Turmeric Sweet Potatoes

This is one of our favorite ways to make sweet potatoes!!! They not only taste great with all different proteins, they also taste really great leftover. We often serve them with lentils and eggs or with chicken and they taste GREAT with arugula and pistachios on top!! Check ‘em out!!

Turmeric Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 3 large sweet potatoes, cubed

• 1 TBSP turmeric

• 1 tsp avocado oil

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1.5 cup low sodium chicken broth

How to:

1. Saute sweet potatoes in a large pan with avocado oil. Let them cook until they brown and get soft.

2. Add turmeric, garlic and chicken broth.

3. Let mixture simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are really soft!

4. Then, using a potato masher or fork, mash until desired consistency is reached.

5. Serve with a protein, vegetable, arugula and pistachios!!

Loaded Veggie Hummus Dip

This season is filled with parties and potlucks!! This is an awesome appetizer to bring to a party to ensure you are getting vegetables and protein!! You could also make this and keep it around to snack on throughout the week.

One note to make about this recipe is to drain the yogurt slightly before adding it in. After this has sat for a bit, it can get a little watery, but draining the yogurt should help this problem!

Loaded Veggie Hummus Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 16 oz container of favorite hummus

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt, slightly drained

• 1/4 cup diced chives, divided

• 1/2 cup sliced scallions

• 1/2 cup sliced Kalamata olives

• 1+ cup diced radishes

• 1 orange bell pepper, diced

• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced

• 1 red bell pepper, diced

• 1 cucumber, diced

• 1+ cup tomatoes, diced

• salt and pepper to taste

How to:

1. Combine Greek yogurts with 2 TBSP diced chives and refrigerate

2. Chop all vegetables and olives, and place in a large bowl. Mix and season with salt and pepper.

3. Layer hummus around the bottom of a pie dish or 9x9 square dish. Place Greek yogurt and chive mixture on top of the hummus and spread into an even layer.

4. Place vegetables on top of the yogurt layer. Top with the remaining chives.

5. Serve with whole wheat or rice crackers.

Butternut Squash Risotto

As a dietitian, I get several cool perks, like being an ambassador for companies like Siggis. This recipe popped up on one of their feeds and I couldn’t pass it up!! We adjusted the recipe slightly but are seriously IN LOVE! We made it for the first time last week, but made enough butternut squash that we made it again this week. I am not joking, this is one of those dishes that can be eaten for any meal!!

Here is the recipe:

Butternut Squash Risotto

Ingredients:

• 1 small butternut squash

• 1/2 TBSP olive oil

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp cloves

• salt and pepper to taste

• 10 oz mushrooms, sliced

• 1/2 TBSP avocado oil/Ghee

• 1 small white onion, diced

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 cups brown rice

• 2 cups chicken broth

• 2 TBSP Siggis Coconut Yogurt (plus some for topping)

• Green onion, sliced for topping

How to:

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Peel and cube butternut squash. Mix with olive oil, cinnamon, cloves, salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 30-40 minutes, or until tender when poked with a fork.

2. Meanwhile, heat a Dutch Oven or pot with avocado oil. Add mushrooms and onion and cook until softened and browned. Add garlic. Cook 1 minute. Then add rice and broth. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat and cook until broth is absorbed (can add water if more liquid is necessary).

3. Once squash is cooked, allow to cool. Then puree using a blender, food processor or emersion blender.

4. Once pureed, add to the cooked rice and stir well. Add yogurt and thyme. (You may have too much butternut squash depending on the size you bought, in that case set aside and use later).

5. Serve topped with sliced green onion and a dollop of Siggis Coconut Yogurt.

We served ours with pork chops and broccoli the first time and chicken and salad the next :-)

Hope you love this as much as we did!!

Heirloom Tomato Panzanella Salad

Tomato season is upon us!! I am always so amazed at the taste difference between a fresh in season tomato versus one I buy at the store in February! It all of a sudden makes sense to me why they are technically fruits, because I can actually taste their sweetness!!

We received heirloom tomatoes in our LINC Box a couple weeks in a row. Heirlooms are so beautiful and I knew I had to do something fun and special with them. I stumbled across a recipe for panzanella. Now, to be honest, I don’t think I knew what panzanella salad was until this experience. Now I am hooked!! We bought some bread from our local bread shop, The Grain Shed, to use in this salad too! Here is the recipe:

Heirloom Tomato Panzanella

Ingredients:

Here is the bread we used. I had to include a picture because it was SO delicious!!

• 1 1/2 lbs heirloom tomatoes, chopped in large pieces

• 10 oz cherry tomatoes, halved

• 1 cucumber, sliced and quartered

• 1/2+ red onion, sliced

• 4 cups crusty bread, chopped in large pieces

• 1 head basil, chopped

• olive oil

• 2-3 TBSP red wine vinegar

• salt and pepper

How to:

1. Preheat the oven to 300F. Chop the bread into pieces and toss with a little bit of olive oil and salt. Place on a baking sheet and cook for 25+ minutes, or until bread is crusty.

2. Meanwhile, mix together the heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and onion.

3. Add the basil, olive oil and red wine vinegar and carefully mix.

4. Traditionally, you would mix in the bread pieces, however I didn’t want ours to lose their texture and get moist, so I mixed them in with the servings we were having and kept them separate in storage.

We served ours with Greek flavored chicken!! I also served my leftovers with cottage cheese, and trust me when I say it was AMAZING!

Roasted Anaheim Pepper Salsa

We have subscribed to the LINC Box this summer, which is a box that combines local fresh produce weekly! This box has allowed us to experiment with a lot of produce that is out of our ordinary choices! A recent box included Anaheim peppers. I love peppers because of their various taste and heat profiles. Anaheim peppers are not high in heat. They fall between a bell pepper and a poblano pepper. Here is a good chart with common peppers and their heatness ratings:

Because Anaheim peppers are not spicy, I knew they had to be roasted to give the salsa a smokey flavor. Here is the recipe I chose:

Roasted Anaheim Pepper Salsa

Ingredients

• 6 Anaheim peppers, largely chopped

• 12 oz cherry tomatoes

• 3/4 onion, largely chopped

• 3 cloves garlic

• olive oil

• 2-3 TBSP lime juice

• 1/2 bunch cilantro

• salt and pepper to taste

How to:

1. Preheat oven to 425F

2. Mix peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic with 1 TBSP olive oil. Place on a baking sheet.

3. Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast vegetables for 30 minutes, or until slightly browned.

4. Place vegetables in a food process or blender with lime juice and cilantro. Pulse until it reaches desired consistency.

   *When placing hot items in a food processor/blender, make sure you have a place for the heat to escape. I generally hold the lid open using and oven mitt and make sure that the opening is pointed away from my face.

5. Store in refrigerator and enjoy on anything that salsa tastes good on!

We served ours on taco bowls, quesadillas, eggs and even turkey sandwiches!

Thanksgiving Side Dish

Happy Thanksgiving!

The holidays are such an interesting time in the food world because there is such a stigma around gaining weight and overindulging during the season. I love that food brings people together! But I hate that people feel stressed all season long about what they can and can’t eat.

So, here is my golden holiday eating advice: if it is worth the splurge, then splurge BUT you better allow yourself to enjoy it. If it is not worth the splurge, then choose a better option.

For example, I LOVE desserts but know I can go without the alcohol. So, I generally choose to indulge in a good dessert and drink water instead of alcohol. But, that is just me. There is no right way to do it, but it does take some forethought to think about what your non-negotiables are over the holidays.

I did want to share this awesome sweet potato stuffing. If stuffing is not your thing over Thanksgiving, give this one a try. If it is your thing, you enjoy your traditional stuffing :-)

Sweet Potato Stuffing

Ingredients:

• 2 sweet potatoes

• 2 cups halved Brussel Sprouts

• 3 large carrots, sliced

• 3 celery stalks, sliced

• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped

• 6 oz mushrooms, sliced

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 medium apple, chopped

• 2 tsp thyme

• 2 tsp rosemary

• 1 tsp chili powder

• 3/4 tsp salt

• 3/4 tsp pepper

• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped

• 2 TBSP olive oil

How to:

1. Preheat oven to 425F.

2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss with olive oil

3. Transfer to a baking dish and cover with foil. Cook for 45 minutes. Remove foil and cook for an additional 20 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are cooked through.

4. Enjoy!