Granola Bars

Tomorrow we leave for our work trip/mini vacation to San Francisco. Which means this entire week has brought with it some rather interesting meals as we cleaned out the fridge before leaving (strawberries with broccoli and spring onions all wrapped up in a peanut butter smeared whole wheat tortilla... anyone? It was actually pretty good). Luckily we had lots of left overs after a bbq we had on the 4th to tie us over as well. So although I still need to pack and get a few miscellaneous things together, I thought I'd share a granola bar recipe with you first.

I had two lonely bananas staring back at me this morning, getting more brown speckles on them as each day passed and I knew they definitely wouldn't be pretty by the time we returned. So I figured I'd make a batch of granola bars. I made these bars a couple weeks ago when we were up on Mt. Rainier for a weekend retreat and because they were so good I figured I'd make them again.

I wrote about finding the perfect granola bar recipe over a year ago and since then I have tested and tried many, many, different variations. Some were pretty great, others not so much. The bars I'm sharing today are very similar, but use mashed banana in place of the honey, which makes them sugar free, unless of coarse you add in the chocolate chips. & nbsp;

They are soft and chewy and they don't fall apart when you eat them. I think they are an exceptional little bar to have around for snacking. They're also great for long road trips where you're sitting a long ways, or those times when you have a busy day/weekend ahead and you need something to sustain you through the end without being loaded with sugar.

I've actually made the recipe for these bars below very adaptable to your flavor preference, giving basic guide-lines to an amount for each ingredient and options to follow. The only one I would be careful on is the 1/4 cup seeds. I used a 1/4 cup mix of sunflower, sesame, and poppy seed, you could use all sunflower, but you probably wouldn't want to use an entire 1/4 cup of smaller seeds like poppy. But really have fun with the flavors. Try a tropical bar using cashew butter, macadamia nuts, dried mango, dried papaya, and coconut.

Granola Bars

loosely adapted from Anja's Food 4 Thought

makes 8-10 bars

2 ripe bananas

1/2 cup nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew), preferably all natural

1/2 cup roughly chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachio, cashew, pecan, macadamia)

1/4 cup seeds (sunflower, sesame, poppy, chia) & nbsp;

1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup dried fruit (cranberry, cherry, apricots, papaya, mango, raisin, strawberry, blueberry)

1/4 cup chocolate chips or cocao nibs, optional

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, optional

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, optional

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment. I haven't made these without parchment because I think they would really stick without it. Plus it makes for really easy clean up anyways.

In a large bowl mash the bananas with the back of a fork. Stir in the nut butter until everything is well combined.

Add the oats, chopped nuts, seeds, dried fruit, chocolate, cinnamon, and coconut if using. Stir well until everything is well combined. The batter will be very, very wet and you'll wonder if this will even bake, it will.

Spread the batter evenly into your prepared baking pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The top should be slightly browned and give a little when pressed. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars, this is important. Store wrapped tightly in a container or in the fridge.

Asian Cabbage Salad

These days walks to the post office or down to the beach start with layers upon layers of clothing and a briskness in each step. The sky is a faded blue and barely streaked with a few white clouds, the air feels clean, crisp, and cold. There are still trees holding tightly to their leaves, all shades of deep red, brilliant orange, bright yellow and even a few green ones still left; knowing that the first strong wind and rain storm to pass through is coming soon and will tear them from their worn out branches.

As I was preparing this salad, it reminded me exactly of my walks from these recent days. Studded with orange form the carrots, reds and greens from the peppers, and yellow green from the cabbage. Even though I usually crave warming foods this season, this salad was welcome if only for it's beautiful colors. It even tasted of the crispness in the air, if you can image.

It's not very often that I make salads with an Asian inspired dressing, but cabbage seems to beg to be dressed with all things sesame, soy, and vinegar. It comes together pretty quickly once everything has been chopped and if you have a food processor it makes the task of shredding even quicker.

This salad is still great the next day, but it's not quite as pretty because the cabbage begins to soak up lots of the dressing and sort of slumps over. I would however recommend giving it at least 30 minutes to really soak in the dressing before serving if you can.

Asian Cabbage Salad
Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics
serves 6-8

4 cups grated savoy or napa cabbage
2 cups peeled and grated carrots (about 2 large carrots)
4-5 fresh green and red chilis (use mild and hot varieties), seeded and minced
1 cup diced shallots
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
roughly chopped peanuts or almonds for topping(optional)

dressing
2 tablespoons vegetable or other neutral oil
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
3 tablespoons rice vinegar, or more to taste
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon mirin or dry sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey or sugar, or to taste
pinch of salt

Place the cabbage, carrots, peppers, shallots, garlic, and cilantro in a large bowl (make sure it's large enough that you can toss everything without spilling everywhere).

In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour over the cabbage mixture and toss thoroughly. Taste and and more salt or vinegar if needed. Serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I probably only realized my love for brussels sprouts a few years ago. Like many, my youth brought mushy, boiled sprouts that never received a second thought, until they day I tasted them roasted.

This totally changed the game for me and now I eat my fill this time of year. But while I normally roast them in a high temperature oven, they would often still be missing a certain flavor or texture I was looking for. Then about a week ago I saw a technique on The Kitchn that has you actually broil them quickly instead. It made total sence and I couldn't wait to try.

Tossed with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, then thrown into a hot cast iron skillet before a quick roast under the broiler; it couldn't be any simpler. They turned out charred and smoky on the outside, with a perfectly cooked, but not mushy, inside. I went back for more. Even though this post is less of a recipe and more of a technique, I urge you to find yourself with a full bag of brussels sprouts and about 10 minutes of your time, because that's about all the time you'll need for this simple and healthy side dish.

A squeeze of lemon is all you really need to jazz them up a bit, but Parmesan is a nice touch if you do dairy too. I like to keep them on the side because I don't want the lemon juice to soften up the crispy outsides of the sprouts too soon.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
adapted from The Kitchn
serves 4 as a side

1 1/2 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed and outer leaves removed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
lemon wedges for serving
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese for serving (optional)

Place your oven rack at the very top and turn on the broiler and set a large cast iron skillet over high heat.

Cut the prepared brussels sprouts in half lengthwise, place in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. When your cast iron pan is hot enough to where a water droplet evaporates on contact, pour all the brussels sprouts in and quickly flip them all over so their cut side is down. It's ok if they don't all fit just get them all in there and don't stir them around once they're set.

Place the skillet in the oven and broil for 3 minutes. The outer leaves should have started to darken and turn crispy. Keep them in for several minutes longer, about 5-7 minutes in total cooking time.

Serve immediately alongside lemon wedges and Parmesan cheese if using.

Mini Twice Baked Potatoes with Spinach & White Bean Filling

I was recently invited by Guilt Taste to participate in reviewing some of their beautiful gourmet products. & nbsp;The first shipment was their Chef's Garden box from Farmer Jones Farm. It arrived on my doorstep late last week and after bringing it inside I headed straight to the kitchen to open what was inside. Carefully wrapped in insulated bubble wrap with a cold pack was a beautiful assortment of seasonal vegetables and herbs. I just about & nbsp;squealed & nbsp;with delight when I discovered the colorful little edible flowers (I guess the sight of flowers this time of year is exciting, considering most of what's outside right now around here is brown and dying). After carefully taking stock of what all was in there I had my mind set on making a healthy seasonal appetizer.

Everyone loves a two-bite sized appetizer, but most of the time they're a little on the unhealthy side, especially when it comes to twice baked potatoes. I decided to resolve that by adding a little & nbsp;protein & nbsp;(in the form of white beans) and spinach to the potato filling and seasoning it all with spices and fresh herbs. The result is so good you won't even miss the cream, butter, or cheese. & nbsp;

These are simple to make and don't really take much time to make aside from filling them, but they can be assembled a day ahead and quickly re-heated the next day to save yourself some time. It will seem like a lot of spinach when your done chopping, but once it cooks down it all fits in nicely. I had a little leftover, but I just nibbled that up myself. In fact, I could have eaten just the filling by itself, and decided you could make a lazy version of this as a meal and instead of filling the potatoes, just mash everything up together, maybe add more beans and seasoning and call it dinner.

Mini Twice Baked Potatoes with & nbsp;Spinach & amp; White Bean Filling
makes 24 small potatoes

24 small potatoes, scrubbed and washed well

2 tablespoons olive oil diveded

4 ounces spinach, washed and dried

1/2 cup cooked white beans

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

pinch of cayenne (optional)

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano

Preheat the oven to 425˚F. & nbsp;

Toss the potatoes in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and a pinch of salt. Place on a baking sheet, pierce each with a fork, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender when pierced. Let cool for about 10 minutes or until you can handle them without burning yourself.

Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, use a small spoon to hallow out the middle. Make sure to leave enough of the side so the potatoes maintain their structure. Transfer insides to a bowl and set aside.

Thinly slice the spinach into strips. The easiest way to do this is to stack each leaf on top of one another and slice with a sharp knife. In a large skillet, heat up the last of the olive oil. Gently cook the garlic for a minute, then add the beans, cooked potato flesh, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne, if using. Cook while mashing everything together with the back of a fork or a potato masher. Once everything is well mashed and incorporated stir in the spinach. Cook until spinach just begins to wilt. Turn off the heat and stir in the fresh oregano.

Take the hallowed out potato halves and fill them with the spinach mixture. I started this process trying to be really careful with a fork, but soon found it was much easier to really fill each potato if I held it in my hand and used my other hand to grab a bit of the filling and pack it down in. & nbsp;

At this point you can either pop them right back into the oven for about 8 minutes to warm up again or you can place them in the & nbsp;refrigerator until your ready to heat and serve. If cooking later, turn your oven back up to 425˚F and heat for 8-10 minutes. & nbsp;

Some tasty topping ideas would be sliced green onion, Greek yogurt, sour cream, & nbsp;caramelized & nbsp;shallots, chives, or more fresh herbs, and cheese. & nbsp;

* Full Disclosure: & nbsp;Guilt Taste graciously provided me the spinach, & nbsp;potatoes, garlic and oregano for this recipe. & nbsp;I was not paid and all photo's, text, and opinions are my own. & nbsp;

Lemon-Herb Seasoned Popcorn

I have mixed feelings about popcorn. I'm honestly not really a big fan of it (gasp!), but Scott absolutely loves the stuff. I'll eat a handful of it every once in awhile, usually if we're watching a movie (for nostalgic purpose) and always on the savory side. I really dislike sweet popcorn and don't even get me started on the stale cheese, butter, and carmel corn that come pre-packaged on the shelves around the holidays, I'll pass, thank you very much. I really want to like it, especially since it can be a healthy and quick snack, but it just never settles right in my stomach and I end up feeling a little sick sometimes even if I just eat that one handful.

So why am I posting a popcorn recipe you may wonder? Well, I've been getting really into making my own spice blends lately and thought this one I whipped up would fun to share because it's so & nbsp;versatile & nbsp;and can be used on things other than popcorn too. Also, & nbsp;I've joined in on The Food Matters Project put on by Kate of Cookie+Kate and Sarah from 20 Something Cupcakes & nbsp;and seasoned popcorn was the recipe Kate choose for this week. You can read more about the project on their about page & nbsp;and anyone can join in or follow along as we cook our way through & nbsp;The Food Matters Cookbook by & nbsp;Mark Bittman.

Now back to the popcorn. We have never owned a microwave and we are totally fine with that because even if we did own one, we would never use it. This means that popcorn has always been cooked right on the stove top & nbsp;in a hot, lidded pot with a bit of oil. Seeing that I don't really eat popcorn, Scott has always been the popcorn popper and he's pretty darn good at it. He does it all without measuring and manages to never burn it. So while he made the popcorn I got the spice blend ready and before we(he) knew it, it was snack time.

Lemon-Herb Seasoned Popcorn
For the full recipe please visit Cookie+Kate & nbsp;and to view all recipes visit The Food Matters Project

The seasoning salt is the perfect thing to sprinkle over roasted veggies, but if you mix it with a little olive oil and a clove of minced garlic it becomes a great dipping sauce for bread, add in a bit of lemon juice and it makes a great spiced up salad dressing. This is why I'm loving spice blends so much, because you can spin off it so many new directions.

lemon-herb seasoning salt & nbsp;
1/4 cup sea salt
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
3 teaspoons dried rosemary
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

popcorn
2-3 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
1/2 cup popping corn
2 tablespoons melted butter or olive oil for serving, optional
lemon-herb seasoning salt, to taste

Combine all the ingredients for the seasoning salt in a small bowl or container. Store tightly covered for approximately 2-3 months. Makes about 1/3 cup.

Heat the oil, plus 2-3 corn kernels, in a large heavy pot with a lid over medium heat. Listen for the kernels to pop, then add in the rest and cover. While covered hold the pot over the heat and shake in a circular motion to let the oil coat the kernels. Set it back over the heat, but only for about 20 seconds so all the kernels have a chance to heat up. Then when they start popping hold the lid on tight and shake over the heat again until you hear the last of the kernels pop, about 5 minutes.

Place the popped popcorn in a serving bowl. If using butter or oil, melt it in the same pot you used to cook the popcorn. Pour over the popcorn and sprinkle with desired amount of the seasoning salt. Serve & nbsp;immediately.

Shredded Brussels Sprout & Tangerine Salad

It's the end of & nbsp;February, which also means the official end of winter (although unfortunately maybe not winter weather), so today & nbsp;I'm sharing one last seasonal salad with you. I meant to get this recipe to you yesterday, but seeing as our usual morning csa delivery didn't arrive until around 6pm last night, the brussels sprouts I knew the box would contain, didn't arrive in time before I had a chance to prepare and photograph this salad.

All weekend I was thinking about these brussels sprouts and how & nbsp;I would savor them & nbsp;because & nbsp;I knew this would probably be the last bunch until next season. & nbsp;I thought a light salad, something that would ease its way into spring with a crisp freshness and touch of brightness, would be a good option. Something raw to enter a soon-to-be season of young fresh veggies, but still hanging onto the citrus of winter.

Truth be told, I also needed to think of a recipe I knew would be relatively quick to prepare. In the previous weeks I've been up to my ears in projects and exciting new things we're working on for our shop. I'm not usually a pro thirty minute meal or less kinda person, but I can appreciate a quick whole food recipe when I need one, especially when I can't stand to eat another sandwich or plate of leftovers.

I had picked up a bag of whole wheat Israeli couscous out of curiosity. I'd never cooked with this little bead shaped grain before and the fact that I saw it would take less than 15 minutes to cook, might also be why it made its way into my cart that day. I added it to the shredded brussels sprouts for some extra heft. My favorite part of this salad is when you get a sweet squirt of tangerine juice when taking a bite, also the unexpected but so delicious taste of basil.

This was another recipe that started out as something from The Food Matters Project, as you can see I'm not very good at following recipes, but at least I still used brussels sprouts! This weeks pick was by Marcia and to view a complete list of others who participated you can visit the website.

Shredded Brussels Sprout & amp; Tangerine Salad / serves 4

I really think any grain (quinoa, millet, barley, farro) would work here in place of the couscous. You can segment the tangerines if you like too, & nbsp;I kept it simple and didn't bother.

1/2 cup dry whole wheat Israeli couscous or 1 cup other cooked grain of choice
1/2 & nbsp;lb. brussels sprouts
1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced
handful of fresh basil, chiffonade (about 1/4 cup)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
a couple big pinches salt, plus more to taste
3 tangerines
1/4 cup toasted walnuts

Bring a small saucepan filled with 1 cup water to a boil. Stir in couscous and cook at a simmer for 8 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, using a & nbsp;mandolin & nbsp;or sharp knife, slice the brussels sprouts as thinly as you can and place them in a large mixing bowl. Add in the red onion, basil, and couscous and give everything a good toss.

In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, and salt. Pour over the brussels sprout mixture and toss until everything is thoroughly dressed, seasoning with salt to taste. Add in the tangerines, then just before serving, top with walnuts.

Pumpkin Hazelnut Bread

It's already a week into November and the little orange pie pumpkins I bought just before Halloween needed to be taken care of. Because I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with the puree, I decided to cut them in half, place them in a 9x13 baking dish with a small amount of water and bake them until their flesh became soft enough to scoop out. No salt, no oil, just a little water to get things steaming and soft.

I'm one of those people who is probably a little on the extreme side when it comes to wastefulness. I can't stand it when I have to toss something when it's gone bad. I insist to my husband that there is still at least a whole spoonful left in the peanut butter jar if you just scrape the sides. I reuse and re-purpose things the best that I can. So when it came time to scrape out these pumpkins, I was in there and getting every last bit. I saved the seeds and roasted them too. The only thing that went off to compost was the skin, but I was fine with that.

Have you ever roasted your own pie pumpkins? They have the most beautiful brightly colored orange flesh, nothing like what you get from a can. I'd recommend giving it a long go in a food processor to get all the strands fully chopped up and smooth. Nobody likes stringy things in their baked goods or soup.

I probably was able to get about 5-6 cups worth of pumpkin puree from just one pumpkin. I decided on making a batch of pumpkin ginger cookies first. They turned out alright. I remembered I'm not really a cakey type cookie person and whenever you use something like pumpkin puree, applesauce, or banana puree in any kind of cookie, they always end up on the cakey side. Then I saw a jar of hazelnuts and decided to try out a pumpkin bread with roasted hazelnuts. The resulting taste is strongly hazelnut with hints of spice, in a bread that's slightly sweet with a nice crumb. The only change I latter thought to make was adding a handful of shaved chocolate to the batter. I simply cannot resist hazelnuts and chocolate together.

You can definitely use 1 cup of canned pumpkin puree if you would like. *If you want to roast your own, cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the center, seeds and all. Place the two halves, cut side down, into a baking dish large enough to hold them. Pour in enough water to come up about 1/4-inch. Place in a preheated 350˚F oven and bake for about 35-45 minutes or until you can pierce the flesh easily with a knife. Time will vary depending on how large your pumpkins are. Cool, scoop out flesh and run through a food processor until completely smooth.

Pumpkin Hazelnut Bread
Adapted from Simply Recipes
makes 1 loaf

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons toasted hazelnuts, divided
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon all spice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup pumpkin puree *see above notes for making your own
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease or line with parchment a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

Place 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts in a food processor and process until ground into a flour. Don't blend too far or you will get hazelnut butter.

In a large bowl sift together the hazelnut flour, pastry flour, salt, baking soda, and spices.

In a large bowl combine the pumpkin puree, oil, and sugar. Add in the eggs and water, mixing well. Add the dry mixture to the wet, mixing until everything is just combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons roughly chopped hazelnuts and pop in the oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes in pan, then remove and cool on wire rack before cutting.

Spelt Biscuits

There is nothing better than a hearty, soul warming soup in the fall and through the winter, but as excited as I am about tasting each new batch or being reminded of familiar favorites, sometimes I get just as excited about the bread that will be accompanying it.

I made a big batch of stew for dinner the other night soon after finishing our chickpea noodle soup. Normally I enjoy soups and stews with a nice loaf of crusty bread; sopping up all the last remaining bits with a shaggy torn piece at the end. This time however, I was craving biscuits. Warm from the oven, flaky, buttery, homey biscuits.

Now, these are not your traditional biscuits in any sense, they are made entirely from spelt flour, but they still have that buttery, slightly flaky characteristic I was craving. So they suited me just fine.

This batch made plenty more than we could eat that night and biscuits are always a welcome sight in the morning. I rewarmed them slightly in the oven the next day just to give them that warm from the oven feel again. Then I drizzled mine with some local raw blackberry honey alongside a hot cup of tea, but jam or even just a nob of butter perks them up too. I also may have eaten more then one, but who's counting?

Now that I'm on the topic of breakfast, I'm envisioning serving these alongside scrambled eggs or tofu or maybe making a fried egg sandwich from them as well. Biscuits have so many great uses! Never be afraid to make a double batch, they will always get eaten.

Other than the change from white flour to spelt (you can use light spelt if you prefer too), there is plenty of cold butter mixed in to give the biscuits their flakiness. I used my favorite buttermilk substitute of almond milk and vinegar, but if you have a splash of buttermilk needing to be used up you can use that here too.

Spelt Biscuits
8-10 biscuits

3/4 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 1/2 Cups spelt flour
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine the milk and vinegar (alternatively you can use buttermilk), set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using your hands, rub in the butter into the flour mixture until you have roughly little pea size bits.

Stir in the milk mixture with a wooden spoon. You should have a shaggy doughy mess, don't worry if it seems dry at this point. Dump everything out onto a clean surface and knead the dough 10-15 times just until all the flour is worked in.

Flatten the dough out into a 1" thick circle and use a biscuit cutter to make neat rounds of dough. Gather together any remaining dough scraps and repeat until you have 8-10 biscuits cut out. Place them on a baking pan and bake for 18-20 minutes. Serve warm.

Mexican Black Beans and Sweet Potatoes

If you've been reading this blog for some time now, or checked out my archives, you may have noticed that beans are a staple food in my kitchen. I prefer to buy them dried over canned mostly because I think they taste so much better, but it also doesn't hurt that they're much cheaper that way to. I do have canned beans for those days that I need a quick meal and haven't planned ahead, but cooking beans is really not very hard and I think you should give it a try if you haven't already. 

Place your desired amount of dried beans into a large bowl, then fill with water, covering the beans by about 2-3 inches. Let them sit overnight while you sleep or while you're away at work during the day. After letting them sit anywhere from 6-10 hours the beans should be plumper and the water level will have gone down. Now you can drain the beans and give them a good rinse before placing them into a large heavy pot and covering again with fresh cool water. I never measure anything when cooking beans, but I do always cover the beans a good 3-4 inches so I know there will be enough water when they start cooking. 

Place the pot with the water and beans over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Let the beans boil for about 5-10 minutes, then turn down the heat and cover, simmering for about 40-60 minutes. The cooking time can really vary depending on how long you let the beans soak, what variety and size they are, and depending on how fresh your beans are. The older they are the longer it will take for them to cook, so I recommend buying your beans from places with a high turn over. When they're cooked remove from heat, drain and store tightly covered in your refrigerator or freezer. This may seem like a lot of work, but the active time is really very little and you can cook a lot at once and eat them through the week or freeze them up to 4 or 5 months for later.

Having a large amount of beans already cooked and staring back at me in from the fridge, inspired me to use them up in a Mexican style dish. I grabbed my last sweet potato, added some spices, herbs, garlic and a jalapeño and drenched them with fresh lime juice for a tasty side dish that easily becomes a meal when placed inside corn tortillas and placed alongside some rice and salad.

If you're still looking for another side dish to accompany a Cinco de Mayo feast this week, this would make a great addition. I placed my avocado on top, but it would be great mixed in as well. Other great toppings would be salsa, grated cheese and sour cream. I recommend starting with half the juice of lime and tasting before you add more, it's not meant to overpower, but some people like a little extra pucker. Also this was not very spicy to me, if you want it spicier leave in some of those jalapeño seeds.

Mexican Black Beans and Sweet Potatoes

serves 4 as a main or 6 as a side

2 cups peeled and diced sweet potato, about 1 large or 2 small potatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chile powder

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped

3 cups cooked black beans

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 lime

1 avocado, cubed

Preheat the oven to 450˚F. Toss the diced sweet potatoes in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil, cumin, chile powder, and salt and pepper. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the sweet potatoes have softened.

While the potatoes are cooking, heat the tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add to it the garlic and cook until it just begins to turn golden brown. Toss in the jalapeño, and beans. Cook until the beans are heated through, then turn off the heat.

Once the potatoes are out of the oven, add them to the bean mixture along with the cilantro and gently stir everything together. Squeeze juice of half the lime over everything, adding more to your taste. 

Serve garnished with avocado or any other topping you wish. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator.

Socca

You know those times when you read, hear, or see something that intrigues you enough to have it on your mind constantly. You start seeing what ever that thing is everywhere, like its been right in front of you this whole time and you wonder why you never noticed it before. This happens to me all the time. Most recently it happened in the form of socca.
 Socca, if you are unfamiliar, is a sort of flat bread made from chickpea flour that comes from France, more specifically Nice, where it's served as street food. Traditionally it's cooked in a large cast iron skillet over a super hot wood-fire to achieve a crispy, blistered crust. Although you can make it in your home oven at a very high heat, it will be hard to get the same effect, but that might also be one of the effects traveling has on you. If I ever find myself in Nice this will be one of the first foods on my list to try.

 It's important to let the chickpea flour and water mixture soak for at least 2 hours, preferably more. A couple glugs of olive oil, some salt, and a big pinch of cumin and you have socca in it's most basic form. You can get fancy with extras like herbs and onions, either way it's not hard to make and will ultimately give back more then the effort it took to make.
 I've made this several times and have a few of my own tips. The first time I set my oven at 450˚F, but made only two pancakes and each was a bit thicker. If you want to serve these with heavier toppings, more like a pizza, I would suggest doing it this way. The second time, I heated my broiler. I'm not sure if my cast iron skillet was to hot or what because the socca stuck to it like mad. Still tasted great, but was a bit of a visual mess. Now when I make it, I keep the oven set to 475˚F, make sure my cast iron gets heated up inside the preheating oven and depending on if I want thinner or thicker socca I divide the batter accordingly.

Another trick for those of you who are hesitant to buy a bag of chickpea flour that you may only use once or if it's not available in your area, you can buy 2 cups of dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and blend them in a high speed blender. The chickpeas will start breaking up and become flour-like. Once it's blended down quite a bit, sift it through a fine or medium-fine sieve to remove any large bits. You can either re-blend what's sifted out or discard. Now you have a fresh batch of chickpea flour costing you only pennies. I also wanted to say how much I loved reading everyone's sunshine memories. I'm thinking that its what helped to keep the sun out around here this whole week! And a big congrats to Rachel of Taming the Heart who is the winner of our Sunshine poster! Thank you everyone and have a wonderful Easter weekend! Socca adapted from David Lebovitz via The Sweet Life In Paris makes 3 9-inch pancakes 1 cup chickpea flour 1 1/4 cup water 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided In a medium bowl mix together the chickpea flour, water, salt, cumin and 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. I used a 4 cup liquid measuring bowl for easy pouring. Let this mixture sit, covered at room temperature, for at least 2 hours, but preferably 4 or more. When you're ready to cook, place a well seasoned cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 475˚F. When the oven is ready and your pan is super hot, drizzle a bit of olive oil if needed then pour a 1/3 of the batter into the pan, starting from the center. Swirl it around quickly to cover the bottom and put it back in the oven. Bake until the socca is firm and just beginning to burn around the edges. Mine took about 12-14 minutes, but it could vary depending on your oven, so I recommend watching it closer after the 10 minute mark. Slide the socca out of the pan, onto a cutting board. You can either slice into pieces or serve whole with your choice of toppings, pizza style. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding additional oil to the pan if needed