Sweet Potato Burritos with Avocado Salsa Verde

9/6/20: I seriously still love this recipe! Still, I'm going to update it to reflect some of my tweeks. Since this is an involved recipe, I like to quadruple the spices and have my own "spice blend" in the pantry so I can just measure once and add 3.5 tsp of the blend to the sweet potatoes. Just a thought. Okay, on to the recipe...

California, how I miss thee. The wonderful weather, the self-driving Google cars, the parks every two blocks, and even the hipster eating trends. Okay, less so on the last one; I never even tried cold-pressed juice, and my first kale salad was in Utah, surprisingly.

Nonetheless, there seemed to be a self-awareness about healthy eating in our little town that a girl could appreciate. This meal makes me think of two things: California and Shay. Shay is the angel woman who brought me dinner not once, but thrice during those oh-so-difficult first months of new motherdom when SourPatch was so hungry and took such short naps. I have to say, this meal knocked me off my socks. It is amazingly delicious. It tastes fresh and flavorful, and it is packed with, well, vegetables. And the avocado sauce? It is sooooo good. So good.

I make this meal all the time, as, apparently, does Elin. I have to admit that it's tricky sometimes to avoid scorching the sweet potatoes. I've decided the key is to be generous with the oil and to check/stir the potatoes often. Also, if you've discovered the wonder of using silicon baking mats, I find they really help the potatoes achieve a nice, even roast without burning. Don't sweat it, though, if you accidentally let the edges get black. It's also a forgiving recipe. For example, Elin always leaves out the roasted red peppers, while I tend to omit the toppings. Sometimes I forget to buy cilantro and leave it out of the salsa, or my avocados are unusually large or small. Yet it always tastes delicious. Elin also uses corn tortillas and omits the cheese to create a gluten-free, dairy-free version which she prefers. So many options!

Also, I just spent a thorough 3 minutes browsing the internet to see if this recipe makes enchiladas or burritos. It seems to be a hybrid. I'm going with burritos? It's a big decision... kind of stressing me out.

Sweet Potato Burritos with Avocado Salsa Verde

Adapted from Cookie+Kate

INGREDIENTS

Burritos

4 medium sweet potatoes

¼-⅓ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

¼-½ teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

8-10 whole wheat tortillas (I use 8 inch)

1 12-oz jar roasted red peppers, drained and cut into long strips

2 15-oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained

2+ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Avocado Salsa Verde

3-4 ripe avocados

2 cups mild salsa verde, jarred

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 limes, juiced (approximately 4 tablespoons lime juice)

½ cup packed cilantro leaves
Optional: 1 to 2 teaspoons fresh jalapeño, deseeded and roughly chopped

Optional toppings:

shredded romaine

diced red onion

sour cream

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Rinse, peel, and chop the sweet potatoes  into large, bite-sized chunks, about 1.25x1.25x0.5 inches. In a separate bowl, mix the olive oil with the cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Toss the sweet potatoes in the olive oil, making sure they are lightly coated in oil on all sides. Spread the sweet potatoes in a single layer onto two large baking sheets lined with foil or parchment paper. Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring the sweet potato chunks every 15 minutes, until they are cooked through and caramelized around the edges. 

2. While the sweet potatoes bake, make the avocado sauce. In a food processor or blender, combine the avocado flesh, salsa verde, garlic, jalapeño (if adding), lime juice, and cilantro. Blend until smooth and well-combined.

3. To assemble the burritos: In the middle of each tortilla, put down a couple strips of roasted red pepper, then add 1/3 cup roasted sweet potato chunks. Add 1/4 cup black beans down the center and top with 1/3 cup of Monterey jack cheese on top. Gently roll the burrito. Assemble remaining burritos. Bake the burritos at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the tortillas are lightly crisp and golden.

4. Carefully transfer each burrito to a plate. Smother it in avocado sauce and add desired toppings.

Beef & Barley Vegetable Soup - The Perfect Beginning to Autumn and Winter Feasting

Does anyone else get excited for soup season? That is what I just now decided to call when it is cool enough to start making delicious, aromatic, savory soups.

I adapted this treasure of a recipe from one that my mother-in-law sent me last year. Basically, everything about this soup is healthy (you can take out the beef if you want to) and it freezes really well. You can freeze it into single portions and take it for lunch.

Beef and Barley Vegetable Soup

2 c. pearled barley--cook per pkg. instructions while preparing the rest of the soup.

2 Tbs. olive oil

1-2 lbs beef stew meat (you can usually find chunks of beef that are perfect for stew in the meat aisle)

2 c. chopped onion

6 carrots, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

8 c. beef or vegetable broth

2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes

2 Tbs. tomato paste

1 Tbs. Worchestershire sauce

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

6 c. chopped baby spinach or 1 10-oz. pkg frozen spinach, OR 6 c. finely chopped kale (can substitute cabbage as well)

While barley cooks, brown the beef and saute onion and carrots in olive oil for 5 minutes (use a large stockpot--this recipe makes 8 three-cup servings).. Add garlic, sauteing 1 minute. Add broth, tomatoes, tom. paste, Worc. sauce, vinegar, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to low boil, simmer 20-25 minutes until carrots are tender. Add greens and cooked barley, stir well. Remove from heat and serve.

Perfect Chicken Seasoning

So I'm not historically that girl who makes her own seasonings. I don't care how "quick and easy" your taco seasoning recipe is; it certainly isn't as quick and easy and tearing open those little taco seasoning packets, n'est pas?

Yet I've joined the dark side and regularly have a shaker on hand of my very own, pre-assembled, Perfect Chicken Seasoning. And by "very own," I really mean that I got it from another blog which has unfortunately been MIA for over a year now! Should the Crayon Recipe Box blog ever resurface, I want to give a shout out for this mix, because it's awesome. Now, I normally mix up a big batch to have on hand and sprinkle generously on chicken breasts to add to a number of recipes. Our favorite is Lemon Angel Hair with Chicken and Spinach, but we also add chicken strips to marinara sauce for chicken spaghetti (except never with actual spaghetti noodles, because Jeffrey has some angst towards that particular pasta). They also taste wonderful in chicken quesadillas. Mmm-mmm.

But I digress. The point I was going to make is that if you want to make a lot or a little, it's pretty easy as the spice ratio is one to one to one to one to one. Also, although I left in the pan-searing part of the instructions, in the interest of full disclosure, let me admit that I often feel pressed for time and put the coated chicken straight into a baking dish minus the browning. It still works and still tastes delicious. Yet if you have the time, the extra steps on the stove help give the chicken a subtle, seasony-crust on the outside and tender, soft interior.

Perfect Chicken 

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp paprika
2 Tbl olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix generous teaspoons of all the spices in a bowl. Dip both sides of each chicken breast into the mixture for a generous coat. If you're feeling really super and thorough, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet on med-high heat. Once hot, brown the chicken for 2 minutes on each side. Place oven-safe skillet in oven (or transfer chicken to a baking dish) and bake uncovered for 40 minutes or until juices run clear. Remove chicken from oven and rest on cutting board for 5 minutes before slicing or serving.

Quinoa Crusted Pork Chops

Has everyone officially heard and tried some random recipe with this new "super" grain called quinoa? (Which is not in any way, shape, or form pronounced the way it is spelled. Unless you speak a Latin-based language, I suppose.)

Cooked quinoa

I tried a couple recipes containing quinoa a year or so ago and thought they were "okay" but didn't love them. Then I stumbled across this idea while I was googling quinoa recipes: use quinoa as a crust or breading for meat rather than using breadcrumbs. I must say I was intrigued, especially since I am breast-feeding baby #2 and have to go easy on the gluten to keep his tummy happy. I tried it and am here to shout to the world that using quinoa in place of breadcrumbs is AMAZING! You must try it. Here is the recipe I used and recommend:

Quinoa Crusted Pork Chops
Adapted from this Rachael Ray recipe

3/4 cup cooked quinoa (cook according to directions on package)
4 pork chops
1/4 cup mustard (I just used the kind you slap on hot dogs)
pepper to taste
a little olive oil and/or cooking spray

1, Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, spray foil with cooking spray, and spread the cooked quinoa on the foil. Bake quinoa at 300 degrees for about 25 minutes or until it starts to lightly brown. 

2. Mix pork chops, mustard, and a few sprinkles of pepper in a medium bowl until pork chops are uniformly covered with the mustard. 

3. Roll pork chops in the quinoa until each pork chop is uniformly covered in the toasted quinoa. 

4. Drizzle a little olive oil in a 9''x 9'' pan or pie dish and put the quinoa-covered pork chops in the pan. 

5. Cook chops in 425 degree oven for 15-25 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the pork chops. You may have to cut one open at some point to make sure they are cooked all the way through. Do what you have to do. 

Yum, yum, yum! My husband was afraid this would taste too mustardy, but he was pleasantly surprised. The quinoa doesn't allow the mustard to take over the flavor. I have used quinoa on chicken too, but I really prefer how it complements a nice, fat pork chop. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Harvest Soup

In honor of autumn next month, here's a delicious and divine soup.

It was a busy day at the NICU, the day I first tried this recipe. After 6 hours on the floor with 6 more to go, my lunch break was an especially treasured time, and that day was a Sunday potluck. Though I'm sure much of the plentiful food was delicious, this orangey soup and the homemade wheat bread paired with it received lots of attention.

Which, of course, was no wonder when I found out it was made by Wendy. Wendy was my coach, my sensei, if you will, to guide me in the ways of the Newborn Intensive Care Unit. As a new nurse, "What would Wendy do?" was my question to every problem; she is one of those people who is exemplary at life (and, consequently, her job). It made sense that the most delicious recipe there belonged to her, and since she graciously shared it with all the nurses who requested it, I shall share it with you. It's super healthy, super easy, and super delicious.

Harvest Soup                    

1 small onion
2 Tbsp. olive oil or ¼ cup butter
2 lbs. (cups) chopped Butternut Squash  (1 large squash) *I usually cheat and get the already cubed butternut squash from Trader Joe's (and I think Wendy did the same at Costco?)
3 cups water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
4-8 oz. Cream Cheese (may use light version) add to your desired consistency

Saute onions in oil or butter until soft.  Add the squash, water, bouillon, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and then simmer until soft (about 30 minutes).  Stir in the cream cheese until combined, taking care not to let the soup come to a boil once the cheese is added. Blend with an immersion blender or in sections in a regular blender.

Enjoy with yummy homemade bread on a chilly fall day... if those ever come to California.

The Best Fruit Smoothie

Sometimes you have to eat fruit smoothies. They got me through the pregnancy nausea (berry smoothies crammed with spinach, because it was the only way I could get any vegetables in my diet). They get me through Texas heat and humidity. And this one wakes me up in the morning. I call it my Sunshine Smoothie. It is not the healthiest one out there. No spinach or "super" foods. But it tastes really, really good and is the perfect compliment to these delicious and healthy muffins or the best french toast in the entire universe that you can find here.

Sunshine Smoothie

* 6-8 strawberries, halved and frozen
* 2 medium bananas, peeled and halved and frozen
* 1 small container (6-8 oz) of mixed berry yogurt (I use yoplait for this but feel free to use a greek yogurt. Try to get a berry flavor other than strawberry though- like raspberry or blackberry or a little bit of both)
* 1 - 2 cups orange juice (depending on how thick you like your smoothies)

Throw everything in a blender and blend it!
Makes 2-4 servings

Believe it or not, I don't have a tall, glass cup to beautifully display the smoothie. So this is going to have to suffice.

Fried Rice With Veggies and Ham - Dairy-free, Gluten-free, and Soy-free (if you so desire)

Does anyone else out there have a TON of leftover Easter ham? I do. So naturally, I have been looking for creative (and healthy) ways to incorporate into our meals. And then I happened upon this treasure. Fried rice. Yum. I love me some good fried rice. In this recipe, I used brown rice as my base, and then just threw in any vegetables that I happened to have in the fridge. The result was quite delightful--and it only takes 30-45 minutes to make. Here's what I did.

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice (preferable Uncle Ben's brown rice)

2 eggs

1 cup chopped ham
1 small onion or 2 green onions

1-2 whole carrots, diced

1 cup baby spinach or cabbage, roughly chopped
1 zucchini or squash, diced

1/2 cup frozen corn and/or peas

soy sauce, to taste (optional)

Directions

1. First of all, cook up some rice (or use leftover rice if you have it). I like brown rice because it is whole grain, but some varieties are very dense and not my favorite to eat. However, this Uncle Ben's brown rice is SOOO good and somehow seems less dense as the other varieties I have tried. I love the texture and taste of this stuff. To cook it, put one cup of brown rice into a medium saucepan with two cups of water. Add a few sprinkles of salt. Cook on medium high for a couple of minutes until it boils, and then cover the saucepan and turn the stove down to low. Set the timer for 20 minutes and simmer on low. Voila. 20 minutes later you will have some delicious, whole grain rice.

2. Fry 2 eggs in a small frying pan and once they are cooked through, chop them up into smallish pieces with your spatula. Set aside.

3. Chop ham into small pieces and set aside.

4. Dice your veggies into small pieces. I used carrots (1 or 2 carrots (full-size) or several baby carrots) and spinach (about a cup of spinach, roughly chopped) because those are the veggies I had on hand. Frozen corn or peas would work well in this, as well as some zucchini and yellow squash. I kept wishing mine had some squash in it. Or chopped cabbage. Chopped cabbage would have been delicious.

5. Heat 1-2 tablespoons canola oil in a large pan. Add chopped vegetables and sautee in oil on medium heat until tender. (If you are using spinach, sautee the other vegetables first and then add the spinach until it begins to wilt. Add chopped ham and mix everything together.

6. Turn the heat down to low and add cooked egg and rice and mix everything together. Turn off heat. If you want this recipe to be soy-free, then it is ready to serve. Otherwise, add some soy sauce and stir, just a teaspoon at a time, until it tastes just right to you. (Be careful! I have over-poured the soy sauce before and there is no going back once it is in there. So really, just pour it in a teaspoon at a time.)

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Shake

Let me start by saying that in my college days, I drank a lot of Jamba Juice. In the beginning, I preferred the fruit smoothies but I had a friend who would always get their "Peanut Butter Moo'd." It sounded disgusting to me so it took me a long time to be coaxed into tasting it. But after my first taste, I was hooked. It was something akin to a chocolate shake with a hint of peanut butter. Then, on one of my first visits to my husband's childhood home, my mother-in-law made us chocolate banana shakes. Basically, you blend up some frozen bananas with milk, cocoa, and sugar-and voila! Magic. I liked it. I liked it a lot. So much so that I started making them on a regular basis for me and my husband. For some reason, however, they were never quite as good as I thought they should be. The cocoa makes them taste kind of chalky. And I never understood why I was adding sugar when the bananas were definitely sweet enough on their own. Then, I remembered those "Peanut Butter Moo'ds" of yesteryear and I knew what needed to happen. So I omitted the sugar and added a spoonful of peanut butter. To be honest, I like this recipe better than the jamba juice version. Maybe it's because I can make them as thick as I want to. Maybe it is because I don't have to pay 4 bucks for them. Who knows. I've seen similar versions of this recipe online so apparently others have figured out the goodness, too. But for those of you who haven't, here is a delicious, cold, chocolaty treat that is relatively healthy and wonderful if you can't have dairy and/or soy:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Shake

1 very ripe banana, frozen
1 cup milk (or almond milk)
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 tablespoon peanut butter (if you are going soy-free, check the peanut butter labels. There are some that don't have soy.)

Blend everything in a blender and enjoy.

Tips: This recipe is for one serving. However, the size of the banana really does make a difference. There are  some bigger bananas (and I'm not talking about plantains) that I have purchased that make almost twice as much as a normal sized banana. For those, you will want to add more milk and a little extra cocoa. Also, it helps if you peel and break apart the banana before you freeze it.

Make a cake and eat it too! Even though it is dairy and gluten-free...

Four months after my baby girl was born, she started filling her diapers with neon green slimy poop.I could always feel bubbles in her tummy and no amount of burping seemed to eradicate the problem. Lucky for me, she was a sweet, easy-going child, despite any stomach discomfort she might have felt. The pediatrician told me she had a dairy allergy which meant if I wanted to keep breastfeeding, I would need to take dairy out of my diet. No problem. I could go without dairy for the next 7-8 months. Easy breezy. I mean, we live in a world with dairy substitutes like almond milk! Unfortunately, taking dairy out didn’t fix the problem. So then I read that a percentage of babies with the dairy allergy are also allergic to soy. So out went the soy. This turned out to be MUCH more difficult because as those of you who have tried to live without soy will testify, soy is in EVERYTHING. I went to open a can of tuna—it had soy in it. I wanted to have some peanut butter—it had soy. My pre-natal vitamins had soy listed as one of the ingredients.

Taking soy out of my diet definitely helped the problem but she was still occasionally pooping green. So then, I decided to take gluten out of my diet as well, to see if that would fix everything. And it did. The problem was, now I had to come up with meals that were dairy-free, soy-free, and gluten-free.

Why am I telling you this? First off, I am in no way a scientist, nutritionist, or food expert—but it seems to me that when it comes to things that your are ingesting, too much of one thing isn’t great for your body. The fact that soy was listed on the ingredients of almost everything I put my hand on in the grocery store was rather disconcerting. There are probably just small amounts of it in most things—but still! It is in EVERYTHING! 

Secondly, for those of you who are breastfeeding babies with a dairy allergy (and if they have soy and gluten allergies too...), there is hope! My little girl's digestive issues were pretty much fixed by the time she was 11 months. So I happily integrated dairy and gluten back into my diet again. Until you reach that point with your child, here is a recipe that will help when you are craving chocolate. It is dairy/soy/gluten-free. And it is fast and easy and delicious. (And I will post a few other recipes this week that are dairy/soy/gluten-free and that saved me from going crazy while I had these eating restrictions.)

 Chocolate Cake (Dairy/Soy/Gluten – Free)

*You will need 2 ramekins (I found my ramekins in the dollar aisle at Target) or 1 oven-safe wide-mouthed cup or mug

·   1/4 cup granulated sugar

·   3 tablespoons white rice flour (This is my preferred non-gluten flour)

·   2 tablespoons cocoa powder (natural or Dutch process)

·   1/8 teaspoon salt

·   1/8 teaspoon baking soda

·   3 tablespoons almond milk

·   2 tablespoons vegetable oil

·   1 large egg

·   1 tablespoon dairy-free chocolate chips, optional

·   powdered sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease each ramekin with non-stick cooking spray. In small bowl, mix dry ingredients. Then, add milk, vegetable oil, and egg. Whisk until smooth.

2. Divide batter evenly between two ramekins or use all batter in one large wide-mouthed mug. Bake about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes. Sprinkle confectioners' sugar over cake and serve warm with almond milk! Yum!

Adapted from: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/02/gluten-free-chocolate-cake-quick-recipe.html