tongue in chic

                       Sweet Potato & Black Bean Tacos & Crunchy Cabbage

Ever have one of those friends that is just up on all the hip things, knows and uses super exotic foods, and makes the best food without trying.  Yep, well I have one of those friends and her name is Jessica Pratt.  Her and her husband are culinary adventurers. 

Here is HER most amazingly yummy Sweet Potato Taco recipe and I easily augmented mine to be dairy-free!  So easy and a must try!  No Need for Meat!

Thanks Jessica for sharing. 

Makes about 9 tacos – try to use all organic/natural ingredients!

Time: 1 hr 10 min

Ingredients:

·       Black Beans: 1 can (8oz) (I used the Trader Joe’s Black Beans that have Jalapeño in it).

·       1 Sweet Potato: Size of 2 fists. Jessica used Japanese purple sweet potato that I got at my local farmers market, but you can use any kind… or even potatoes! (I used 2 smaller sized Organic Sweet Potatoes).

·       12 small corn tortillas, make sure to have extra in case any crack

·       1 Packet of Taco Meat Seasoning (I used the Trader Joe’s mix, which is super hot, so only used 1 tbsp of it).

·       Fage Non-Fat Greek Yogurt (REMOVE if you want DAIRY-FREE)

·       1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (REMOVE if you want DAIRY-FREE)

·       1 Avocado

·       ¼  a brown Onion, chopped

·       1 Jalapeno (or jarred jalapenos)

·       Olive Oil

·       ½ Small/Medium Red Cabbage (I used Trader Joe’s shredded green cabbage)

·       ¼  Cup Red Wine Vinegar

·       S&P

·       1 diced tomato

·       1 Bunch Cilantro

·       2 Limes

Cabbage Salad

1.     Slice cabbage into very thin strips, place in bowl.

2.     Pour in red wine vinegar, 1 table spoon olive oil, lots of S&P

3.     Add tomato  & the juice from ½ a lime.

4.     Add chopped cilantro (set aside a small handful for the tacos) – Set mixture aside, stirring occasionally.  (I placed in the frig while I was making the tacos so it was nice and refreshing.)

Sweet Potato:

1.     Preheat oven, bake @ 365

2.     Remove the skin of the sweet potato with a vegetable peeler then cube sweet potato into dice sized squares.

3.     Place sweet potato and onions onto a baking sheet (I always use a silicone baking mat on my baking sheet to prevent sticking without tons of oil. You can also use parchment paper)

4.     Sprinkle about 2-3 tablespoons of taco seasoning and 1 tablespoon olive oil onto sweet potato/onion mixture. Mix in pan until everything is coated and evenly spread out.

5.     Cover with foil and put in oven for ~45 min. **Half way through remove the foil!

Beans:

1.     Finely dice ½ or 1 jalapeno.

2.     Heat 1 can of black beans in a pan on stove top, toss in jalapeno for heat - keep warm.

Taco Shells

1.     Wet tortillas with water, then drape them over 2 bars on your oven rack (with oven hot) and the ends pointing down. The sides will relax to create a shell shape (you can push them down as they cook to help.

2.     Cook for about 10 minutes or until firm enough for them to hold their shape, yet a bit soft.

Put It Together!

1.     In a taco shell pile on the following: Fage Greek yogurt (in place of sour cream), small handful of sweet potato, a scoop of beans, a bit of cheese, sliced avocado, some of your cabbage salad and top with cilantro and lime.

2.     Add hot sauce if desired.

3.     Complement tacos with a scoop of cabbage salad on the side. ENJOY!

                                          Quinoa with Coarse Pesto 

This is a take on another Giada recipe that she makes with Farro.  We goofed and didn’t wash the farro and made an oatmeal instead of a what should have been like a pasta.  So last minute, we substituted quinoa. It turned out great!  So, 2 recipes in 1!

Bonus!  Great Gluten-Free option!

• 2 cups quinoa
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups fresh parsley 
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
•  Pecorino Cheese wedge, for garnish curls

Cook Quinoa until all broth is cooked off.  

In a poof processor, combine parsley, basil, thyme and garlic.  Blend until the herbs are roughly chopped and add the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Blend again until you have a coarse pesto mixture.

Toss the pesto with the Quinoa and transfer to your serving bowl.  Using a veggie peeler, peel the pecorino cheese to make cheese curls as a garnish.

                                       Tomato Watermelon, & Basil Skewers

Another winner from the one and only Giada and the Food Network! 

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 (4-5lb) watermelon cut into 1 1/2 in cubes (about 32 cubes)

32 leaves of small basil leaves

16 cherry tomatoes, halved

extra-virgin olive oil

kosher salt

skewers

You want to make a thick balsamic vinegar.  Combine the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a small pan over medium heat.  Simmer and stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Turn the heat off and let cool. 

Start with the watermelon as your base - so push the watermelon to the bottom of the skewer.  Then add a basil leaf, tomato half and continue with another piece of watermelon.  Place on your serving platter with the skewers standing up-right.  

Drizzle skewers with balsamic syrup and olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. 

                                            Ombre Pink Swirl Cake

We just celebrated the upcoming arrival of my niece at my sister’s Sprinkle this last weekend.  In our preparation, I came across this lovely cake on Pinterest and then became obsessed with Glorious Treats, the blog it originated from!

Please follow along her blog for the recipe details.  Ill walk you through briefly what we did. 

We started with 2, 9” round tins and floured them and placed a piece of parchment paper in each.  We re-used those two rounds for each cake.  Unless of course you have 5 round cake tins. 

Mix your batter.  If you have a mixer, use it!  This cake takes awhile and this really helps a lot!

Once you have your batter, separate into 5 bowls evenly. 

Then start the coloring process.  Start with the darkest color first!  We got gel food-coloring (from Michael’s) in Pink, Rose, and Violet.   Use the Violet in the darkest color only. 

Add the batter to the prepared cake pans, bake and let fully cool. 

Follow Glorious Treat’s recipe for Buttercream Frosting, but double it if you are using a 9” cake.   Again, use your mixer if you have one. Divide the frosting into 4 bowls.  One bowl with a but more than the others.  That will be your lightest color that will be used for the top and side row of Swirls.  

Color the frosting as you did with the batter (but this time you dont need the violet color for the darkest color).  Reserve a extra amount of white frosting (1 cup at minimum- more if you use a 9” cake) in the mixing bowl to use between the layers and to use as the think crumb coat. 

Time to assemble the cake! Prep your cooled cakes by using a sharp knife to make sure they are all flat and easily stackable.  Because you already have a 5 layered cake and a ton of frosting, Glorious Treats suggests adding a warmed Cherry Jam between the layers.  Get any Cherry Jam from the store and pop it in the microwave to warm it.  Place your darkest layer down on your cake plate. (NOTE!  you are not picking this cake up again, so if you want to put a doily down, do it now!). Paint on some warmed Jam.  Layer with a thin layer of frosting and add the 2nd darkest cake on-top and  repeat with all layers.

Crumb-coat the cake with a thin layer of frosting so it is all even for the swirls.  Place in the freezer for 15 mins. 

With a Piping bag and a #21 tip (or close to it) star, fill the bag with the darkest color.  Remove the cake from the freezer.  Start at the bottom and make 1 1/2 “rose” swirls or “c”s with a long tail and I see them. Continue around the bottom of the cake.  Once you finish the row in one color, move onto the other colors.  Some spots you may not completely fill.  Just go back and fill in with “mini swirls” or dots of frosting until the cake is covered. 

                                         Parmesan Kale Chips

Maybe the easiest and best snack you could ever eat!  Full of amazing vitamins, fiber, and tastes great!  Make with sea salt for a guilt-free or vegan version.

1 bunch of kale

1/4 cup olive oil

1 clove garlic (optional)

1/4 Parmesan (grate fresh as you make this)

(sea salt or kosher salt if you want to make the guilt-free version)

Silt pad or parchment paper & cookie sheet

Preheat oven to 275 or 300 is your oven does not run hot.  Rise and pat dry your kale.  Remove the center vein and stem so you have just leaves.  If you are making the Parmesan version, cut or rip longer strips.  Normally I would throw all the piece in a bowl and swirl some olive oil around them and toss with my fingers.  But when I am making the parm-version, I paint on my olive oil.

Keep it super light.  Just barely touch the brush on either side and move the oil around with your fingers and place on your silt pad.  Cover you pad until you cant fit any more.  The kale will shrink up and you will wish you put more on that pad.  I only have one silt pad so I can get one cookie sheet in at a time.  One sheet is about 1/2 a large bunch of kale.

Grab your block of Parmesan and grate on-top of your kale.  Cover all pieces.  You can use Pecorino or whatever hard cheese you have in the frig. Or this would be the time if you are making the guilt-free version, sprinkle with salt or garlic or whatever topping of your choice.

Cook for 12-14 mins or until crisp.  Sometimes, some pieces will cook quicker than others.  Pull those out and place on a rack to cool or on more parchment paper.  And let the rest cook a bit more. 

Place in a bowl and snack like you do with pop-corn!