Mini Sweet Potato Muffins

Remember that bag of sweet potatoes I told ya about earlier? This recipe is another product of that bag needing to be used up. Wanting to appeal more to Mark's (sweet) tastebuds this time around and make something that would hold up a couple days, I thought muffins would be a great way to go; Mark is happy they are sweet and I am happy they have vegetables. As for making them mini? That just allowed me to use my brand new mini muffin pan I purchased this weekend. I call that a win-win-win.

Lightly sweetened with some applesauce and a minimal amount of sugar these bite-sized muffins make a tasty afternoon treat. Some would argue *me* that these should even be considered healthy. Consisting of whole wheat flour, fruit, vegetables, and no butter is enough for me to snack guilt free. You should too :).

Sweet Potato Hash For One

3-lb bags of sweet potatoes were on sale at the grocery store the other week, naturally I bought it. Then we got super busy being that it was Restaurant Week and all, to make a long story short come Friday we still had a 3-lb bag of sweet potatoes to use up....

This recipe is a product of that predicament.

Fried potatoes with onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes topped with an egg... Yes, its just as good as it sounds. Add a little cayenne pepper and the dish becomes especially appreciated after a run in 20 degree weather. It was flavorful and the epitome of fall eating.

Make it. Now.

Wish I would have taken a picture while it was still in the pan

Well I am off to think of other ways to live off sweet potatoes for the upcoming week. Having to come up with ways to use up sweet potatoes, feel bad for me please :).

Sweet Potato Hash For One
Adapted from here

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 small sweet potato, cubed

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/4 cup mushrooms, chopped

1/4 cup bell pepper, chopped

1 roma tomato, chopped

1 egg

sprinkle of cayenne pepper

salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sweet potatoes & onions, cover, and cooked until soft.

Uncover and add mushrooms, bell pepper, tomato, cayenne, salt & pepper. Cook for 5 minutes more or until mushrooms and bell pepper are soft.

Make a hole in the middle of the pan and crack an egg into it, cover and cook for 3-5 minutes more until the whites are set.

Carefully plate and serve.

Enjoy :)

Spicy Black Bean Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Last week ended up being crazy busy for us, as I had to be downtown 3 days in a row unexpectedly. I barely had a second to breathe let alone plan dinner, so the slow cooker was dusted off about a week earlier than expected. Not that I minded spending 15 minutes in the morning to coming home to a wonderfully smelling kitchen.

One of the things I made in the crock pot, besides this delicious chili, was "baked" sweet potatoes. All I had to do was wrap them in foil, throw them in the crock pot, turn on low, and come home with a ravenous stomach and a plan for a quick meal! Have I given thanks to the slow cooker Gods yet?

On the bus ride home I had come up with an idea for the sweet potatoes that involves semi-gutting then re-stuffing them with a tex-mex mixture (a lot like stuffed zucchini or squash). Given my love for the sweet potato/black bean combination and my craving for spice I jotted down a hodgepodge of ingredients I thought would go well with the bean and potato base.

Its basically a "dry" chili with tons of flavor. Now I know this recipe isn't revolutionary in any sense, but it was new to us and ready in about 20 minutes. Mission accomplished.

You could use the mixture as a side dish, filling for a vegetarian burrito, or maybe a sweet potato hash! Oh the ideas that went through my mind as I devoured mine.

Salt & Vinegar "Smashed" Potatoes

"Smashed" potatoes with tofu scramble & brussel sprouts

In my opinion, if there are any two ingredients that are meant to go together, those two ingredients are salt & vinegar. I love salt & vinegar chips, popcorn, and anything pickled (with extra salt on top of course). Around 80% of the time I would choose something salt & vinegar over something sweet; it's just the way I roll.

A few months ago I was surfing the net for some new ideas for how to cook red potatoes when I came across some recipes for salt & vinegar potatoes. I was in love. However, most recipes I found called for boiling the potatoes in vinegar and then mashing them. This seemed like a waste of tasty vinegar to me. Instead I decided to boil the potatoes until soft, then roast them until the skins were crispy, and add the vinegar at the end for a burst of vinegary flavor.

It turned out to be a best-of-both-worlds side dish: Mark got his potato fix, and I got my salt & vinegar fix (for a second anyway). Although it takes a little bit of time its a pretty simple dish and a nice diversion from your typical mashed or baked potato routine. And they go great with a jalapeño aioli tuna melt and a side of broccoli. Just sayin'.