Sweet Potato Pancakes May 18, 2013

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Sweet Potato & Buckwheat Pancakes

with cinnamon & walnuts

Sweet, nutty, nutritious, and crave-worthy.  Plan ahead for this recipe–you will want the cooked potato to have time to cool in the fridge overnight or for several hours.

Ingredients
Makes 1 hearty serving that can be eaten by one or shared by two

– 2 small sweet potatoes (choose smaller, or long and narrower potatoes for easier microwave baking)
– 1 1/2 tbsp 100% buckwheat flour
– 2 cage-free eggs (or one egg + 3 tbsp 100% egg white)
– Dash of cinnamon (to taste)
-light dash of salt
– 1 tbsp chopped walnut pieces

– 1 tsp 100% maple syrup (for topping)
– 1 tsp olive or canola oil to lightly grease pan

Method

1) MAKE AHEAD: Rinse sweet potatoes well and poke each several times with a fork. Place in microwave-safe dish with 2 tbsp water and microwave on high for 4-6 minutes until potato feels soft and well-cooked when poked with a fork. Place cooked potatoes carefully (they will be hot) in a closed container in the fridge overnight or for several hours until cook.

2) Remove  skin from cooled cooked potatoes and place flesh into a large bowl. Mix in all ingredients (except walnuts, maple syrup, and oil). Mash and mix the ingredients well until smooth then stir in walnuts.

3) Grease pan lightly with olive or canola oil and heat pan to medium-high heat. Carefully spoon out batter onto pan and press with metal spatula to flatten into pancake shapes. Allow batter to lightly brown on one side (about 1 minute) then flip and cook other side. Reduce heat when you add the second batch or if batter starts to brown to quickly.

4) Serve immediately with light drizzle of pure maple syrup. Top with additional walnut pieces if desired.

Broccoli Chickpea Soup May 12, 2013

Broccoli & Chickpea Soup topped with sun-dried tomatoes

Broccoli & Chickpea Soup
with olive tapenade & sun-dried tomatoes 

Ingredients
Makes ~8 servings 

Essentials
These ingredients make up the core of the soup
2 lbs broccoli crowns
1 lb cooked chickpeas
1 quart reduced-sodium vegetable broth
1 large yellow onion
6 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oli (to saute onion & garlic)

Additions
These are the additional ingredients I used and recommend but feel free to taylor them to your taste
1/2 fresh avocado
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
Spices to taste (I used 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper & a pinch of paprika)

Garnish with sun-dried tomatoes & olive tapenade 

Method

1) Chop & saute onion & garlic in olive oil at medium heat until slightly browned

2) Combine all remaining ingredients (except the garnish) into large cooking pot and blend until smooth using an immersion blender (aka hand blender). Once blended, heat soup in large pot on stove top on high until reaching desired temperature. Stir well.

3) Pour soup into serving bowls and top with sun-dried tomatoes & olive tapenade. Store remaining soup in sealed container in fridge for up to one week or freezer for longer storage (anything beyond a week). If you don’t think you’ll have the garnish ingredients the next them you serve the soup, add them to the soup before storing in fridge or freezer and allow them to mix in so their flavors aren’t missing from your next serving.