Caramelized Sweet Potatoes with Feta & Red Onion

Happy New Year, everyone! 

Cheese and potatoes is nothing new, but it is dreamy nonetheless. This cheese-and-potatoes combo is a bit different from the usual, as the star of the show is caramelized sweet potatoes and the savory, cheesy goodness comes from feta crumbles.

The duo is dynamic. Warm, starchy sweet potatoes have been slow cooked to bring out their natural sweetness, so they have a more complex flavor than just regular old sweet potatoes. They stand up against salty feta cheese. Each brings out the best in the other, as an good pair would. 

Breakfast, lunch or dinner side, there's no stopping this dish from working it's way into every meal. It seems to fit in everywhere: it would even make a nice potluck dish (just make a double batch so everyone can get some!!). 

And while this dish may be akin to regular old potatoes and cheese, it's also good fuel: orange fleshed sweet potatoes are high in beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin C. So eat up! Those vitamins will keep you feeling strong through the rest of winter. Bonus: research shows that you'll absorb both the beta carotene and vitamin A better when your meal includes a source of fat (read: don't skip the cheese!!) 🧀❤️🍠

Caramelized Sweet Potatoes with Feta & Red Onion

Published January 2, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 3   |    Total Time: 50 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes, washed and peeled
• 1/3 cup minced red onion
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup 
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 
• 1/4 cup feta cheese crumbles 
• 1/4 cup minced parsley for garnish 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Dice sweet potatoes to 1/2-inch cubes, and place in large bowl. Add minced red onion. Pour butter and honey into bowl, and stir until all sweet potatoes are coated. Transfer to baking sheet and spread into a single layer, and then sprinkle with salt.
3. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until sweet potatoes are cooked through and sweet.
4. Transfer sweet potatoes to serving bowl. Top with feta cheese crumbles and minced parsley. Serve.

Roasted Eggplant Salad

Cooking this salad makes me feel like Ottlenghi, and you will too if you're in the right mindset. 

While eggplant is a summer crop, I like it best when it’s been roasted in the oven for sometime, making it something I prefer to cook when it's a bit cooler. Biting into a forkful of cold romaine lettuce on a snowy day? No thanks! We can do better, and in this case, better is roasted. This roasted eggplant salad is exactly the kind of thing I want to make for lunch when there’s a chill in the air.

Topped with parsley, pomegranate, and a creamy tahini sauce, it’s also vibrant with wintery colors: red, green, and soft white. It goes great with the side of roasted chicken, quinoa, or hummus… buuuut we eat this as a whole meal, split between two people. 

Roasted Eggplant Salad

Published December 7, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 2 as a main course, 4 as a side   |    Total Time: 45-50 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 2 medium eggplants (Italian variety) 
• 2 large shallots 
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil (or cooking oil of choice)
• Sprinkle of salt
• Sprinkle of garlic powder
• 1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley 
• 1/4 cup pomegranate perils 
• 1/3 cup toasted pinenuts 

For the Tahini Sauce:
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons tahini
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1/16 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Slice eggplants into 1/2 inch thick rounds, and arrange in an even layer on a baking sheet (or two). Slice shallots into wedges, and add to baking sheet. Brush everything with olive oil, and then sprinkle with salt and garlic powder. Place in oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until eggplant is golden and cooked through. TIP: You can add the pinenuts in the last 3-5 minutes to get them nice and toasted if they are not already. Watch them closely to avoid burning.
2. While the eggplant is cooking, make the tahini sauce: combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth, seasoning with salt to taste.
3. Assembly: use a spatula to transfer cooked eggplant and shallots to a serving platter. Sprinkle with parsley, pomegranate, and pinenuts. Then, drizzle with tahini sauce. Serve warm.

Roasted Pumpkin with Merkén Chile & Honey

Two weeks ago I got a terrible head cold that at first made my throat feel like a solid piece of rock and then morphed into congestion and then just left me aching. When I finally got a solid night of sleep (like a really solid night of sleep--12 hours, or more), I felt like I could think again. Smelling, tasting, and swallowing were still a day away. 

The worst part of a head cold to me is that your body feels totally fine--like you could run a mile- but the minute you try to do anything, you realize it was a terrible, terrible idea. By Friday I felt well enough to hit the climbing gym again, and doing so plastered a fixed smile across my face. I could taste again too, so when I got home I cooked the pumpkin I hadn't found energy to cook earlier in the week. Golden pumpkin with savory Merkén Chile: it was the first thing I smelled all week. 

That pumpkin filled my house with the scent of it's caramelizing edges and steaming Merkén chile. They were beautiful, but that smell was what really swept me off my feet. A drizzle of honey was all that was missing. (Doesn't honey make everything better?)

If you can't find Merkén chile don't sweat it: you can use any kind of smoked red chile flake in this recipe. 

Roasted Pumpkin with Merkén Chile & Honey

Published October 19, 2017 by Caitlin

Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 50 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 small pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons avocado oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 2 teaspoons merkén chile, or other smoked red chile flake
• 1-2 tablespoons honey 
• Garnish: 2 tablespoons minced cilantro

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Slice pumpkin half, remove stem, and seeds. Slice into wedges, about 1-inch thick.
2. Fit a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place pumpkins on pan, and brush with avocado oil. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and merkén. Place in oven, and bake for 30-40 minutes, until pumpkin is tender all the way through, and starting to brown on the edges.
3. Remove from oven, and drizzle lightly with honey. Garnish with minced cilantro.