Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes

Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes (slightly adapted from Food Network, Servings: 4, Total Time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients

·         2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

·         2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

·         ½ tsp. kosher salt

·         1 chipotle chile pepper in adobo sauce, chopped

·         1 teaspoon adobo sauce, from the pepper can

Directions

1.)    Put the sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with water.  Bring the water to a boil and cook for 20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are fork-tender.

2.)    Drain the water from the pot.  Add the butter and salt and mash with a potato masher. Add the chile and sauce and continue mashing to combine. Serve immediately

I served these with Mexican meatloaf.  They were sweet and spicy, a great combination.  The potatoes were creamy and went down easily, even with the hint of spice from the adobo pepper and sauce.  I added a bit of extra sauce to mine, but it still wasn’t overly hot.  My husband liked the dish, but it was slightly too hot for him.  Easy and tasty!

Red Thai Curry Soup (slightly adapted from Amuse Your Bouche. Servings: 4+, Total Time: 20 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 16 oz. mixed stir-fry vegetables (I used a frozen Asian blend), cooked

·         2-3 Tbsp. red Thai curry paste

·         14.5 oz. can light coconut milk

·         ½ 16 oz. pkg egg noodles, cooked

·         Salt

·         Black pepper

·         14.5 oz. water (fill the can from the coconut milk)

·         2 Tbsp. fresh coriander, chopped

Instructions

1.       Add the curry paste and cooked veggies to a large frying pan, mix well (I used 2.5 Tbsp. curry paste so that my husband could handle the dish) over medium heat.

2.       Add the coconut milk and the noodles, and season to taste with salt and pepper. I also added around 1 can of water – just add what you need to get the curry/soup to your desired consistency.

3.       Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, simmering very gently, until the curry is hot.  Add the coriander and serve immediately

I converted the numbers from the original recipe using an online calculator (the oz. were in ML and grams) and I think that the proportions were slightly off.  I used a whoel bag of noodles, which is why I suggest half a bag in the ingredients list.  One bag was way too much and made this a curry, not a soup.

The taste of this dish was just OK for me, not as spicy as I woul dhave liked and not with the depth of flavor that I am used to from my other curry dishes.  I don’t think that was just the noodles.  Maybe extra coconut milk instead of water or maybe some other spices would help.  I did use dried coriander instead of fresh (2 tsp.), but I don’t think that affected the taste.

Anyways, the dish was OK, but I don’t think that I’ll make it again.  I did look at some other recipes on this site and they look delicious.  Stay tuned for more!

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Garlic Mashed Potatoes (from Kraft Recipes, Servings: 8, Total Time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients

·         2-1/2 lb. baking potatoes (about 7), peeled, quartered

·         4 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 tub (8 oz.) Cream Cheese Spread

·         1 Tbsp. margarine

Directions

1.      Cook potatoes and garlic in boiling water in large saucepan 20 min. or until potatoes are tender; drain.

2.      Mash potatoes until smooth.

3.      Add remaining ingredients; mix well.

I made this dish for Thanksgiving and the family really enjoyed it.  I used one or two additional cloves of garlic and it worked out perfectly.  My husband loves garlic and I am OK with it, but we both loved the potatoes.  The potatoes were soft and creamy, a perfect complement to my family’s turkey and my Tofurky!

Roasted Green Beans with Peppers & Onion

Roasted Green Beans with Peppers & Onion (from Kraft Recipes, Servings: 6, Total Time: 50 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 lb. whole green beans, trimmed

·         1 each red and yellow pepper, cut into thin strips

·         1 large onion, cut into thin strips

·         ½ cup  Light Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

·         ½ cup Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese

Directions

1.)    Heat oven to 400°F.

2.)    Toss vegetables with dressing in large roasting pan.

3.)    Bale 30 min. or until vegetables are tender, stirring after 15 min.

4.)    Sprinkle with cheese; bake 2 to 3 min. or until melted.

I made this for Thanksgiving at my mother’s. I used a sweet balsamic dressing from Kraft and it imparted an excellent flavor onto the vegetables.  A sweet/sour taste since it was a vinaigrette.  My family really enjoyed this as well.  I used frozen green beans, thawed, and tossed them with the rest of the veggies.  I think that this dish could honestly do without the cheese (when using the sweet balsamic) – I don’t feel that it really added anything. Maybe with regular balsamic it would.  The veggies stayed crisp and worked well with a side dish of mashed potatoes.  A great side dish to Thanksgiving dinner (and my Tofurky).  Enjoy!