Spicy Purple and Sweet Potato Gratin with Coconut Milk

If I could go back in time to just last year, I would thank myself for one thing: coconut. I spent all my life hating it, but after putting myself through a year of trying it repeatedly, it’s quickly high-tailing it to my list of favorite things. I keep reminiscing about a recent coconut margarita, and have you experienced coconut ice cream? If not, change that ASAP.

Always seeking out new things to try, one of the most recent adventures involved the purple potato via a curry. Ever since then, I’ve been wanting to pair it with sweet potatoes. This may mostly be for aesthetic purposes because, come on, you know one of the main reasons you visit food blogs is for the food porn. However, the purple spuds are actually little antioxidant powerhouses which I thought would make an awesome duo with their also nutritious orange cousins.

Roasted Garlic Black-Eyed Pea Hummus

Do you eat anything special on New Year’s Eve/Day for good luck? My mom would always cook black-eyed peas (meh) and sauerkraut (no thanks!), which we’d have for dinner on the 31st. Come to think of it, shouldn’t it be a tradition on the 1st to start the year off with luck?

I don’t think of myself as a superstitious person, but do notice coincidences from time to time.

Two years ago I definitely didn’t have black-eyed peas for New Year’s because I had just made it to New Zealand. I’m not sure if they have them there, but am pretty sure that eating them for luck is a southern US thing. Anyway, aside from that amazing trip, the rest of the year was no good, partially because I was broke and bored: poor from the trip, and couldn’t find work (so I started a blog!). Last year I made this yummy black-eyed pea dip for a NYE party, and have to say that 2011 has been a much better year, at least in those areas. Hooray!

I just went ahead and tried an experiment with the things, and dang, what a win!

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Moo Shu!

The October Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Shelley of C Mom Cook and her sister Ruth of The Crafts of Mommyhood.  They challenged us to bring a taste of the East into our home kitchens by making our own Moo Shu, including thin pancakes, stir fry and sauce.

Okay, I’m days late with this challenge, but wanted to complete it because 1) I’ve missed a couple of recent ones, and 2) I can’t pass up Asian recipes.  I’m glad I did it because it is SO good!!!

Traditionally moo shu is made with pork, so being vegetarian, I went with a different stir fry recipe than what was provided for the challenge.  Otherwise, I used the hoisin and pancake recipes from Shelley and Ruth!

This is an easy dinner to make, but the prep can be pretty time-consuming.  If you chop the veggies and make the sauce the day before you want to eat it, I would approve of that (it’s what I did)!  The pancakes are a little high-maintenance as most doughy things can be, but aren’t complicated.  

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Potato Salad!

Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad.  The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads.  A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!

Isn’t this kind of like when they announce something like, I don’t know, potatoes as the secret ingredient for Iron Chef?  That was my reaction, anyway.  At the same time though, it’s kind of fun to be given free reign for these challenges (I’m looking at you, April). 

Breakfast Chalupas!

It seems like all sorts of foods are on a constant rollercoaster between good and evil.  Coconut oil is good for you now, but agave syrup is bad news bears?  It’s hard to know who or what to believe, but I feel like if it Mama Nature made it, it’s most likely okay.  And let’s just get this out of the way: please don’t ever tell me that the fat content in avocados is bad.  Hello, GOOD FAT.  (For the record, I am by no means a nutritionist…feel free to dismiss my opinions if they’re not to your liking.)

After many years of being viewed as cholesterol-laden baddies, eggs are now packed with Vitamin D and lower in cholesterol, at least compared to an earlier study.  If you read that article, it’s unknown why, but thought to be related to the hens’ diets.  Speaking of hen diets, I was lucky to score a coupon for Eggland’s Best eggs (as a member of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program), which are the eggs I’ve been buying for the last few months anyway!  They boast having vegetarian-fed hens (wait, do other eggs come from carnivorous hens?!) which produce healthier eggs.  Being a vegetarian myself, I’m down with that.  They taste good, too. 

Daring Cooks’ Challenge: Gumbo!

What’s this?  Another New Orleans recipe in one week?  This one comes in the form of a Daring Cooks’ Challenge!

Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo!  She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh. 

Gumbo!  Growing up in Texas, I think it’s hard not to try gumbo at some point, but maybe that’s more the case if your dad is a gumbo fanatic.  I always thought it was pretty good, but had never mustered up enough ambition to make it.  But then in true Daring Kitchen form, a recipe just like gumbo (ambitious?) is perfect for a challenge!

Daring Bakers’ Challenge: Edible Containers – Sweet

The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz.  Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container.  Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!

I am so embarrassed!!

Remember the last Daring Cooks’ Challenge aka Edible Containers – Savory?  We were free to do whatever we wanted for the fillings and containers.  We were also told that this month was the first that Daring Cooks and Daring Bakers were being given the same challenge, so I assumed this meant that the DBs would have the same freedom.  This means that I didn’t really read the instructions very carefully.  It turns out that we were supposed to use one of the two provided maple mousse recipes and construct an edible container for it.  While I used an edible container, I totally did NOT make maple mousse.  Fail! 

Quinoa with Broccolini, Chickpeas, and Mushrooms

I will be the first to tell you that I am no cooking or baking expert by any means, but enjoy doing both as evidenced by the blog.  Most of the time I’ll take a recipe and make some adjustments to make it my own.  However, if you give me the basic ingredients for a cake with no recipe, my eyes will bug out.  Change those ingredients to things like quinoa and veggies instead (uhh, not for a cake, obv), and you’ll get a thumbs up.  Maybe not literally.

Have you had broccolini?  I used to think it was baby broccoli, but it’s evidently a cross between broccoli and Chinese broccoli (kai-lan).  It’s more tender and has longer, thinner stems, which are way more delicious than broccoli stalks, I think.

I wanted to use kasha for the grain as I’ve never cooked with it, but since the bulk bin at my store was empty, I went with a standby favorite: quinoa.  Speaking of favorites, I also couldn’t not add mushrooms.  It’s kind of a habit.  Finally, the whole shebang has a hummus thing going on with the chickpeas, lemon zest and juice, and tahini.  Light, yet filling and delicious! 

Almond Ginger Granola

I’ve been having a problem lately with the freezer being crowded up with too many concoctions resulting from this blog.  For example, these cookies which I made last month were finally finished off.  (The frozen dough balls never did make it to the oven.  Oops.)  And I’m pretty sure there are still slices of Stollen in the deep freeze, too.  Grody.

While I’ve always got ideas in my head, not to mention a list with things needing to be crossed off, I just haven’t wanted to make even more things.  After all, I’m usually just cooking for myself.  But then I realized I could make something that I hadn’t made before, but have been eating pretty regularly lately: Granola!  ’bout time, right?

PB &…V?? Sandwiches

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m just a little bit crazy.  Last night I had a dream about Colin Firth, and it was a typically (not atypically) weird one.

This friend of mine called me up and told me to go with her to this place because Colin Firth was going to be there.  I’m not sure what or where this place was, but we went.  Lo and behold, there was Colin Firth and his wife sitting at one of the many picnic tables!  Maybe this dream wasn’t very realistic because no one was bothering them.  My friend sat next to CF, and I sat next to his wife.  I might point out now that he was wearing a hideous sweater à la Mr. Darcy in Bridget Jones, but that it was somehow Nickelodeon-related instead of Christmasy.  (I really hope that it was SpongeBob.)