Spicy Sweet Potato Fries with Dipping Sauce

These disappear quickly.
Prep time: 10 Minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4+ as a side

INGREDIENTS
2-3 sweet potatoes (about 2 lbs)
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon hot sauce (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt to taste
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ cup honey
½ cup prepared mustard (I like Dijon the best)
¼ cup mayonnaise

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 425F.

Scrub the potatoes under cold water. Slice each potato in half lengthwise, then each half into lengthwise spears each about 1/2” wide. Place spears in a large food-safe plastic bag. Pour in the canola oil and hot sauce, seal the bag, and shake to coat the wedges with the oil-hot sauce mixture.

Open the bag and array the fries, skin side down, in a single layer on a baking tray. Sprinkle with ground cumin, salt and pepper, and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until browned and crisp on the outside.

While the fries are cooking, mix the honey, mustard, and mayo in a small bowl.

Serve fries hot with dipping sauce alongside.

Photo and recipe by Tod Dimmick

Curried Butternut Broccoli Soup

This hearty cream soup, enjoyed after a cold day outside, was perfect for the occasion.  Prepare extra squash, broccoli, and potatoes a day or two beforehand, and it's very fast prep (not to mention efficient use of leftovers, if you're that type of cook).

Prep time:  15 minutes
Cook time:  20 minutes
Serves:     4-6

INGREDIENTS
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups cooked butternut or other winter squash
1 1/2 cups steamed broccoli, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups cooked potatoes or sweet potatoes, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, minced (about 2/3 cup)

DIRECTIONS
In a deep stock pot, combine the stock, squash, broccoli, potatoes, curry powder, and salt.  Puree with an immersion blender to a smooth consistency.  (Alternatively, prepare in batches in a food processor or blender).  Place the stock pot on your stove over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until beginning to bubble.

While soup is heating, heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat and saute the onions, stirring, for 5-8 minutes or until they become soft and translucent.  Remove from heat.

Distribute soup to serving bowls, garnishing with caramelized onions, and perhaps with a touch of sour cream.



Variation:  Swap in other winter squash.

Sweet Potato Latkes

These rich savory-sweet cakes are a meal unto themselves.

Prep time:  20 Minutes
Cook time:  20 Minutes
Serves:  4-6

INGREDIENTS
2-3 sweet potatoes, scrubbed.  (yielding 4-5 cups shredded)
1 medium sized onion (yielding about 1/2 cup shredded)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 eggs, whisked
1/3 cup olive or canola oil

METHOD
Cut any unappetizing spots out of your sweet potatoes, but leave the rest of the peels (see this article about sweet potato nutrition, with peels).  Shred the potatoes and the onion, and scrape potatoes into a mixing bowl.  Sprinkle with the flour, salt and pepper, and stir to coat.  Pour the whisked eggs over the potato mixture, and toss to moisten all of the potato pieces.  The mixture should exhibit a tendency to cling together.  If too moist, add a little more flour.  If too dry, add a little water or milk.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  When a drop of water dances lightly in the skillet, you're ready for cooking.  If that water is too energetic, turn the heat down.  Using two spoons, lift up a ragged clump of shredded potato and gently smoosh that clump into rough pancake shape in the skillet.  Repeat to cover the skillet with cakes, being sure to keep them separate.  Cook for 4-5 minutes or until crisp and browned on the underside, then gently turn them and cook for another 3-4 minutes, or until crisp on both sides and soft in the middle.  Remove to paper towels to drain, and cook the rest of the mixture.


Serve hot, as is, or topped with an egg like here.  Or with applesauce.  Or sour cream.  Or butter.  There are many possibilities.

Photos and recipe by Tod Dimmick

Whole Grain Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies

Try these for an innovative destination for sweet potatoes!  I adapted this recipe from Penzey's (which, by the way, is a terrific source for herbs, spices, and spice mixtures).  The consistency is more cake than cookie, but regardless the result passed the kid test with flying colors.  I may go back and test this again with only one egg to see if I can get closer to that great chewy cookie texture.

Prep time:  10 minutes (not including baking sweet potatoes)
Cook time:  15-18 minutes
Yield:   3-4 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup mashed, cooked sweet potato
1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature
2 eggs
1/2 cup Stevia-based sweetener (I used Truvia)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch salt
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325F.

In a mixing bowl, blend the sweet potato, butter, eggs, sweetener, vanilla extract, lemon extract.  In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Beat the mixtures together until all dry material is incorporated and you have a thick dough.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Place spoonfuls of the dough onto baking sheets.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until cookies are just firm in the center.

Roasted Root Vegetables

This recipe is super easy and combines some great winter vegetables. Substitute any veggies for others!

Olive oil
2-3 Tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (or less of dried herbs)
1-2 sweet potatoes or storage potatoes
1-2 rutabagas
1 purple-top storage turnip
2 carrots
1-2 parsnips
1 onion
garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 F and chop your vegetables into 1-inch or so chunks. Leave garlic peeled and just crush it with the side of a knife. Toss with olive oil and herbs and spread it all on a baking sheet with edges or casserole dish. Bake until tender and slightly browned, stirring once or twice, about 40 minutes.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are actually the roots of a vine in the Convolvulacea family (morning glory family) and are totally unrelated to the tuberous potato. And, to settle those kitchen table debates, yams and sweet potatoes are completely different vegetables. (Yams grow from a grassy plant mostly produced in Africa).

Store unwashed in a cool (55-60 F), very dry place. Never refrigerate nor keep them in plastic bags. Sweet potatoes might not last quite as long as storage potatoes, check often for signs of rot and remove them promptly.

Sweet potatoes have a high nutritional value, with lots of beta carotene and twice the RDA of Vitamin A. Keep the skin on! No peeling necessary. They are very versatile: try piercing them with a fork and baking them whole, boiling, mashing, roasting, candying, frying, or making pies with them.

Sweet Potato, Corn, and Black Bean Hash
from eatingwell.com

2 teaspoons canola oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
4 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water or part water, part orange juice
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 lime, cut into wedges
Sour cream, optional

Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté until browned in spots, 3 to 5 minutes. Add sweet potato and cook, stirring, until it starts to brown in spots, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic, jalapeño, cumin and salt; sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add water/juice and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until liquid is absorbed, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in corn and black beans and cook until heated through. Stir in cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Serve with lime wedges.

Winter Storage

Storing your bounty of winter vegetables is easy! Remember to check them frequently, pulling out anything with the start of sprouts or rot. Of course, you can still use these, just cut out those bad parts and use the rest. As a general rule, most winter veggies store ideally at 50 F, so if your fridge is full, try an unheated basement, garage or unused bedroom. Just make sure temperatures will not be at freezing at your storage site.

Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes
Keep unwashed in a cool, dry, DARK place, such as a loosely closed paper bag in a cupboard (never in plastic bags). Ideal temperature is 40-50 F. You can still use sprouted potatoes, just cut out the eyes. Sweet potatoes might not last quite as long as potatoes, check them often.

Root Crops (Celeriac, Rutabaga, Turnip, Beets, Parsnips, Carrots)
The ideal place is near freezing with high humidity. You can store these unwashed in a refrigerator in a plastic bag where they should save several weeks. To save fridge space, you can keep them in boxes filled with soil or sand or moist wood shavings in an unheated (but never freezing) part of your house such as a garage or basement.

Onions and Shallots
Keep them in a cool, dark, dry place with good air circulation (not in plastic) where they won’t freeze. Shallots will last longer. Sprouted parts are fine to use.

Daikon Radishes and Leeks
Wrap the unwashed roots in a plastic bag in the fridge. It will keep for a couple of weeks.

Winter Squash
Keep between 50 F and room temperature, in a cool, dry place without direct sunlight. Do not store in the refrigerator.

Rutabega fries

Last year on of our CSA members shared this lovely fried veggie recipe with me, and it became my favorite winter-time snack!

Ingredients:
a couple of rutabegas
a couple of sweet potatoes
olive oil
sage
salt and pepper

what to do:
cut up the sweet potatoes and rutabegas into large 'matchsticks'
toss them (lightly coat) in olive oil, salt, pepper and sage.
put them on a baking tray and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes (or until brownish) flipping once or twice along the way.

Enjoy--i think they are best dipped in sour cream! yum! winter treats!