Sprint 2 the Table

Appetites and Adventures

Drinking My Valentine

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No candy hearts here.

 This Valentine’s Day marks the first one I’ve ever celebrated candy-free.  It doesn’t seem like a big deal… maybe it’s because Valentine’s Day is a a Tuesday and I’m spending the entire day holed up in a conference room with my boss prepping for a meeting tomorrow?  Or it could be because I’ve been single for 2 years.

In lieu of silly things like candy and flowers, I’m drinking my holiday spirit…. and for once it doesn’t involve red wine.  Today I bring you the best new smoothie I’ve made lately: Roasted Beet and Orange.

You know you make a lot of green smoothies when you get excited that the beets overpowered the spinach to make a red smoothie.

I have never liked beets.  The dirt flavor was off-putting and I didn’t like how they stain everything they touch (I also never ate chicken wings because they are too messy… and the bone grosses me out).

Recently, I discovered how delicious they are with citrus – orange and grapefruit in particular.  When we started the cleanse, I decided to take the plunge and roast them myself.  This has only made me fall completely in love with them!  Just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Freshly roasted, the flavor turns more earthy than straight-up dirt.  I find that the sweetness in these beets came forward more as well.

Source: tasteinspired.wordpress.com

After using the first beet in last week’s red cabbage lentil salad, I started on beet #2.  It’s fairly common to see beets listed in juices, why not smoothies?

This post-workout, protein-loaded breakfast smoothie turned out better than I’d hoped!  The orange flavor was quite prevalent, and the almond extract was an amazing compliment.  Both of these are what I credit for hiding the beet “funk” I was sensitive to.

In case you were wondering, beet sunflower pesto* also eliminates the funk.  🙂

*That post also explains why you should buy ’em even if you don’t like ’em. 

Oh yeah…

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

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Roasted Beet and Orange Smoothie

  • 1 C spinach
  • 1/3 C beet, roasted
  • 1/2 a medium orange
  • 1scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 cap full of almond extract
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp guar gum (optional)
  • 7-8 vanilla stevia drops
  • 1/2 C unsweetened coconut milk
  • Water and ice, to taste
  • Ground flax seed, to top

Put it all in the blender/Magic Bullet and let the magic happen!

***

I’m seriously thinking of taking up online dating.

Do you feel like it’s V-Day today?  Or just another Tuesday?

What is your favorite Valentine’s candy/chocolate/treat?  I love those Reese’s hearts.

High 5 for Monday

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So many new things to talk about!

 

This weekend has been the most low key I’ve had in a while, but it was much needed.  I hit the ultimate level of productivity: not only did I wash the sheets, but I also washed the mattress cover and flipped the mattress.  Be honest: when was the last time you washed you mattress cover?

 

As much as I know you all are riveted by my cleaning accomplishments, here are 5 other announcements that might be more interesting to you (I know my mattress is riveting).

 

1. I am excited to announce that I am a Recipe Guru @ Around the Plate.

You can just call me “Guru” if you wish. 😉

There’s a new button on my side bar for easy access to the site.  If you click on it, go to “thePlate Community” tab and click on Recipe Gurus.  I’m the second from the bottom.

I am excited about the chance to share fun food ideas with more people… and the added motivation to keep it clean. 🙂

 

2. My Recipage is live!

This is really exciting because it will be MUCH easier to search recipes, ingredients, etc on Sprint 2 the Table.  I’m done with Breakfasts and Mains.  All new recipes will be added on Recipage from now on.  Check it out on the top menu bar!

It’s a slow process, but I thought I’d go ahead and unveil it… which will force me to speed it up. 😉

 

 

3. The Blend Retreat is May 4-6th in Boulder, CO.

 

Blend was named from the combo of two things: Blogger + Friend = Blend!  It’s designed to be “relaxed, laid back retreat for healthy living, food and fitness bloggers across North America!!  Instead of focusing on seminars and speakers, the focus will be on FELLOWSHIP and having a weekend away to get to know one another in real life!”

I’m going and you should too!  Tickets are just $75 and there are some great sponsors and activities planned (dinners, hikes, bootcamp class, etc).  Seriously – for this price I was shocked to see how much is included.  Click here for the schedule and here for the list of attendees.

 

4. The dinner with my cleanse buddies was a win.

 

We had so much fun.  One friend brought a delicious avocado-red pepper soup and the other brought an awesome fruit blend covered in cinnamon for dessert.

I brought back another old cleanse recipe – Mamma’s Italian Stir-Fry.  It was just as good the second time around!  This is a great recipe for using what you have.  I used portobello mushrooms rather than shiitake, used 1 huge eggplant, added a red pepper, and tossed in some apple cider vinegar and ground oregano.

 

We ate dinner (sans wine for the first time ever), enjoyed fruit for dessert out of martini glasses, talked about the random smoothies we’ve been making (no one likes what blueberries do texture-wise when blended), and then enjoyed a rousing game of Clue.  Old school and awesome.  Until I lost.

 

5. I ate some ugli.

Ugli fruit, that is.  Have you guys ever seen these?  They are indeed ugly on the outside, but taste like an orange-y grapefruit.  Not quite as sweet as an orange, but it lacked the bitterness of a grapefruit.  I loved it as part of my breakfast!

 

According to Wikipedia, the Ugli fruit was discovered growing in the wild and is a hybrid of a grapefruit, orange, and tangerine.

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This week was a good one for weights… a little lacking on cardio.  I get to try running again on Wednesday and I think my body know that and is subsequently rebelling against the elliptical.  I hate that thing!

Most exciting is my BodyRock progress.  This week’s first video included a progress check – we were to re-do the fit test from Day 1.  I honestly didn’t think I’d improve that much.  For 50 seconds you do as many of each exercise below, take 10 seconds of rest, and then move on to the the next.

 

Apparently I wasn’t feeling the burpees (I was really sore… also, I hate them), but I was really blown away at the improvement in tuck jumps!  All of this without buying any of their equipment.  It can be done with free weights and a bench (or couch).

I can’t wait to see what the final 2 weeks of the BodyRock 30 Day Challenge brings!

 

Workout Recap (2/6 – 2/12)

***

Added benefit of the cleanse: I spent about $350 less this week than I normally do.  Holy cost savings.

What did you do this weekend?

Did it suddenly become arctic where you live?  I actually saw snow flurries!

 

Sweet Potato Pie Chia Pudding

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We’re on Day 5 of a successful cleanse!

16 to go.

Honestly, it hasn’t been hard.  It’s been so great having the friend support, and seeing them feel good makes me even more determined.

Results come quickly!  My friend sent me the following message yesterday morning:

I have an inordinate amount of energy.  This from a girl who consumed no less than 6 servings a day of caffeine… I’m like, let me clean the whole house, do laundry, and work all day with my kid on my hip.  WOO!

I’m so proud of my best friend!!!

The daily breakfast smoothies continue.  I do love smoothies.  With all of the random things I throw in them, I rarely end up with the same concoctions (except my favorite Liquid Sweet Potato Pie).

Atlanta is finally getting cold(er) this week and the thought of a cold drink for breakfast was too much to handle.  Then I remembered – seeds are allowed on the cleanse… that makes chia pudding legal!

I typically make fruit-based chia puddings like this peach cobbler chia or this banana cashew… but there was a giant sweet potato staring at me.  With my favorite smoothie in mind, I decided to try it as a chia pudding.

Sweet Potato Pie Chia Pudding.  Sweet chia, it was good.

Nuts aren’t allowed, so that ruled out adding my usual nut butters… again, seeds are legal… sesame… tahini!

Turned out to be a genius mix-in.  The nutty, toasty flavor came through subtly, adding a cool dimension.

The martini glass certainly added something as well. 🙂

Sweet-potato-chia-pudding

Sweet Potato Pie Chia Pudding

  • 1/4 large sweet potato, baked
  • 1 T chia seeds
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1/2 C unsweetened vanilla coconut milk (or other liquid of choice)
  • 2 tsp tahini
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ginger
  • 2-3 drops vanilla stevia
  • Shake of salt
  • Pinch cloves

In a bowl, mash up the sweet potato until smooth.  Mix in all other ingredients and refrigerate at least 1 hour (or overnight).  If it looks too thick, add more milk or water as needed.

Stir and enjoy!

***

Weekends are always my clean-eating weakness, so I’m really excited to have a dinner and game night with my cleanse buddies!

Have you made chia pudding before?

Are you celebrating Valentine’s Day this weekend?  Share your plans – let me live vicariously!

Clean(se) Eating + WIAW

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My friends and I went crazy.

Monday we kicked off a cleanse.

21 days of veggies, fruits, and protein shakes.  We also get a serving of lentils or wild rice per day, and on day 11 we can add 1 (4 oz) serving of deep sea fish or chicken (I’ll be adding tempeh). Yep – I’m bringing back the Standard Process Cleanse and taking my friends down with me.

We have been exchanging smoothie pics (mine are the greenest – bwhahaha!), sending desperate emails inspired by caffeine-withdraw… MMSing refrigerator pics…

Mallory’s fridge, post-WF trip

We are also planning cleansing group dinners.  Friday is group dinner #1 and game night.  In lieu of wine, I suggested we make grape smoothies.  If we ferment the grapes ourselves, is it cleanse-approved?

Needless to say, this is going to be the cleanest What I Ate Wednesday I’ve posted in a loooong while. 🙂

AND Jenn read my mind because she’s encouraging everyone to post a veggie-centric WIAW.  Check out Jenn’s blog to see what everyone else at this Wednesday!

Breakfast:

Breakfast is the hardest meal.  There’s not a lot of traditional breakfast food that are “approved” other than smoothies and fruit bowls.  Smoothie it is.

This morning was my all-time favorite smoothie: Liquid Sweet Potato Pie.

I do really like protein smoothies, and often eat them for breakfast post-workout… but some days you just want a warm bowl of oatmeal!

Lunch:

I revived an old cleanse favorite from when mom and I did this in 2010.  This is probably my favorite soup ever: Butternut Squash-Apple Soup.

My only tweak was to use fresh basil instead the rosemary… then I added some dried rosemary too ’cause I love it.

Lunch part 2 was a GIANT salad.  I tend to bring these to work to be eaten directly from the plastic container when I have about half of the greens left.

In my salad:

  • Arugula
  • Raw asparagus (julienned)
  • Leftover roasted zucchini
  • Celery
  • Broccoli sprouts
  • Nutritional yeast
  • Lemon juice + EVOO

Snacks:

Midday veggie break with dip – as much as it may look like a turd, that’s eggplant dip.  Veggies dipped in veggies, FTW.

Post-dinner snack dessert was a protein banana softserv.

In my serv:

  • Frozen banana
  • 1 scoop protein powder
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 5-6 drops vanilla stevia
  • ~1/3 C unsweetened vanilla coconut milk
  • With berries on top

Dinner:

Last night Heather came over for dinner.  She was nice enough to loan me her bike for a bit while my knee heals, and I offered dinner (and wine… which I now can’t have) in return.  Luckily Heather is vegan, so my menu options weren’t terribly weird to her.

Cabbage with lentils, beets, spinach, and eggplant “bacon.”  To be honest, I could eat like this all the time.  

Recipe to come!

In lieu of wine, I sipped on fresh kombucha from a growler of Buchi Fire from Whole Foods’ tap.

Stellar customer service story – they were having trouble with the tap at my local Whole Foods.  I waited a solid 10 minutes and the bottle would only fill a little over half way.  The awesome guy working the tap got a manager, who COMPED the contents of the growler.  That right – I got it for FREE… plus 2 regular-sized bottles of Buchi Fire to equal a full growler.

I joke and refer to Whole Foods as Whole Paycheck a lot, but they really do offer quality products and a fantastic customer experience.

***

Don’t forget to enter to “Be My Veggie Valentine” and win 1 of 3 boxes of heart-shaped veggie cookies from Cookie Underground!  Click here to enter.

I’m seeing a lot of juice cleanses lately – have you done one?

What is your favorite “clean” food?

ChocolateLove: Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies

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These are a few of my favorite things…

 

Really.  How can one possibly go wrong with chocolate, peanut butter, and salt?

 

 

Side note: the best thing about vegan cookies is the fearless eating of batter… not that egg in batter ever stopped me before.

 

The site of the flaky fleur de sel and crunchy pretzel bits poking out of fudgy dough may tempt you to eat an entire scoop raw. *Please tell me I’m not the only one that does that*

 

 

February is the month of foil-wrapped chocolates, Hallmark cards, and over-priced flowers.  I beg you, this Valentine’s Day skip the artificial red colored stuff and go straight for the dark chocolate treats.

No one will miss the boxes of processed chocolates and Forrest Gump metaphors for life..  I promise.  

 

 

At the very least they won’t be able to protest with their mouths full. 😉

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies

  • 2 T softened butter (or Earth Balance)
  • 2 T unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4 C light brown sugar
  • 1/4 C xylitol
  • 1/4 C peanut butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 egg (or flax egg)
  • 1 T unsweetened almond milk (or other liquid)
  • 4 T cocoa
  • 1/2 C all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 C whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 C crushed pretzels
  • Fleur de sel (or other high-quality flaky salt)

 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

With a hand mixer, cream together butter, applesauce, sugars, and peanut butter.  Add in milk, vanilla, and egg.

Sift together remaining ingredients (except pretzels) and incorporate into butter mixture.  Fold in pretzels.

Scoop dough in ~2T balls onto parchment-lined baking sheet.  Lightly flatten with palm and sprinkle with fleur de sel.

Bake for 8-10 mins.

Makes 15 cookies.

Note: My peanut butter was really thick, so I needed that 1 T of milk.  Depending on what you use, you may not – use your judgment here.

***

I’ll be lucky if I even get cole in my stocking.  Wait.  Wrong holiday.

Would you rather have chocolate or cookies?  Something else?

***

February is #chocolatelove month! I am excited to be co-hosting this month’s lovebloghop for the first time.  Please check out my co-hosts’ posts too:
A Little Bit of Everything ~ Roxana ~ @RoxanaGreenGirl
ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan
Badger Girl Learns to Cook ~ Kimberly ~ @BdgrGrl
Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29
Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins
Baking Extravaganza ~ Samantha
BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker 
Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth
CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog
Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess
Cakeballs, Cookies and More ~ Sue
Cooking with Books ~ Marnely ~ @nella22
Creative Cooking Corner ~ Karriann ~ @KarriannGraf
Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies
Elephant Eats ~ Amy
Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes
Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19
Java Cupcake ~ Betsy ~ @JavaCupcake
Kitchen Belleicious ~ Jessica ~ @kbelleicious
Mike’s Baking ~ Mike ~ @mikesbaking
Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk
No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley
Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose
Rico sin Azucar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar
Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla
Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem
Smart Food and Fit ~ Lisa ~ @LisaNutrition
Soni’s Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood
Sprint 2 the Table ~ Laura ~ @Sprint2theTable
Teaspoon of Spice ~ Deanna ~ @tspbasil 
That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick
The Dusty Baker ~ Jacqueline ~ @dustybakergal
The More Than Occasional Baker ~ Ros ~ @bakingaddict
The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd
The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian 
Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack
Vegetarian Mamma  ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma
You Made That? ~  Suzanne ~ @YouMadeThatblog

 

Join us in the #chocolatelove fun by linking up any chocolate recipe from the month of February 2012. Don’t forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #chocolatelove event!  The Twitter hashtag is #chocolatelove.

 

Super Foods + Miso Carrot Soup

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Super Bowl, that is.

 

Do you know what you’re bringing to the par-tay on Sunday?  Dips and finger foods are king on game day, many of which are not exactly health foods.  Even if the party isn’t at your house, you can be sure to have a non-fried item or two to munch on if you contribute a clean item or two.

 

Here are a few game day-worthy ideas:

Chipotle Corn Hummus

 

Indian-Spiced Roasted Chickpeas (They’re like bar nuts!)

 

Baked Rutabaga Fries with Cheesy Vegan Non-Cheese Sauce (This works well with sweet potatoes and parsnips too!)

 

Roasted Red Pepper & Asparagus Mini Quiches

 

Blue Cheese-Stuffed Black Bean Burgers

 

Annnnnd… a dessert.  Not so healthy as yesterday’s Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, but OMG they are GOOD…

S’Mores Brownies

 

I should admit that I’m only in this thing for the snacks and the commercials.  If you’re like me (or not) these snacks won’t disappoint!

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Now that the football talk is out of the way, it’s time for some more orange food.  Seriously – 90% of everything I’ve eaten this week is orange – Sweet Potato Pie Smoothies, Sweet Potato Fry Nachos, Pumpkin Protein Bars, this soup…

 

 

It may be a little early for carrot soup.  The orange would be perfect for Easter!  After making it, I couldn’t wait 2 months to share it.

 

Rich miso with lots of ginger and cumin make this soup something special.  I loved the bold flavors against the sweetness from the carrot.  Add a bit of cinnamon to give it a little more depth and highlight the cumin.

 

 

This will be making another appearance for the Easter Bunny.

Like many great recipes, this one is based on a soup by Smitten Kitchen.

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Miso Carrot Soup

  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 lb carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
  • 1 T finely chopped ginger
  • 2 C vegetable broth
  • 2 T white miso paste
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • Optional garnish: cilantro, freshly ground pepper, red pepper flakes, squeeze of lime juice


Heat oil in heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and ginger, and sauté until onion is beginning to turn translucent (~5 mins). Add carrots and continue to sauté until carrot softens a bit (to a “steamed” softness).  Stir in broth. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender when pierced (~30 mins).

Remove fro heat and puree soup with an immersion blender (or in rounds using a regular blender). In a small bowl, whisk together the miso 1/3 C of the soup.  Stir the mixture back into soup.  Taste the soup and season with cumin and cinnamon.

Ladle into bowls and garnish as desired.  I loved mine with cilantro, freshly ground pepper, red pepper flakes, and a squeeze of fresh lime.

Makes 4 sides or 2 mains.

***

I’m really excited for a certain non-football event this weekend – Lee is hosting an Atlanta bloggers potluck!

What is your favorite food to bring to a party?

What are you doing other than Super Bowl-watching this weekend?

 

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

By

These Chocolate Zucchini Muffin sound a little strange, but you’d never guess the sneaky zucchini add.  Best of all, these 100 calorie bites are vegan, gluten-free, and almost sugar-free.

This deliciousness took me a week to get right.  But when I did… oh lawd they were good!

Judging from the reaction these chocolate muffins got at this week’s dinner party, I found the right combination of ingredients.

Chocolate-y and moist, these are muffins you could chow on for breakfast without guilt.

Why guiltless?  Because you would be starting out your day with veggies!

The “secret” ingredient in these is zucchini!  Fool your kids, your partner, your co-workers… yourself… you cannot detect a trace of the veggie.  I’d put money on it.

I love making these as mini muffins.  It makes them perfect for snacking, and they remind me of those trashy-but-delicious brownie bites from  the grocery store.

These zucchini-filled treats please basically everyone.  They’re vegan, gluten-free, almost sugar-free, and a mere 100 calories!  Unicorn brownie bites! 

I realize the ingredient list is long, but it doesn’t take much time to throw it together and the end result is well worth it!

 

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

  • 1/4 C cocoa powder
  • 1/4 C coconut flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp guar gum (or cornstarch)
  • 2 T Xylitol
  • 2 T NuNaturals Fiber Baking Blend (or other sweetener)
  • 1/2 tsp instant coffee
  • Shake of salt
  • 1 flax egg (1 T ground flax + 3 T water)
  • 1/4 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or other milk substance)
  • 2 T coconut oil
  • 2 T unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1 T almond butter (or other nut butter)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 C shredded zucchini
  • 1/4 C chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Set aside.

In a small bowl mix egg, milk, oil, nut butter, and vanilla until well-combined.  Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until just combined.

Squeeze out zucchini to remove excess moisture, then add to batter along with chocolate chips.  Gently fold to combine – don’t over-mix!

Place 12 muffin liners in a muffin pan (or lightly grease a mini muffin pan) and spoon the mixture into each tin so they are about 1/2 full.

Bake on the middle rack for 10-15 mins, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before serving.

Makes 12 small muffins or 24 minis.

Approximate Nutrition for small muffin: 100 calories, 7.4g fat, 9.5g carbohydrates, 3g fiber, 2g sugar, 1.5g protein

Notes:

  • I have tried this with a full 1/4 C of coconut oil (rather than 2 T oil and 2 T apple sauce) and found it to be too greasy, but you could try it either way
  • You could also leave out the guar gum; however, it helps the muffins to stay together better (coconut flour can result in crumbly baked goods)
  • If you can’t find Xylitol or the Baking Blend, you can use any sugar/sugar-replacer

***

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the Buzz… my “Beefy” TVP Chili made the FoodBuzz Top 9 today!

How do you sneak veggies in?

If you have worked with coconut flour, what’s your favorite recipe?

Nacho Wednesday

By

I am a big fan of trying new things.*

*Unless those new things are Dad’s Nads.

I’ve been really good lately about working through recipes/ideas I’ve noted to try.  This week I have made 3 new dishes already this week!

Side note: I’m really excited/flattered that so many people tried my Citrus Chickpea Cilantro Salad!  Check out this rendition by Sarah @ Quotidienne Moi. 

 

Back on track: with all the fun new recipes, this What I Ate Wednesday is more like “what I’ve eaten so far this week.”

 

Breakfast:

Great morning workouts leave me ravenous and in need to protein.  Kasey @ PowerCakes created this “Power Pumpkin Roll” that I knew I had to try.  This monster is ~450 calories and packs 45g of protein!

I am powerful.

I followed her recipe exactly, though next time I may add another 2 T of pumpkin and leave out an egg white.  I’m curious to know if it would work with flax eggs… that’s a lot of egg though!

Even if you don’t make the roll, make the Chia Vanilla Frosting.  I don’t often think yogurt tastes like dessert, but this one really does!

Lunch:

It must have been the week of orange, because my lunch was even more vibrant than the pumpkin roll!  This miso-laced carrot soup was as delicious as it looks!  Recipe to come Friday!

Served with a giant arugula and celery salad, which I dressed with hot sauce from the Mexican grocery store (the only place to go shop you are serious about heat), nutritional yeast, cumin, and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Dinner:

Last night I had a couple of my favorite over for dinner.  My favorite Sports Glutton, Jed, recently shared a link to his Sweet Potato Nachos that I’ve been drooling over ever since.

One of my dinner guests is gluten-free, and we all make an effort to eat clean.  This dish is a much healthier alternative to your typical nachos, particularly with some modifications!

I used dried black beans… though I was a bit panicked when I realized I forgot to soak them.  Some Googling lead me to a cool method by The Paupered Chef that involved a quick boil followed by 75 mins in the oven.  I have never heard of cooking them in the oven, but it worked perfectly!  Click here for the details.

Post-oven, I let the beans rest until it was time to re-heat for company.  Jed simmered his beans in beer… I am fresh out, so I added the following (post oven-bake) to flavor my beans over medium heat:

  • 1/4 C veggie broth
  • 1/2 yellow onion
  • 2 Chipotle peppers in adobo
  • Dashes of paprika, garlic, parsley, red pepper, cayenne pepper, and oregano

While that cooked I prepared the sweet potatoes… the easy way with Alexia’s Sweet Potato Waffle Fries.  Nom.

When the fries were done I topped them with tomatoes, serrano peppers, and queso.  Back into the oven on broil then went while I sliced an avocado and minced cilantro.

Remove, decorate, and devour.

 

Oh yes, there was also wine.  A Roquevale 2005 Portuguese Red (Alentejo) blend of Aragonez, Alfrocheiro, and Cabernet Sauvignon.  This was a big, fruity, dark wine that I could drink all night long.  Arguably a little heavy for a spicy Mexican-ish meal, but I love a big wine.

Also exciting: I got to use my chalkboard wine art glasses!

I was the lucky winner of a giveaway at Ancient Fire Wine and received 4 bottles of wine from Tapena.  The Garnacha we tried was delicious!  It was approachable without compromising body.  We picked it as an earlier wine (thinking it would be lacking), but it was great!  I’d drink it anytime!

Dessert:

For dessert we nibbled on the vegan, gluten-free dessert I teased you with last week… I’m finally posting the recipe tomorrow!

We also have another dessert nibble courtesy of Callie – she sent over some Rawxies to sample and OMG are they ever good.

My favorite was the Cinnamon Walnut Raisin.  I love how the cinnamon came through – so often the taste gets lost in the sweetness of desserts.

Raw, gluten-free, and vegan… and totally worthy of a dessert platter to share with friends.  I may have enjoyed one as an afternoon snack as well… 🙂

***

Those Sweet Potato Nachos would be a GREAT addition to a Super Bowl spread!

Are you watching the Super Bowl?  Any fun dishes planned?

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten so far this week?

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