Roasted Sweet Potato and Orange Salad

Image from Cooking Light

The smell of the sweet potatoes roasting with rosemary and garlic is mouthwatering!!!

Salad:

1 tbls chopped fresh rosemary

2 tsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves, unpeeled and crushed

1 1/2 pounds peeled sweet potato, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

3 cups orange sections (about 6 oranges)

1/2 cup vertically sliced red onion

3 tbls pine nuts, toasted

1 (6 oz) bag prewashed baby spinach

Dressing:

3 tbsp fresh orange juice

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp stone-ground mustard

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp honey

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

• Preheat oven to 400°.
• To prepare salad, combine first 4 ingredients, tossing well. 
• Place potato mixture on a jelly-roll pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at 400° for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
• Remove from oven; cool. Discard garlic. 
• Combine potato mixture, orange sections, onion, pine nuts, and spinach in a large bowl.

To prepare dressing combine orange juice and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk.
Drizzle dressing over salad; toss gently to coat.

Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Turnovers and Samosas

Savory Cornmeal-Whole Wheat Dough

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp garlic salt
½ cup water
5 tbsp chilled butter (Earth Balance) cut into small pieces
1 large egg (I use Ener-G egg replacer)

Combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, yellow cornmeal, baking powder, and garlic salt in a food processor; pulse until combined.
Add water, butter, and eggs; oulse 3 times or just until combined (do not form a ball)

Note: I needed to add more water, but I was using less cornmeal (I didn’t have enough) and more all-purpose flour.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface; knead gently 4 to 5 times.
Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Roll each portion into a 5 ½ - inch circle on a lightly floured surface.

Yield 12 dough circles.

Potato, Leek, and Mushroom Turnovers

Yet another modified and veganized recipe.

3 cups (½-inch) cubed red or Yukon gold potato
2 cups chopped leeks (~ 1 big leek)
¾ cup water
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
4 oz white mushrooms
½ onion sliced
2 tbsp vegan Parmesan cheese (optional)
2 tbsp soy or rice milk
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Vegan cheddar cheese. I used 1 packet of the Road’s End Organic cheddar cheese mix.
4-5 drops of liquid smoke
Pinch of oregano (I think mint would be good, but I didn’t have any to try).
12 Savory Cornmeal – Whole Wheat Dough circles.

Boil potatoes until tender. Coarsely mash with a fork (or potato masher). Stir in leeks, chives, Parmesan, milk, salt, liquid smoke, spices, and pepper.
In a small skillet fry onions and mushrooms. Let the mix cool down and then add it to potatoes.
Preheat oven to 425º
Place the Savory Cornmeal-Whole Wheat Dough Circles on a lightly floured surface. Spoon ¼ cup potato mixture into the center of each dough circle. Fold dough over filling; press edges together with a fork or fingers to seal.
Place turnovers on a large baking sheet. Pierce top of each turnover once with a fork. Bake for 17 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Serve warm.

Sweet Potato Samosa

3 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled sweet potato (about 1 pound)

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 cups frozen petite green peas

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 1/2 tsp curry powder

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

12 Savory Cornmeal-Whole Wheat Dough circles

Boil sweet potatoes until tender. Drain, coarsely mash, and stir in peas.
Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 4 minutes. Add mustard seeds, coriander, and curry powder; sauté 2 minutes. Add onion mixture, salt, and pepper to potato mixture; stir well. Cool slightly.
Preheat oven to 425°.
Place Savory Cornmeal-Whole Wheat Dough circles on a lightly floured surface. Spoon 1/4 cup potato mixture into center of each dough circle. Fold dough over filling; press edges together with a fork or fingers to seal. Place samosas on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pierce top of each samosa once with a fork. Bake at 425° for 19 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

The recipes come from "Cooking Light``

Camping Chili

This recipe is rather fuel-consuming because of the cooking of beans and potatoes.
There are several ways of reducing the cooking time:


- Use canned beans (increases the weight and the trash, but significantly reduces the cooking time)
- Use instant rice and mung beans which are smaller and take less time to cook
- Use instant beans (I’ve personally never tried it but can’t see why it wouldn’t work)
- Use dehydrated cooked beans.

I like to cook chili on the first night of our trip. I usually soak beans for ~24 hours before the trip, rinse them, put in Nalgene bottle and cover with water. The beans still have time to soak during the first day of the trip but I don’t have to be extra careful about rinsing them.

Potatoes could be substituted for by using instant mash potatoes which would decrease the cooking time and the fuel consumption.


Chili

1 potato or sweet potato
1/2 onion
2 garlic cloves (when camping use “tubed” garlic paste – the wonderful invention)
~1/2 cup pre-soaked beans (from my experience, black beans are the best, they cook the fastest)
1 tomato (either fresh or dried. If you are using dried tomatoes you can add some “tubed” tomato paste)

Vegetables:

You can use the vegetables of your choice – here are my favorite:
Zucchini (dehydrated or fresh)
Peppers (dehydrated or fresh)
Mushrooms (dehydrated)
Celery

Water
Powdered/”cubed” vegetable broth
Oil
Chili powder
Ground cumin
Thyme (if you like it)
Ground coriander
Salt/pepper/cayenne pepper
Half a pack of “fake meet”. I use Yves Mexican or Original “Ground Round”.

Fry onion and garlic. Add some cumin and any other spices while frying.
Add diced potatoes, zucchini, peppers, and mushrooms. Fry until the vegetables (peppers and zucchinis) get slightly soft. Add tomatoes and fry a bit more. Pour water and add the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, add chili powder and beans. Simmer until beans are tender. Add “meat” and cook until thoroughly hot.

Serve topped with corn chips, guacamole, cilantro, and/or green onions.



Guacamole

1 avocado
1/2 tomato
1/4 onion (green onions)
Lime juice (optional)
Garlic paste (optional)

Mash avocado, add diced tomatoes, onion, and couple of drops of lime juice. Stir well until combined.

Eggplant curry

As promised, here is a food-related post.

On Sunday I decided to cook a veganised version of the "Eggplant and Parsnip curry" from the "Vegetarian; the best-ever recipe collection" by Linda Fraser. I modified the recipe by substituting parsnip for sweet potatoes and changing the amount of some ingredients.

Here is the "modified" vegan version of the recipe which was SO tasty:

Eggplant and Sweet Potatoes Curry

1 large eggplant, diced

2 medium size sweet potatoes, diced

1 red bell pepper

3 onions

4 garlic cloves

1/2inch piece of ginger

4 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups of white basmati rice (you can use the brown variety, but adjust the cooking time)

3 cups of vegetable broth

1/2 block of soft tofu

~3 tbsp of apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 tbsp ground cumin

1 1/2 tbsp ground coriander

1 tbsp chili powder

3 oz of sultana raisins

6 oz of cashew nuts (the original recipe calls for unslated ones, but I was using salted ones by mistake - there was no taste difference)

1/2 cup of vegan "butter"

Cilantro to garnish

Cover rice with cold water and let stand for 35-40 minutes.

Sprinkle eggplant with salt and let stand for 30 minutes. Rinse the salt off.

Process 1 onion, garlic, and ginger in the food processor until minced. Add 2 or 3 tbs of water and process some more to make a paste.

Sllice red pepper and 2 remaining onions.

Prepare 1 cup of "yogurt". If you have your favorite recipe - use it. I just passed the soft tofu in the blender and mixed in some apple cider vinegar to get the sour taste.

In a large skillet heat 2 tbsp of olive oil. Fry onions for 10-15 minutes on medium-high heat until golden. Set aside

In the same skillet fry 4oz of cashew nuts for 4-5 minutes. Be careful not to burn them. Add raisins and fry for 2-3 minutes until they puff (I did not wait for raisins to puff). Set aside.

Add 1 tbsp of oil to the skillet and fry potatoes for 5 minutes. Set aside. Fry eggplant, together with red pepper and remaining cashews for 5 minutes. Drain on the paper towel

Add oil and fry the onion-ginger-garlic paste until it turns golden. Add spices (cumin, coriander, chili) and fry for another minute. Add yogurt and slowly bring the mix to boil, add the vegetables (eggplant, pepper, potatoes) and the broth. Bring to boil and simmer until the potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile cook the rice in 2 cups of water for 5-6 minutes, until slightly undercooked.

Pour the vegetable mixture in the oven-proof pan. Add rice on top. Scatter fried onions on top of the rice and sprinkle with raisins/nuts mix. Dot with butter. Close with the double layer of aluminum foil and a cover.

Preheat the oven to 300F

Place the dish in the oven and cook for 30 minutes.

Serve garnished with cilantro springs.

The taste of this curry is quite delicate and balanced. It tastes as good on the second day.