Sweet Potato Chipotle Pot Pie

Continuing our sweet potato month is my sweet potato chipotle pot pie. These are a great twist on traditional pot pies, a little sweet, a little spicy and delightful! This recipe makes two individual pot pies

Ingredients:
1/2 medium onion
1 apple (peel and cubed)
1 cup steamed cauliflower
1/3 cup frozen peas
2 carrots
1 zucchini
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk (almond or soy)
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 teaspoons of chipotle powder
2 teaspoons of garlic
1 teaspoon of sage
6 ounces of cooked chopped chicken



Crust:
1/2 large sweet potato
2 tablespoons corn starch
3 tablespoons corn meal
1 tablespoon egg beaters
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon stevia

Slice carrotts, place carrots, cauliflower, and peas into a pot and begin to steam. Once carrotts become soft place vegetables into large pan with chopped onion, chicken, zucchini, apple and chicken broth. Bring broth to a boil and add milk, stir and bring to a boil. When mixture begins to boil add corn starch and seasonings. Simmer for a few minutes while mixture thickens. Turn heat off and begin on crust

Peel sweet potato and slice. Place slices on cookie sheets and bake at 350 until soft (about 15 minutes). Mash sweet potato pieces in a bowl, add corn starch, corn meal and egg. Mix until smooth but thick, then add nutmeg and stevia.

Place vegetable mixture into two oven safe ramekins until almost full. Take crust mixture and spoon several teaspoons on a cutting board and flatten and shape with a fork, with a spatula pick up the shaped crust and place on top of ramekins (that are full of vegetable mixture). Seal off the vegetable mix with crust and slit the top of the crust to let air out while it cooks. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, when crust begins to turn brown. Let cool for 10-20 minutes before eating.

White Chocolate Pudding Cookies

What a mouthful! Literally! After three batches I think I finally got this recipe down. These are versatile enough to change with the seasons or your preference. I added cranberries and pistachios, but you could make them with chocolate chips, apricots, or your favorite garnish. These are soft batch type cookies not the crunchy type-- just an FYI.

Ingredients:
1 small box of Jello Pudding (white chocolate)
1 1/3 cup of white bean puree
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of egg beaters (or 1 medium sized egg)
1/3 cup corn starch
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/2 tablespoons of stevia
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped pistachios

Heat oven at 350. Place bean puree in bowl with pudding mix and corn starch. Mix well, batter should be thick. Add egg, oil and vanilla while mixing. The batter should become less stiff. Add stevia, baking soda, cranberries and pistachios. Grease pan and spoon tablespoon sized drops of batter onto pan and flatten them out a bit (they wont spread like regular cookies). Bake in oven for about 15 minutes, or until the cookies become golden brown on top. Cool and enjoy!

Breaded Sardine Greek Bake

I was sitting in the car with my Mom last night and I told her what I was having for dinner...she made a face. Sardines get a bad wrap, but really they taste just like white fish and are loaded with omega 3's and protein. Trust me and give them a try!

2 tablespoons corn meal
1/2 can of sardines
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon thyme
1 handful fresh spinach
1/2 tomato
4 artichoke hearts
1 tablespoon chopped black olives
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
1/5 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven at 350. Mix herbs and corn meal in small bowl, add sardines and mix until they are completely breaded. Take a small casserole dish (individual size) and add spinach. Add tomato, artichoke, olives, and sardines (leaving sardines on the top). Pour olive oil over salad and place in oven at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove dish from oven and top with parmesan.

Sweet Potato Quinoa Muffins

Adding to my sweet potato recipes: I wanted to make a breakfast muffin under 100 calories, high in fiber and protein-- sound like a tall order?? Nope! Quinoa is really the only grain that I eat. It is the only grain that has complete protein and its also gluten free. These muffins have 80 calories, 3.5 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber.

Ingredients:
15 oz can Pinto Beans
1 medium sweet potato
2 eggs
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 teaspoon baking soda

Microwave sweet potato until soft (about 15 mintues). Peel potato and mash. Take 1/4 cup of quinoa and cook. While quinoa is cooking take pinto beans and empty 3/4 of can into a pot and add 1/4 cup of water. Mash pinto beans and boil. Boil beans until water evaportates and beans become a paste. Add sweet potato, beans and quinoa (when its cooked). Add honey, cinnamin and baking soda. When the batter cools add eggs and mix. Empty batter into muffin tins (use cup cake cups). Bake at 350 for about an hour. Let cool and enjoy!

Sweet Potato Veal Stew

I have decided that this month is sweet potato month. I have rediscovered it's delightful taste and versatility, so you will see a few more recipes coming up! I made this the other night for dinner, on a cold rainy night and it hit the spot. I made enough for left overs for lunch all week long. Soup with my Hummus bread on the side warms up my winter days.


Ingredients:
1 medium sweet potato
1/2 bag of frozen spinach
1/2 can white beans
1 medium red onion
3 garlic cloves
1 pound ground veal
2 tablespoons thyme
2 tablespoons sage
1 tablespoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Bake sweet potato at 425 until soft. Remove from oven and peel. Chop sweet potato into small pieces. Boil 8 cups of water, add sweet potatoes and mash with potato masher until pieces disappear. Add beans, meat, onion, garlic and herbs to water. Cover pot and simmer for 1 hour. If the soup becomes too thick then add more water. After an hour add spinach and simmer for another 30 minutes. Soup should be moderately thick but still have a broth element as opposed to a porridge. This soup keeps well in the fridge and is very filling. Bon appetite!

Butternut Squash and Spinach Casserole

Today is a blustery day so I decided to make this warm creamy casserole. I love using butternut squash for savory dishes as its typically only used in sweet dessert type of meals. I made an individual serving so keep that in mind when looking at the recipe.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pureed butternut squash
1/2 cup frozen spinach
1/4 cup ground turkey
2 tablespoons cottage cheese
2 tablespoons egg whites
2 dashes of ground sage
1 dash of thyme

Preheat oven to 425. Take frozen spinach and defrost in microwave and drain the water. Place turkey in pan and cook. Break turkey into small pieces. Mix turkey, spinach, squash, cottage cheese, egg and herbs together in a ramekin and make for about 40 minutes at 425.

Portobello Pizza

These are a great alternative to regular pizza. They can be a great side dish, appetizer or snack. The Parmesan cheese really ramps up the flavor while still being low fat and low calorie.

Ingredient:
4 Portobello Mushrooms
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/3 cup ground turkey
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoon chopped basil
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 small block of Parmesan cheese

Mix turkey, tomato sauce, and spices. Remove the stumps of the mushrooms and fill with tomato mixture, spread it out evenly. Cut slices of Parmesan and over the top of mushrooms so you cannot see the tomato mixture. Place mushrooms on cookie sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes, making sure the turkey has fully cooked.

Delicious Coleslaw

This is really delicious. It can be served as a side dish or as a light entree. It is quick and easy and also keeps well.
Ingredients:
2 Carrots
1 1/2 Zucchini
1/4 cup of raisins
1/4 cup of sliced almonds
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons of creamed horse radish (adjust to personal taste)
1 tablespoon olive oil
dash of salt and pepper

Grate carrots and place in pan with 1 inch of water and bring to boil. Boil for about 3-5 minutes. Drain water and place carrots in bowl. Grate zucchini and add to carrots, along with raisins, almonds, salt and pepper. Make sure the carrots have cooled before adding yogurt sauce. Add yogurt sauce to veggie mixture. Cool and serve.

Salmon Fish Sticks

These are very good and can be made a few different ways. I used Falafel chips which can be found at Whole Foods; you could also use any chips, pork rinds or almond meal. I also dipped them in a honey mustard sauce. They were very tasty!

Ingredients:
1 large piece of Salmon
2 cups of chips/ cereal or 1.5 cup of almond meal
2 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon pepper
1/2 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons Italian seasonings

Preheat oven to 425. Place chips in plastic bag and crush into small pieces almost into a powder. Place powder in bowl and add garlic, pepper, salt, and italian seasonings. Mix well. Cut Salmon into rectangle pieces about 1/2 inch thick. Place salmon in bowl of powder and cover so the powder sticks to salmon. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake until fish is cooked all the way through, about 15 minutes depending on the thickness of your fish.