Spicy Black Bean Cakes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 green onions, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, pressed
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, finely diced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 (14.5 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
salt and black pepper to taste
2 cups grated raw sweet potato
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup plain dried bread crumbs

Directions:
1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook green onions until softened, about 1 minute. Stir in garlic, 2 diced jalapenos, and cumin; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.


2. Transfer contents of skillet to a large bowl. Stir in black beans, and mash with a fork. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix in sweet potatoes, egg, and bread crumbs. Divide into 8 balls, and flatten into patties.


3. In the oven, set cooking rack about 4 inches from heat source. Set oven to broil. Lightly grease baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil.


4. Place bean patties on baking sheet, and broil 8 to 10 minutes. Turn cakes over, and broil until crispy, about 3 minutes more.



*I made these for the first time last night and loved them! I omitted the garlic- made a half batch and used a whole egg instead of half. They are just slightly dry but taste phenomenal! Will tweak a little more next time and update if I find something that works better.

Potato Soup

Ingredients

10-12 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small chopped onion
3 scallions chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 sweet potato, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons butter, cubed
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

In a large saucepan, combine the potatoes, onion, scallion, carrot, and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender; lightly mash/ use immersion blender.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir into potato mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add parsley, salt and pepper. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese until melted.

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Prep Time: 40 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 3 to 4 servings

Ingredients
3 to 4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade, recipe follows

1 quart Roasted Winter Vegetables, recipe follows

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
In a large saucepan, heat 3 cups of chicken stock. In 2 batches, coarsely puree the roasted vegetables and the chicken stock in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pour the soup back into the pot and season, to taste. Thin with more chicken stock and reheat. The soup should be thick but not like a vegetable puree, so add more chicken stock and/or water until it's the consistency you like.

Roasted Winter Vegetables: 1 pound carrots, peeled 1 pound parsnips, peeled 1 large sweet potato, peeled 1 small butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled and seeded 3 tablespoons good olive oil 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

Copyright 2002, Barefoot Contessa Family Style, All Rights Reserved

I altered this a bit. I used whatever veggies I had on hand and added organic butternut squash soup in addition to the stock so it didn't taste too chickeny. Worked great. Could have used more liquid than I did (though of course I didn't measure)

Kid Friendly, Chock full of Veggies Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

1 can tomato paste
2-3 zucchini
2-3 summer squash
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 bag baby carrots
2-3 sweet potatoes
1 butternut squash
1.5-2 lbs ground beef
olive oil

Directions:
Half the butternut squash, put face down and cook in over on 425 degrees for 45 minutes. Wash sweet potato and cook with squash.
Dice zucchini and summer squash very small and saute in olive oil. When soft, add tomato paste and let simmer and thing out.
Add in all other tomato products.
Brown ground beef then add to sauce.
Steam carrots, puree and add to sauce.
When squash and sweet potato are cooked, remove skin, and puree together. Add to sauce.

Recipe from Kris- I believe its a variation on the Deceptively Delicious tomato sauce. Willy loves this sauce! :)

Crockpot Pecan Topped Baked Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients
--4 peeled and sliced (1/4 inch thick) sweet potatoes
--1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
--1 cup nonfat evaporated milk (in a can in the baking aisle---I don't know how fresh transfers)
--3/4 cup brown sugar
--1 tsp vanilla extract
--4 T butter
--1 cup chopped pecans
--2 cups crumbled pretzels

Peel and slice the sweet potato and stagger-stack in your crockpot. Cover with the 3/4 cup of brown sugar. Open the can of cranberry jelly and squish it out all over the top of the sugar and potatoes.Mix the 1 tsp of vanilla with the cup of milk, and pour over the entire top.Slice the butter, and dot it on top.Crumble the pretzels and mix them with the chopped pecans. Sprinkle over the top.
Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 5-6. This is done when the sweet potatoes have reached desired tendency. Unplug and uncover. Let sit for 15 minutes before cutting into.

Crock Pot Root Vegetables

--2 pounds carrots

--2 pounds rutabagas

--2 pounds parsnips

--1/2 cup chopped parsley

--3 T olive oil

--1 tsp kosher salt

--1 tsp black pepper

--1 tsp basil

The Directions.

Peel all of your vegetables, and cut into 2-inch chunks. Chop the parsley.Put all the vegetables into your crockpot, and add the olive oil, basil, salt, and pepper. Toss with your hands to coat fully coat the vegetables.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4-5. The vegetables are done when they have reached desired tenderness. I cooked ours on low for 6 hours, then on high for about 90 minutes.

(Jen's Notes: I make this with whatever I have on hand: turnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash. Just nothing too flimpsy that couldn't withstand being cooked for a longer period of time)

from: A Year of Crockpotting

Warm Sweet Potato Salad

6 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 large baking potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon chopped chives
salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 slices crisply cooked bacon, crumbled
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped

Directions:
Place the diced sweet potatoes and potatoes in a Dutch oven, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Boil until the potatoes are fork tender, but not mushy, about 20 minutes. Drain and cool the cooked potatoes slightly.

Meanwhile, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, balsamic vinegar, turmeric, chives, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the bacon, green onions, red onion and cooked potatoes and toss to coat. Serve garnished with extra chives or green onion