, calcium and manganese. They are a complex carbohydrate with a low glycemic load, which can also help stabilize blood sugar, meaning that they’re a good choice for diabetics or anyone seeking to lower their refined sugar intake. They’re relatively low in calories for all of the nutritional power they pack, and as a complex carb are digested slowly by the body, staving off hunger. They contain Omega-3 fatty acids and many compounds that act as anti-inflammatories.

Aside from all the nutrients, sweet potatoes taste really good! They are rich in earthy flavor with a natural sweetness that doesn’t have to be emphasized, but can be with butter or maple syrup. And the culinary uses are nearly limitless. They can be juiced, eaten raw, baked, deep fried, smoked, boiled, broiled, grilled, mashed, cubed, made into fries, added to smoothies(same or more potassium as bananas), made into salads, sides, entrees, desserts, and blended with other vegetables(like kale, turnips, onions or carrots), fruits(like pineapples or applesauce), and starches such as rice, barley, or risotto. They can be stored like onions, canned like tomatoes, and frozen like corn. The medicinal uses of sweet potatoes have been well known, including anti-oxidant and anti-cancer elements.

Cooking increases the amount of nutrition available to the body, and roasting or baking is the preferred method of cooking to preserve the vegetable’s benefits. It should be observed that sweet potatoes are actually a root, not a traditional tuber, and that yams and sweet potatoes are not the same thing, although they are close in nature. Sweet potatoes contain much more nutritional value that yams, and are one of the oldest cultivated crops on record in the Americas.

^{Roasted Mushrooms and Kale over Mashed Sweet Potatoes}

Kale:

Kale has a reputation as spinach’s evil cousin, something our parents or grandparents tried to force us to eat, and we resisted with all our might. Too bad for us. Kale is probably the best leafy green food we could consume. Abundantly rich in calcium, lutein , iron, Vitamins A, C, and K, kale has 7X the beta-carotene of broccoli and 10X the lutein. It is a source of easily absorbed calcium and has more fiber than a cardboard box. It is a well-known cancer-fighter and is linked to lowering blood pressure, supporting mental faculties, reducing heart disease, and battling bone-loss. It comes from the same family as cabbages, brussel’s sprouts and broccoli, and its naturally rich in sulfur compounds, which are now known to help the body in detoxification and clearing carcinogenic substances. A study in the Journal of Nutrition demonstrates how sulforaphane chemicals (produced by the liver in conjunction with cruciferous vegetables like kale) can stop the proliferation of breast cancer cells.

Kale is another culinary wonder that can be pureed into smoothies, added to salads, steamed, sautéed, stir-fried, slow-cooked, and even dehydrated (with a brush of tahini sauce) to make kale chips. And there are different kinds of kale, including curly, dinosaur, and ornamental, which is fully edible. It grows well in fall and winter, providing a powerful source of green leafy veg. It is also ridiculously cheap, with a bunch being available for as little as 50-cents to $1.

^{Kale, Shitake Mushroom, Cherry Tomato Salad}

Tomatoes:

Tomatoes are one of my favorite super foods because of their versatility, color, flavor, diversity and nutritional value. Another great source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, potassium, iron, chromium, and Vitamin K, tomatoes are most recognized for the compound lycopene, which gives the fruit(technically it is a fruit) its rich red color. Lycopene is considered a major natural cancer-fighter and preventer of heart disease, as well as a top-notch anti-oxidant. Organic tomatoes provides almost triple the lycopene content, a good reason to go organic. And since lycopene is unaffected by cooking or canning, any version of tomato is bound to be packed with goodness and nutrition. Other red fruits such as watermelon, pink grapefruit, and apricots contain lycopene, but tomatoes are by far the best source.

Tomatoes are naturals to go with starches like pasta and rice, other vegetables and legumes, meats, greens, juices, and even fruits (tomato-fruit salsa, anyone?). They can be sun-dried and mixed with cheese, pureed into sauces, eaten raw in a salad or on a sandwich, and stuffed with herbs, starches and other vegetables. What is more homey and comforting on a cold snowy day than hot tomato soup with spinach? Or, how about tomato-broccoli soup? There is new evidence that suggests that those two cancer-fighting staples actually work together in the body to more effectively reduce cancers, especially of the prostate.

^{Sweet Potato, Kale and Mushroom “Meatballs” on Spaghetti with Tomato Marinara Sauce}

Mushrooms:

Mushrooms have been used for thousands of years as both a food and a medicine(and other mind-altering digestions!). They have been enjoyed from Ancient Egypt and China through Europe and around the world, and are a flavorful favorite for many foods today, but their nutritional values are often overlooked. A portabella mushroom can have more potassium than a banana, are rich in heart healthy minerals like copper and iron, and have high contents of selenium, another known cancer-fighter. They also boost the immune system and fight infections. They are a great source of fiber and plant-based protein, enabling people to substitute high-fat meats for low-fat mushrooms. They are also the only known plant-based source of edible Vitamin D.

I keep saying “plant-based”, even though mushrooms are really a fungi, and in a different class from traditional vegetables. There are over 30,000 varieties of mushrooms and as many as 4,000 are edible, and those poison ones make up a very small percentage of the non-edible variety. But the poisonous ones can be absolutely deadly(Buddha was killed by a bowl of bad mushrooms!)

Mushrooms can be readily consumed raw, and certain nutrient values increase when they are cooked. Mushrooms lend themselves to marinating, grilling, sautéing, stir-frying, and mixing with a huge variety of meats, vegetables and starches. Egg and mushroom omelets, tomato-mushroom sauce, mushroom-carrot salad… it takes a long time to get bored with mushrooms, especially given the variety that is typically available. Portas, porcini, shitake, crimini, white button, oyster, lobster, enoki, straw, morels, wood-ear, black trumpet, blue horn, maitake and chantrelles come quickly to mind, each one with its own benefits and flavors. Some mushrooms can be quite expensive and seasonal, but they are also easily obtainable in dried and canned form.

So, those are my rationales for working to make these four foods a part of my daily diet. They don’t have to figure prominently in my meals, but certainly there is a way to slip all four in on a daily basis. I guess the best way to track this goal is to provide some ideas and recipes that utilize the foods so that I can see there are plenty of ways and opportunities to increase my consumption of these most valuable foods.

Butternut Squash-Porcini Raviolis

With whole wheat pasta dough that I had left over from making spaghetti noodles I decided to take a stab at making raviolis. I’ve made them before, quite successfully using durham flour, but my atttempts at creating a whole wheat ravioli did not go so well. Between the pasta tearing, not sealing properly, and being too gummy once cooked, I felt it was more work that it was worth.

But I had some left-over roasted butternut squash that I had pureed, some ancient dried porcinis that I rehydrated in a mix of white wine and mushroom stock, and the left-over whole wheat pasta dough, which had made a pretty good spaghetti.

I minced the rehydrated porcinis, a little garlic, red onion and parsley and gave them a quick sautee in a skillet before mixing into the butternut squash, along with some ground coriander, cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper. I blended it all together and set it aside while I ran the dough through the roller attachement of my mixer. I ran it through several settings until I got to #6, which is quite thin. The dough had a tendency to get sticky and shred just a little, but I did not want to add anymore flour to it out of concern for making the dough tough and chewy. I rolled out several sheets which I laid on my cutting board. I brushed each sheet with an eggwash and using a small scoop, placed dollops of squash filling in evenly spaced rows on half of the sheets. I took the other half of the sheets and layed them over the fillings, pressing down carefully but thoroughly to push out pockets of air and ensure a firm seal around each bubble of filling. I used my $1.99 Target-brand ravioli cutter to roll and crimp all around the edges of each ravioli, tossing the excess dough and moving each pasta to an oiled plate.

I gently placed the raviolis in batches of three or four into a pot of boiling, lightly salted water. They sank immediately, but within a few moments bobbled to the surface. I counted to twenty and gave each one a turn, then counted to twenty again and eased them out with a spider, careful not to snag or tear the thin pasta. They all cooked up without a single one bursting or disentegrating. I put them in a lightly oiled bowl and held them in the microwave while I quickly made a sage cream sauce sweetened with brown sugar, some sauteed asparagus, onions and tomatoes, and some pan-seared chicken breast.

The texture of the pasta seemed perfect to me, sturdy enough to stand up to being cut and speared with a fork and rubbed in sauce, but thin enough to almost melt away in the mouth and release the rich, earthy flavors of the butternut squash and mushroom. It made for a delicious meal and I hope I remember what I did right with this pasta batch so I can reproduce the recipe the next time I am hankering for home-made whole wheat pastas.

Foccacia Bread

Playing around with dough is one of my favorite things to do. I am endlessly facinated at the microbial process that happens when little yeasty bugs are introduced to flours and sugars, and burp out flavorful gasses that give rise (literally!) to all kinds of breads. It can be a time-consuming venture, however, and I haven’t made a lot of bread this year. But with some time on my hands and a brick of fresh yeast that has to be used up I thought I’d get back into a little home bread baking. I mixed and kneaded a pound of flour, some milk, yeast, sugar and salt into a maleable dough, plopped it into a greased bowl and let it rise over the warm oven for an hour until it more than doubled in size and took on a spongy consistancy. I gently pushed on the dough and was rewarded with the poof of escaping gas and the beer-haus smell of active yeast. I folded the dough over a couple of times to redistribute the yeast bugs and develop a little more gluten, coverd the bowl and popped it into the fridge to retard. The cold slows down the yeast’s growth and allows richer flavors to develop. I kept it in there, occasionally giving it a little kneading and turning, for two days. Then I pulled it out, cut the dough in half and returned one half to the fridge (it is destined to become pizza dough later this week), and formed out a loaf into a small square pan with the other half. I let it proof on top of the oven for an hour and a half, until it had warmed, the yeasties awoken and gone about their digestive business, and the loaf had doubled in volume. I brushed the top with olive oil and sprinkled it with crushed garlic, fresh chopped rosemary, and pink Hawaiian sea salt flakes. I put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes until the top had developed a nice, toasted marshmellow golden color. I pulled out the pan and let the loaf sit in it for about 5 minutes, then turned it effortlessly out onto a cooling rack. The whole kitchen was filled with the delicious aroma of baked bread. I let the loaf sit for another 30 minutes to set up while I made the rest of dinner(more spaghetti with homemade whole wheat noodles, which came out much better this time, softer with a smoother texture and better flavor).

The loaf sliced without crumbling and the inside was as soft as a pillow while the herby, garlicy, salted crust provided a great contrast.

Home-Made Spaghetti/Tortillas

I’ve had a hard time finding a whole wheat pasta I am really happy with. I have frequently made my own pasta with duram or semolina flour, but S is insisting more and more on whole wheat grains in our breads and pastas. I had some whole wheat flour in the cupboard and a little free time, so I spooned out two cups of flour into a large bowl, to which I added some salt, a little oil, a single egg yolk, and some warm water. I stirred the mixture together until I had a crumbly ball of dough, then worked it on the kitchen counter until it was well mixed. I wrapped it up and put it in the fridge overnight. The next day I took it out, rolled it out again, fed it through the pasta attachment for the KitchenAide until I had long flat sheets, then ran it through the spaghetti cutter attachment. The dough was a bit stickier and tore more easily than I was used to, but it cut serviceable noodles. I dropped them in the boiling water and they only took about three minutes to cook through. Drained, I then ladled a mushroom marinara on top and wah lah! dinner was ready. The noodles had none of the gumminess or “cardboard” flavor I have found in store-bought noodles. They were rougher in texture because of the whole grains, but richer in flavor because of the egg. I’m not sure how well the pasta would have held up with just water. I think I will cut a linguini noodle next time, since the spaghetti was a bit crinkled. This may have been because I did not set the pasta roller thin enough. But it was easy to do, and cheap, given that two pounds of organic whole wheat flour is about $4, while a box of organic whole wheat pasta is around $2.65. I’m going to get some rice flour and experiment with making rice noodles next.

I learned from one of my co-workers how to make corn tortillas and ever since I have been hooked on the home-made thing. My recipe is two cups of masa (harina de maiz), a teaspoon of oil, a table spoon of salt, and 1 & 3/4 cups water (more or less, depending upon the texture). My friend has scolded me for adding oil, telling me it is “no necesario”, but I still do it, it seems to keep my tortillas from sticking to the plastic wrap, the cast iron griddle, and it seems to make them more tender and maleable when rolling enchiladas. Sometimes I even add a little lime juice to the mix. From the mix I roll out several balls of dough and put them into my trusty tortilla press that I bought at the farmer’s market for $6. I want to go back one day and get one of the more authentic ones, hand made of wood and twice as thick, for $20. I press out the tortillas and transfer them to a plate covered by a towel, then slap them on the griddle one by one, about 2 minutes each side, until they just begin to brown in spots. Then onto another plate and covered by a towel. If I am going to use them right away I just leave them on the plate, otherwise I let them cool and then put them in a ziplock bag and keep them in the fridge. The texture and taste between store bought and home-made is incredible. I don’t object to store-bought tortillas since the ingredients generally just list corn flour, salt, water and lime(the mineral, not the fruit), but the flavor is just too good to not go to the extra effort, which isn’t much. I made the tortillas while everything else for the enchiladas was cooking. Then I took my chili-poached chicken and shredded it, mixed it with black beans, roasted corn, sour cream, shredded cheese, scallions and cilantro, and spooned the mix onto the corn tortillas, rolling them up and setting them in the enchilada sauce. The sauce I do insist on making myself, since all the store-bought ones seem to list a pharmacist’s pantry of chemical additives as ingredients. So I make a simple sauce from onions, garlic, rehydrated smoked chilis, and fire-roasted tomatoes seasoned with salt, coriander, cumin, cayenne and jalapenos. Sometimes I make this by the gallon, pouring it into canning jars and sealing them for safe keeping. Tonight I just made enough for the enchiladas we were having. I gave them a liberal topping of cheddar cheese, which I like better than a traditional queso fresco. 15 minutes in the oven and we are ready for Christmas Eve dinner.

Auburndale Farmer's Market

While back in Florida for Thanksgiving I had a chance to revisit the Auburndale International Market. Over the years I have not only witnessed, but been a part of, this market’s growth and change. Barely a weekend went by that I was not a customer, roaming the lanes in seach of cheap vegetables and one of a kind deals. I was once a vendor there myself, renting a conveted space and table to sell my backlog of VHS tapes from my video rental business of days gone by. The people I met, bought from and sold to, reinforced my appreciation for this gathering place of common and odd merchandise.

Once a few concrete rows shielded from the Florida sun by aluminum roofing with simple wooden tables piled with rows of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and citrus… the market is now made up of huge steel buildings, tents and canopied stalls, and areas once for parking converted into rentable spaces. It is a huge, sprawling affair, with a circus tent and native American dance rituals, country music festivals, pony rides and alligator petting zoos. The fruits and vegetables are still there, but they are just an entree to vendors who sell everything imaginable, from purses and wallets to tools and kitchen untensils, to CDs, DVDs, and VHS, to piles of smartass tshirts and cheap women’s underwear, to water softeners and automobile parts, to home made jewelery and bedazzled sweaters. It is an irresistable guilty pleasure to stroll up and down what feel like endless stalls or borderline junk to uncover those few diamonds in the rough. And there are always boiled peanuts, funnel cakes, corn dogs, fresh roasted corn and toasted pecans to snack on while shopping.

We purused the fruits and veggies, buying some plums that were as big as baseballs but not as big on flavor, some local gallberry honey, tangerines, bell peppers, and a huge pomelo that was sweet and tart and just blushed with color. Prices were good, and as always a little price battle could be found going on amongst the marketers. The further we went downt the isle, the lower the price of watermelons became. I haven’t had a good watermelon since August, so I did not buy one. But it was a very nice day for checking out the market, and a nostalgic tour as well.

See more progress on: Visit All My Local Farmer's Markets