Last Licks . . . Mama Pea's Mmmm Sauce and Roasted Sweet Potato Rings

The day is dangerously close when life as I know it will come to an end. Tomorrow my contractor is setting up a makeshift kitchen in my living room where I will be attempting to "cook" for the next 12 weeks (I'm NOT complaining!). If I make it through I will be blessed with the kitchen of my dreams (big smile and nervous laughter). It's either the best decision I have ever made or the stupidest financial risk. Time will tell. And I don't want to live a life that ends in regret.

You'd think that I would be spending my last few days with a full kitchen preparing elaborate vegan soups and casseroles that I could freeze and that would help get us through the duration. But if you guessed I was doing that, you'd be way wrong. It's more like I'm paralyzed with fear. I'm avoiding life like the plague--hardly blogging, e-mails piling up, watching far too much reality TV. Hey, even I get (mildly!) depressed.

I first saw today's recipe this morning when I was going through a few days worth of old e-mails. That's generally how I decide what's for dinner--some interesting recipe magically lands in my in box and today this was it. I noticed that Mama Peas' Mmmm Sauce called for 1/4 cup of canola oil so I asked Mama Pea what I should do if I didn't want to use any oil. Nice girl that she is, she almost immediately suggested avocado. I happened to have one that I needed to use up, so I substituted 1/2 of an avocado for the oil.

I whipped up the batch of Mmmm Sauce when I got home from work and tossed it into a big salad . . . it was just okay. Then I dipped a roasted sweet potato ring (my new go to side dish for weeknights) and it was magic! The sauce actually reminded me of one of my all time favorite recipes. It was Gena at Choosing Raw's Raw Curried Cashew Spread that made me sure I could go vegan and never look back.

If you haven't made Roasted Sweet Potato rings, here's how to do it: Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheets with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Carefully cut sweet potatoes into 1/4" slices and lay on baking sheet in a single layer. Place tray in oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and flip rings. Place trays back in oven, but rotate oven placement of trays top to bottom. Bake for an additional 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before serving as is or with your favorite dipping sauce.

For another extraordinary use of Roasted Sweet Potato Rings, don't forget to give Chef A.j.'s Sweet Potato Nachos a try. Yum!

What risks have you taken lately? Is there anything that you want to do but are on the fence about?

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Coconut Curry Kale, Chick Pea and Sweet Potato Stoup



I have officially become my mother.

But don't get mad, Mom. That's not an insult.

I saw a totally healthy recipe here on Mama Pea's blog and I made it EVEN healthier. Mom would be so proud. And thank you to Mama Pea, as this is a pretty genius recipe! My husband said, "This is the best soup you have ever made, it's incredible, it's perfect, it's so delicious. Holy cow. This is sick. This is so good. This is the best soup ever. Holy Shit. How could you ever make anything this good again?"

Nuf said.

Coconut Curry Kale, Chick Pea and Sweet Potato Stoup
adapted from a recipe by Mama Pea over at Peas and Thank You

Printable Recipe
2 cups chopped onion
2 large stalks celery, rough chopped
1 medium head bok choy, rough chopped
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp sweet curry powder
1 tsp hot curry powder (optional if you like heat)
4 cups vegetable broth (1 standard box)
1 14 oz. can light coconut milk
1 14 oz. can diced organic fire-roasted tomatoes (i.e. Muir Glen, Trader Joe's, Hunts all now have this)
2 14 oz. cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp arrowroot powder
1 large sweet potato, diced medium
1 head organic kale, de-stemmed and chopped into pieces
1/4 tsp salt and pepper to taste (or to taste)

Place all ingredients, onion through chick peas, into a crock pot set to 6 hours. At the 4 1/2 hour, add the sweet potato. At 5 hours, remove a ladle full of the broth and pour into a small bowl. Dissolve the 1 Tbsp of arrowroot powder into the broth and return broth to crock pot. Then add the kale. After 6 hours, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

P.S. It seems that more and more doctors are catching on to the plant-strong way of eating as a method of disease prevention. Read about two of them here.

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Curried Sweet Potato Soup

I received a great question from a reader yesterday in the comments section, "Where are the recipes for these beautiful dishes? Tried to click on the names but goes nowhere! Help me please....."

I thought that my answer might be something that all of the HGK reader's should know: I am not (usually) an original writer of plant-strong nutritarian recipes. I am an avid home cook that tests and often tweaks other author's recipes. That means that I do not have the rights to publish the recipes on my blog unless I get permission from the author.

However, if I change the recipe enough and rewrite the instructions in my own voice, I can provide a recipe. It's a fine line that we bloggers walk and I try hard to maintain my integrity here and the intellectual property of others.

What does that mean for my readers? Well, we have to break it into the following two categories:

(1) RECIPES FROM COOKBOOKS

If I change the recipe enough or get the permission of the author, I can reprint the recipe. That was the case with yesterday's posting. The recipes were all from Terry Walter's Clean Start cookbook and I didn't change anything, so I cannot reprint the recipes. I did not ask Ms. Walter's for permission to reprint her recipes. In the cases where the recipes are from The Engine 2 Diet and Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, both Rip Esselstyn and Anne Esselstyn were incredibly generous to grant me permission to republish their recipes, and you will find many of them here on HGK.

I photograph and write about dishes that are successful for me and that I am enthusiastic about. I don't bash recipes or cookbook authors here. If it's a flop for me, you'll never hear about it! With no recipe what I hope I am providing is honest recipe reviews and hopefully, inspiration. Not just inspiration to make a particular recipe but inspiration to surround yourself with delicious, nutritious, beautiful plant-strong food. And maybe that cookbook that I keep talking about starts to call your name and you purchase a copy!

(2) RECIPES FROM BLOGS

This category is a lot less complicated because I will always provide a link back to the original recipe along with my photos and review. If I tweak a recipe enough, I will also publish the recipe for my tweaked version right here on the blog.

Here's a perfect example of this. Yesterday, I made a Curried Sweet Potato Soup from Melody over at http://melomeals.blogspot.com/. I really like Melody's blog because she is a very creative chef. But, many of her recipes do not fit into my eating choice box, so I can either tweak them to fit the no-added oil vegan style or just move on. I happened to be particularly intrigued by her Curried Sweet Potato Soup (remember I said I was Indian in a past life . . .) and I was not disappointed by this vegan cup of heaven!

Melody's Curried Sweet Potato Soup. Get the recipe here.

I did tweak this recipe a little. I eliminated one of the two tbsp of coconut oil, the cilantro (just because I didn't have any), the 1-3 tbsp of Sriracha and the additional salt and pepper (it was already spicy and so flavorful I didn't think it needed it) and the sour cream or yogurt (for obvious reasons).

Both my husband and I loved it. I would be proud to serve this to guests who like spicy food, but certainly not anyone and everyone. It was thick and rich and the flavors were so very complex. I could see it served as an appetizer at a posh party in shot glasses. I pulled out a Saki cup from my pottery days for the photo above and I totally enjoyed sipping it that way. It's an incredibly satisfying soup. Thanks Melody!

Thoughts? How do you feel about my nutritarian recipe review style of blogging?

If you yourself are a food blogger, what are you personal views on this subject?

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