I Heart Sweet Potatoes

I found this recipe in a fellow Friday-Illustrator's blog, and I had to try it, using the leftover cooked sweet potatoes I had from making the hanukah balls.



The only thing I did different was that the sweet potatoes - both white and orange - were already cooked (in the microwave), and I used fresh tomatoes (3) and some tomato puree. It was really yammy.

Thai Pumpkin Soup

It was time to relieve the fridge from some of the tupperware that occupied it, so I decided to make a soup out of pumpkin puree and coconut milk, and it turned out surprisingly delicious (not surprising that the flavors blend so well, but that I managed to get something tasty out of them). It's also super easy and ready in less than 10 minutes!



Everything goes into the pot:
about 1 c of pumpkin puree
about 1/2 can of coconut milk
about 1 T of peanut butter
some salt, ginger and garlic powder
about 1 T of brown sugar

warm it all up while stirring and add some water to get the desired consistency. When it's hot enough for you, pour into a bowl and sprinkle with some roasted peanuts and then drizzle some soy sauce (I know it sounds weird, but it's really good - even Mark liked it, and he's not a fan of creamy soups).

French Bakes

Mark's been craving french fries for a while, but he can't find anything in the store that looks remotely healthy, so he decided to make some from scratch.



He also made some out of sweet potato, for me. Yammy!

I know some people consider potatoes as a vegetable side, but I had to make a real vegetable side, so I used up the green beans we had left, and topped them with some sauce. The recipe is taken from the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook (Sundays as Moosewood, I think it's called). It's basically just boiled beans and onion (yes, boiled onion... Mark didn't appreciate it), and the sauce is just butter (1T), flour (2T), a cup of water from the boiled beans, salt, pepper, chives, lemon juice (1t) and 1/4 cup of yogurt (that I used instead of sour cream). I liked it, but I don't think I'm allowed to make it again, not with boiled onions, at least. ;)

Smile - I Made Cheese!

Paneer, to be exact. Second time is the charm, apparently! This time I added a bit of vinegar, as suggested here, and it turned out much better than my first attempt. Actually, it was STUPENDOUS! Yeah, I'm very proud of myself :)



This time the medium I made for it to flow in was also much better than the thick, chunky sweet potato curry I made last time. Indeed, Shahi Paneer, as the name suggests, is the perfect medium for my cheese!

It was somewhat spicy, so it's good I had a glass of lassi handy to put out the fire!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi, In White

Sweet potatoes are so good just as they are, simply cooked, with a bit of salt. But they're also awesome as gnocchi.



We had them with just melted butter and sage. Simple yet delicious!

Pumpkin Soup

What could be better than a nice, warm, flavorful pumpkin soup on a cold winter night? Especially when it's so easy to make!



I took the recipe from here, but modified it somewhat, so here are the ingredients:

• 1 c pumpkin puree
• 1 1/3 cup vegetable broth
• 1 T peanut butter
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• ginger powder
• thyme
• parsley
• salt & pepper
  
• 1/4 c evaporated milk or cream

Combine everything but the in a sauce pan over medium-low heat, reduce to simmer when it starts to jump out (I mostly covered it, but not completely), and add the milk when it's hot enough for you (for me it was within about 15 minutes). Cook on low a few minutes more, then serve.
I sprinkled some crushed roasted peanuts on top and ate it with some bread sticks that Mark made a few weeks ago. YUM!

A Pineapple Upside-Down Cake In A Tea Cup

That's right!
Inspired by the chocolate cake in a mug that bakes in under 3 minutes and doesn't leave too many dirty dishes, I wanted to make use of the few pineapple slices I had from the last time we made some pina-colada smoothie. I couldn't find any recipe for a quick, individual-serving pineapple upside down cake, so I decided to make it up myself.



So that's what I did:
I put a slice of pineapple in a tea cup (wide and short with non curving sides), and a cherry inside the hole and sprinkled some brown sugar on top of that (1 t). In a little bowl, I combined:

• 2.5 T soymilk

• 0.3 t apple cider vinegar

and let it sit for a minute or two until it curdles
(can substitute with 2.5 T buttermilk)
Then I added:

• 1.5 T sugar

• 1/4 t vanilla

• salt

• 3/4 T oil

and mixed it well

Then I added - without mixing at first:

• 4 T flour

• a little less than 1/4 t baking powder

• a sprinkle of baking soda

I Made sure the baking powders are equally spread within the flour by mixing it slightly with a teaspoon, and then started mixing a little more vigorously (but not too much) with the wet ingredients. The mixture then went on top of the pineapple and into the microwave. About 1 minute later it started to rise, and I took it out 40 seconds later.

It was good. Not very delicate - I think taking it out of the microwave a few seconds earlier might have been better. I will continue to experiment and see if it can be improved somehow. Also, if you have any suggestions for making it more light and fluffy, I'll be glad to hear them. All said, it was fairly good, especially for something that take so little time and effort!

(The batter recipe is taken from here and roughly divided by 10).