The Bored Vegetarian

Quinoa with Roasted Sweet Potato, Dinosaur Kale, Chickpeas and Green Onion

Serves 3-4

1 cup Quinoa
2 cups Low Sodium Vegetable Stock
3 cups Sweet Potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
2 cups Dinosaur Kale, stems removed, leaves chopped
1 cup Chickpeas (recommend that you use dried and follow cooking directions on the bag)
1/8 cup Green Onion, chopped (white/light green only)
1 1/2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 tsp Paprika
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil.  Toss to coat.  Season with salt and sprinkle with paprika.  Roast in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are soft, tossing halfway through.  In a saucepan, bring 2 cups of vegetable stock to a boil.  Add quinoa and stir. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked through and the liquid has mostly evaporated.  In a saute pan, saute the kale and chickpeas in remaining olive oil.  Add quinoa and sweet potato and toss everything together.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spoon into a serving bowl and top with green onion.  Serve warm. 

Creamy Sweet Potato & Apple Mash with Mascarpone & Brown Sugar Whiskey Sauce

It’s peak sweet potato season… and whiskey is in season all year round. 

1 large Sweet Potato, peeled and cubed
1 Apple, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup Heavy Cream 
4 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
3 Tbsp Whiskey
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Add sweet potatoes and boil until soft.  In a pan, melt 2 Tbsp of butter.  Add add apples and saute until slightly soft, but not mushy.  Drain sweet potatoes and put back into pot.  Add sauteed apples and cream and mash until potatoes are smooth.  The apples will retain their shape.  Salt to taste and keep warm as you make the sauce.  In a saute pan, melt remaining butter.  Add brown sugar and whiskey and whisk together over low/medium heat until it reduces a bit.  Serve sweet potatoes hot topped with mascarpone and drizzled with whiskey sauce.

Sweet Potato Hash

I served this with a sunny side up egg and a simple mash of avocado, tomato & cilantro

2 Sweet Potatoes, chopped small
1 small Onion, chopped
1 Green Pepper, chopped
1/2 Jalapeno, minced
1 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tsp Chipotle Chili Powder
1 Tsp Cumin
2 Tbsp Extra Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Over low/medium heat, saute chopped onions with a pinch or two of salt for about 4 minutes.  Add potatoes and stir in with onions.  Turn up heat slightly and cover.  Toss potatoes every 2-3 minutes until soft.  Add jalapeno, season with paprika, cumin and chili powder and toss to coat.  Turn up heat a bit to crisp/brown potatoes.  Add chopped green pepper and salt & pepper to taste.  Once pepper is a bit soft, remove from heat and serve.

After a 15 hour work day on Friday, I had one of the best weekends in recent memory.. lots of swimming at Rockaway Beach; Balkan music and cold beer; the Renegade Craft Fair, where I picked up some delicious Salted Honey Caramel Creme from BumbleBerry Farm and this stately otter print (by Ryan Berkley) that brings me extreme joy.

 

Today I stumbled across this rope message in Soho that someone had left for any passers by. 

Romance isn’t dead y’all. 

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Brown Butter Sauce (adapted from Food Network)

For the Gnocchi:
2 pound Sweet Potatoes (I used two large sweet potatoes for this recipe)
2/3 cup Ricotta Cheese
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1 1/4 cup Flour (+ 1/3 more for rolling dough)
 
Preheat the oven to 425.  Prick potatoes with a fork and bake on the middle rack for 40 - 50 minutes until tender.  Allow to cool slight and scoop out potatoes from the skins and mash in a bowl.  You’ll need 2 cups, which you should be able to reach with two large potatoes.  In a bowl, mix potatoes with ricotta, salt, pepper and cinnamon until smooth.  Add flour 1/2 cup at a time to the potato mixture, forming a dough.  It will be sticky.  Lightly flour a flat work service and divide dough into six balls.  Roll balls into 1” around rope.  Cut into 1” pieces (I did mine a diagonal).  Continue the process until all gnocchi is cut.  Boil a large pot of salted water and boil gnocchi in small batches until tender (3-4 minutes).  Drain.

Maple Cinnamon Brown Butter
1 stick unsalted Butter
1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
2 Tbls Maple Syrup (try to avoid table syrup if possible)
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper 

While gnocchi are boiling, melt butter in a pan over medium heat.  Once the milk solids begin to brown, remove from heat and stir in cinnamon, maple syrup, salt and pepper.  Toss the gnocchi in the butter and serve immediately.  Top with parmesan if desired.