Roasted Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup with Turmeric & Curry

It has been an uncharacteristically warm November in San Francisco. Sunny, 60’s… I’m not complaining, but it won’t hold me back from making soup. In these weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I try to sneak in my veggie-full meals while I can. If Thanksgiving was one meal on one day, that’d be one thing. But let’s face it, you’re facing a Thanksgiving pot-luck at work, Friendsgiving (I can’t wait for ours!), Thanksgiving day + leftovers. It’s a marathon, people. Condition accordingly.

This happens to be one of the most budget-friendly soups, too. The two main ingredients together might cost you $2. And do you see that color?? Lots of vitamin c bang for that buck. Recipe sourced from Love & Lemons.

Roasted Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup with Turmeric & Curry

6-8 big carrot sticks, diced
1 large sweet potato, or 2 small, diced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion or leak, diced
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons turmeric, ground
2 teaspoons madras curry powder
2 teaspoons fresh minced ginger
4 cups veggie stock plus 2 cups water
a pinch of cayenne pepper
1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper

Greek yogurt
Shaved Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel and roughly chop the carrots and sweet potatoes and place on a baking sheet.  Toss everything with a drizzle of olive oil, and a good amount of salt and pepper. Roast for about 25 minutes, or until everything is golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat a bit of oil over low heat, add the chopped onion and garlic. Add a pinch of salt and cook until translucent. Add the turmeric, curry, and grated ginger and heat just until fragrant (30 seconds). Add the water and stock, and bring to a gentle boil, cover, and reduce to a low simmer.

Add all of the roasted veggies to the pot. Leave the pot uncovered and turn the heat off. Allow it to cool for a bit and then puree in a high speed blender.

Taste and adjust, I added a bit more salt, pepper, and a few pinches of cayenne and apple cider vinegar. Sprinkle with parmesan, top with yogurt and serve with bread.

Loaded Sweet Potato

I realize I may have previously documented a stuffed sweet potato, but it must be revisited. Who doesn’t love sweet potatoes? You know whenever you’re at a restaurant and “sweet potato fries” are on the menu, someone’s ordering them. This is a healthier, cheaper (cough, better) way to get your sweet potato fix.

It’s basically an entire meal stuffed into a wrinkly brown skinned root, that happens to be packed full of nutrients. Did I mention they’re like $0? And the variations are endless. Take this as an example:

Loaded Sweet Potato

1 sweet potato
1/4 granny smith apple, diced
goat cheese, crumbled
craisins
roasted almonds, chopped
dash cinnamon

Optional: additional goat cheese and red pepper jelly to spread onto sweet potato skin

Prick sweet potato with skin and microwave 5-6 minutes, or until soft. Slice open and mash down. Top with remaining ingredients. Add butter if you’d like – but you really don’t need it!

Roasted Beet Salad with Sautéed Beet Greens

Sometimes I go into dinner with a plan. Tonight was not one of those nights. At the end of a run I wandered into Whole Foods looking for a vegetable for inspiration and found the beets. They had large, intriguing looking leaves that, after a quick in-store Google search, I found out are edible and can be cooked like kale. Fun fact: beets are full of antioxidants that are good for your

Roasted Beet Salad

2 large beets, chopped into 1” pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
drizzle balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
cherry tomatoes, halved
zucchini, chopped
sweet peas, chopped
feta
spinach
lemon juice + olive oil

Preheat oven to 400. Toss beets in olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Spread out on tin foil and bake for 45 minutes, or until soft. Add beets to large bowl with remaining vegetables and toss with lemon juice and olive oil.

Sautéed Beet Greens

Bunch beet greens, rinsed and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1-2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Heat olive oil in a large pan and add onion. After a minute, add garlic and then add in greens. Sauté until cooked through, then add remaining ingredients.

Crabs, Quinoa and Boxed Brownies

I had the luxury of getting to go play in Annapolis this weekend and pick crabs for the first time. Apparently “picking crabs” does not mean looking into a tank, picking your favorite, and getting it made into a crab cake. You actually attack the steamed crabs with a mallet and shiv, put in a heck of a lot of effort, and smell like crab for the next 24 hours for an incredibly delicious, albeit precious, amount of crab meat. It's pretty awesome. I managed to fill up off of 3 extra large crabs... with the help of liquid butter, hush puppies, fries, sweet potato fries and oysters. If you're in the area, Cantler's is worth checking out.

Because it's Monday, a couple of us got together at my house for wine, Bach and brownies. I planned ahead and made a healthy dinner to even the score a little. I had a southwestern quinoa salad and stuffed sweet potato.

Southwestern Quinoa Salad

black quinoa, cooked
corn
mushrooms
black beans
cherry tomatoes, halved
spinach/spring mix
feta cheese
avocado
cucumber
salsa
Greek yogurt
salt and pepper

Stuffed Sweet Potato

1 sweet potato
1 ounce goat cheese
craisins
green apple, diced
sprinkle olive oil
salt and pepper

In my opinion, there is one baked good that is not worth your time to make from scratch. That is brownies. They are almost always better when made from a box. But not any box - the Ghirardelli Double Chocolate brownies. Make sure you have a lot of friends around when you decide to make these because leftover brownies don't exist. 

I have this weird need to eat dessert with a spoon, so I put my molten lava scoop of brownie (waiting until they cool to cut is not necessary) in a ramekin with Greek yogurt and a little peanut butter. And the addiction is resuscitated…

Vegetable Tabouli with Balsamic Vinaigrette & Red Pepper Hummus

I shouldn't be allowed to buy basil plants anymore. I always kill them, no matter what I do. So instead of wishing and hoping this one would live, i decided to butcher it up from the start and make it into some hummus. Hummus, like Greek yogurt, I can and do eat on top of everything. So it made for the perfect topper on my dinner. 

Vegetable Tabouli with Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/2 cup bulgur wheat
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup yellow corn
1/2 zucchini, diced
kalamata olives, halved
1 carrot, grated
shredded mozzarella
spinach

2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes

Add bulgur wheat to pot with 1.5 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover for 15 minutes. Once slightly cooled, add in vinaigrette, vegetables, cheese

Red Pepper & Basil Hummus 

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
handful basil, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 roasted red pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

Combine ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth.

Goat Cheese, Kale & Turnip Gratin

In keeping with my new years resolution, getting creative with healthy foods, I made a turnip gratin. Not keeping with my new years resolution, I ate the entire dish. I realize it could be worse than eating a pound of turnips in a night, but still! It was just so yummy, I must pat myself on the back for coming up with it. Most people I know – like me two days ago - had no idea how a turnip looked or tasted. It's a hybrid between a potato, carrot and radish. It has a slight tangy flavor (like a mild radish), which I found goes nicely with goat cheese. And they're healthy! Tons of vitamin C, fiber and low in calories. Which is a good thing, because it allowed me to enjoy my delicious draft beer and fried pickles at  Kitchen guilt free.

As a sidebar, don't you find it funny that everything you read or hear on the radio, magazines, commercials, news stories - are about starting to eat healthy and how to eat low calorie and what healthy meals you should start cooking for your family? Why don't we have this sentiment as a goal all year round? I guess it's a good thing New Years Resolutions are still around, or when would people decide it was time to start cooking and eating well?

One thing I will advise: do not attempt this recipe without a mandolin. It will be nearly impossible to get the turnips cut evenly and thin enough- they're dense! 

Goat Cheese, Kale & Turnip Gratin

1 tablespoon butter
1 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup coconut milk (or milk)
1/2 cup water
dash red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon fresh basil (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 pound turnips (3 similar sized small ones), peeled and sliced thin with mandolin
1/2 bunch kale, chopped
salt and pepper
1-2 handfuls of shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400. In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter and add shallot then garlic. Cook until fragrant, about a minute or two and add the coconut milk, whisking constantly for 5-7 minutes, adding in water to thin it. Add goat cheese and spices, whisk until fully melted. Taste and make adjustments with cheese/spices. 

Toss turnips and kale in a bowl with salt and pepper then spread out in baking dish. Pour cheese mixture over vegetables and make sure they are fully covered. Bake for 40 minutes, then remove and sprinkle mozzarella over the top. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until turnips are tender. Let rest for 5 minutes. Try not to eat it all by yourself.

Quinoa Cakes with Spicy Yogurt Sauce

My weekend in NYC was amazing. The most fun I’ve had, maybe ever. But surprise, surprise…I’m sick. Again. Two weeks later. Gotta pay to play, I guess. Luckily I was still able to taste dinner. I cut the recipe in half and made the sauce with yogurt instead of mayonnaise. The original recipe on Spoon Fork Bacon makes about 4 servings.

Quinoa Cakes with Spicy Yogurt Sauce

1 cup cooked quinoa
1/3-1/2 cup grated Fontina cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 green onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons egg, beaten 
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste

1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice
cayenne to taste preference
salt and pepper

Combine quinoa, cheese, flour, onion, egg, pepper and salt together. Heat oil in a skillet and drop scoop into pan and flatten. Cook about 4-5 minutes a side. Combine Greek yogurt and the rest of the ingredients together. Top cakes with yogurt sauce.

Monster Smoothie

Ahh great workout this morning. The gym was basically deserted and I took my time on the machines, and even ran a bit! My breakfast of a cup of joe and a serving size bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats started me off on the right foot. Why is it that I live such a healthier lifestyle when I don’t have to work? I’m trying to take advantage of it while it lasts. For lunch I tried something that I’ve been curious about for a while: a spinach smoothie. It was shockingly good. I couldn’t even taste the spinach, except that it gave a fresh taste to the banana and yogurt mixture. I gulped down a salad-sized amount of spinach in a small glass. A great way to sneak in vegetables!

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana
1 vanilla yogurt
2 handfuls of spinach
Splash of fruit juice (or milk)
Ice – optional: if you want a thicker smoothie
I added shaved coconut to the top, which gave the smoothie a nice chewiness.