Spicy Sweet Potato Beef Soup

I had other meal plans when I bought these ingredients, but then I got sick and decided I needed soup.  I was seriously annoyed that I managed to stay healthy all winter, but then got sick at the very end of April!  But I’m overworked, overtired and surrounded by people who don’t take very good care of themselves (med students).  A lot of sleep and this soup and I felt much better!

Spicy Sweet Potato Beef Soup

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 C. chicken broth
Avocado

Cook ground beef with onion and garlic for a few minutes until partially cooked.  Add seasoning and peppers and cook until beef is done.

Add beef mixture, sweet potatoes, and broth in a large pot.  Simmer on low about an hour.

Serve with avocado on top.

Aloo Gobi, or Mashed Cauliflower and Sweet Potato

Dear Indian Food,

I love you.  Adore you, even.  You are rich and flavorful and full of whole, healthy ingredients that are so easy to manipulate.  Thanks for being awesome.

Love,
Danae

In all seriousness, this dish rocks!  I was browsing foodbuzz a few days back and saw this gorgeous picture of aloo gobi by Spicie Foodie.  It was simple and easy to paleo-fy, so I gave it a go!  I also used her recipe for garam masala and modified it slightly based on the ingredients I had available – it made more than enough so I definitely plan on trying more of her recipes!  Also, you can cut down on cook time by making the garam masala while the cauliflower and sweet potatoes are cooking if you don’t have some made already.

Garam Masala: adapted from Spicie Foodie

• 1 T coriander seeds
• 2 T cumin seeds
• 1 t cardamom seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 T black pepper
• 1/2 T ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t ground nutmeg

In a small skillet, roast the coriander, cumin, cardamom and bay leaf for a few minutes until the seeds are fragrant and hot – don’t let them burn!  Once they’re toasted a bit, turn off the heat and let them cool a bit, then grind them up in a spice or coffee grinder.  Transfer the ground spices to a small jar with an airtight lid.  Add the remaining spices and shake to combine.  You can also add 1/2 t of both cloves and fennel seeds (roast them with the other seeds!), but I didn’t have either of those ingredients and just left them out – it was still delicious!  This made about 5-ish tablespoons, so you’ll have plenty leftover for future use!

Roasting the spices

Aloo Gobi: adapted from Spicie Foodie

• 1 head cauliflower, chopped (don’t worry about making them perfect florets!)
• 1 medium-large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 T garam masala
• 1 t ground ginger
• 1 t ground turmeric
• 1/4-1/2 t red pepper (depending on how spicy you like your food!)

Start by boiling your cauliflower and sweet potatoes – I just threw them in together and they came out just fine.  Cook till fork-tender, drain and set aside (I just left mine in the colander).  While the water boiled and the veggies cooked, I made the garam masala and chopped my onion.  Hooray for multitasking!

Once the veggies are cooked, add a few tablespoons of olive oil to the same big pan and heat it up.  Add the onion and cook till translucent, then throw in the garlic and let it cook for another minute or two.  Add the veggies back in and mix in the garam masala, ginger, turmeric, and red pepper.  Stir to combine and mash with a potato masher, and that’s IT!

Easy, fast, delicious, AND healthy – I’m hooked!  I’m also looking forward to mixing this in with my eggs tomorrow morning, Indian food is SO GOOD cooked up with scrambled eggs for a savory breakfast.

Sweet Potato Fries

We have a small sweet potato obsession around here.  I usually eat them with at least four meals a week and am always looking for something new and creative to do with them.  My standby favorite is to make sweet potato fries.

I know everyone has their own method for these, but I’m going to share mine.  I like mine thicker-more of steak fries because the thinner they are, the easier they burn.  I may have set off the smoke alarm a few times while experimenting with cooking times…oops!  After cutting, I put them in a bowl and toss with olive oil and whatever seasonings I am using.

Here are a couple of ideas if you want something more than just salt: Chili-spiked sweet potato fries, baked curry sweet potato fries,  peanut butter crusted sweet potato fries, Ina Garten’s baked sweet potato fries, and bacon wrapped sweet potato fries (future Bacon Friday?!).

Put on a cookie sheet and bake-I do mine at 425 for 28 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.  But my oven isn’t very hot so I would start at about 20 and work up.  Bake until the fry comes off the pan easily and is lightly brown.

Finally, I am way too lazy to flip a panful of fries, so I cook the top by broiling (at 500) for 2-3 minutes.  These take a little bit of time to cook, but are really easy and so delicious!

Paleo Sweet Potato Pancakes

Perfect Weekend Breakfast!

I woke up starving and craving pancakes so made these.  Still not quite the same as regular pancakes, but these are the best paleo substitute I have found so far. I really liked them, though my favorite part was the Pecan Maple Butter!