Poached Egg with Mashed Sweet Potato and Steamed Broccoli

I had a wonderful weekend; went to a local brewery for some drinks, dinner, and basketball after work Friday. Met up with a couple of their wives and then we went to another co-worker's house and drank and partied all night until about 3 am. It was extreme fun and involved eating chic dog-bakery dog food, wrestling, riding bikes around the house, smoking tobacco from wooden pipes, and more beer than was strictly necessary. Total blast.



Saturday I bought a beautiful new bike! This is something I've been saving up for for over a year and holding off until I found the perfect one for me. I ended up getting a Surly touring bike that one of my co-workers hand-picked for me. It fits me perfectly and I'm extremely excited to start bike-commuting to work again (once MO decided to stop snowing) and bike-packing (back-packing on bikes!). After that I spent a nice calm evening hanging out with my roommate and biking friend Melissa who came over, eating veggies with hummus and drinking tea and working on moving over accessories to my new bike, and then taking a ridiculous photo shoot (as shown above).

After Melissa left, I caught my roommate (sushi chef/ex-professional ballet dancer) and we geeked out over HP, LOTR, and Doctor Who until about 3 am, after which I was already on my computer and ended up writing for 4 hours straight analyzing a lot of things I've been thinking about with regards to pretty much everything going on in my life and how it relates back to work and vice versa. I'm making a detailed presentation I want to give to my manager in our up-coming meeting. : ) Something I've needed to do and get off my chest for quite some time now! I was up until 8 am Sunday morning. I started receiving FB notifications because people were waking up for the day x.x The college schedule dies hard in this one.

Sunday I had a delightful conversation over a long (and delicious brunch) at Gratitude Cafe with my mom. We talked about literally about everything, but the focus was on the community house that we're going to start together : ) She loves the idea and has full support from her church community and explained the family history behind a community living initiative that my grandfather (a Kansas City builder) did back in the day. It was called Purple Circle, and so shall ours be named! I'm completely excited about this prospect, something I've been thinking about for a very long time now. We drove around for about an hour, impeding traffic as we looked at a ton of different houses in the Midtown area (Hyde Park and Hospital Hill areas are where we're thinking). Very exciting!

After that I came home to some block printing my roommate Stephanie and her friend were doing for a new KC local zine they just started (Undercurrent: A Zine About Kansas City). This is something I would like to participate in in the future, especially with the community house. We had an intriguing conversation about poly vs monogamous relationships after that. Definitely reminded me of the Oscar-nominated movie 'Her' that just came out. I highly recommend everyone see it! Great film and great lessons about life and love.

After THAT (this weekend just doesn't end, does it?) my good friend Rachael came over and I cooked this meal while we talked about her art class lesson plans she's making for her students in rural Missouri (while drinking left over wine from her paint-and-sip studio she works at!). Such a fun and great evening/weekend. I think it could have lasted forever (though my body would soon give out due to lack of sleep in there! I'm greatly looking forward to my detox weekend)

So, without further ado:

Poached Egg with Mashed Sweet Potato and Steamed Broccoli
serves 4

Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 large sweet potatoes
1 large red onion
1 head broccoli, sliced into thin florets
cheese, grated (to garnish)
1 Tbs butter
1 pinch sugar
1 pinch salt
vinegar or lemon juice
olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
garlic salt
fresh ground black pepper

Instruction:
1. Heat a medium heavy-bottomed skillet over a medium flame. Dice the red onion small, melt the butter in the skillet, and add onion, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Stir together and cook onions down until golden-brown, stirring every so often.
2. Bring water to boil in a steamer. Dice sweet potato in to 1" cubes (no peeling necessary). Once water in steamer has boiled, and steam until fork-tender (5-10 minutes). If possible save water in pot so can be used for broccoli steaming. If not, refill and bring back to a boil.
3. In a medium-small pot, boil enough water for egg poaching, and add a splash of vinegar into the water. Meanwhile, mash together sweet potato, caramelized onions, paprika. Set aside.
4. In steamer, steam broccoli florets for 5 minutes until just softened and bright green. Set broccoli aside.
5. Once poaching water boils, bring down to just below boiling, stir pot with a spoon to make a vortex in the middle and crack an egg into the middle (I like to crack an egg into a ramekin then pour egg into vortex). Poach for 1-2 minutes or until white has set on the egg.
Assembly:
1. On a plate or in a bowl, mound about 1 cup mashed potatoes and flatten on top. Pile on a handful of steamed broccoli (1/4th of what's there) on top of that, place poached eggs on the very top. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt, black pepper, and grated cheese. Enjoy!

Chipotle Sweet Potato Hummus

I wanted a healthy (vegetarian) alternative for a Super Bowl party, and I found this little gem. It's a non-chickpea based hummus, using sweet potato instead. Extremely quick to make (I didn't even peel the sweet potatoes, just scrubbed) and it has a great thick texture. I didn't add much olive oil, just a little for taste.

Serve with cut vegetables, pita triangles, or use as a sandwich spread.

Chipotle Sweet Potato Hummus
from The Fitchen

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes, cubed small
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp ground chipotle pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
olive oil as needed for consistency

Instructions:
1. Steam the sweet potatoes until fork-tender (15-20 mins)
2. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse in 5 second bursts until desired consistency is reached, drizzling in olive oil as needed.
3. Garnish with olive oil drizzled on top and a couple dashes of ground chipotle pepper.

Baked Sweet Potato with Black Beans, Arugula, and Poached Egg

I seem to find that when there are many things, those are the times I do the most cooking, especially baking. Maybe that's because I know I'll be pre-occupied anyway, so waiting 2 (or 3 or 4) hours for black beans to cook really won't be an issue. I'll be up anyway. Maybe it's because that I subconsciously want to create periods of great activity so I'll enjoy and appreciate downtime more when it comes. Maybe it's because my brain knows it needs some reprieves, and cooking can be a great way to work out stress. Maybe my cooking drive proportionally related to the amount of other things I have to do. I'm not sure, but I do know there should be a name for this baking-when-I'm-super-busy phenomena. I've seen it happen to many a food blogger. Anyhow....

This dish is basically made out of food gifts: one of my besties Alex gave me these two beautiful sweet potatoes from the farmer's market, and told me to make something special with them, and I happily obliged. Along with the dried black beans that my friend Eldina's mom so generously gave me when she moved and the eggs I buy from a co-worker (which are gifts in-and-of themselves), this recipe really brings me back to my roots of using what you can find and what you along with my new goals of cooking using local ingredients (potatoes, arugula, and eggs). Finders Eaters!


Baked Sweet Potato with Black Beans, Arugula, and Poached Egg
from How Sweet
serves 4

Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes
1 cup cooked black beans
4 oz. cheese (I used essentially queso fresco)
2 cups arugula
1 tsp olive oil
1 Tbs lemon juice
4 eggs, poached (or however you like)
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 425F.
2. Poke sweet potatoes all over with a fork, place on a baking sheet with a silicon slip-mat (for easy cleaning) and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce heat and cook for 30-40 minutes more, until a fork slides all the way into the center of the potato with ease.
3. Remove potatoes from oven and let cool for 5 minutes or so. Start to cook your eggs at this point.
4. Slice the potatoes length-wise down the center and top each half with 1 oz. of cheese. Place back into the oven (put on broil) and cook for 1-2 minutes until cheese starts to turn golden-brown.
5. In a mixing bowl, toss arugula with oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.
6. Plate the potatoes and top with 1/4 cup black beans, 1/2 cup salad, and the poached egg. Grind some pepper over the top (if desired), and serve immediately.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burger Hash

Delicious! I wanted to make this a stuffed sweet potato like the original, but unfortunately I had too many bad spots to chunk out, so I ended up making this as hash. It's nice and spicy, though, and I suggest definitely serving with avocado and/or sour cream to help cut the bite.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burger Hash
from BetsyLife

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato, diced
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 spicy black bean burger
2 scallions, thinly sliced (or 1/2 onion, diced and sautéed)
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 T. pepper jack cheese, shredded

Optional (to garnish):
- 1/2 avocado, diced
2 Tbs. sour cream
cilantro

Instructions:
1.  Preheat oven to 400F.
2. On a baking pan, toss sweet potato with a 1 Tbs. of the oil, and spread evenly. Bake for 30 minutes, or until soft.
3. While potato is cooking, pan fry the black bean burger according to manufacturer's directions. Chop into 1/2" squares.
3. In a large bowl, combine sweet potato, black bean burger, scallions, chili powder, and cumin. Scoop into 4 ramekins, top each with cheese, and bake for an additional 3-5 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and turning golden.
4. Add garnishes and serve.

Hard Cider Sweet Potato Bisque

Filling yet so fresh. I really enjoyed this soup, and garnished it with my baked pumpkin seeds!

Hard Cider Sweet Potato Bisque
from Bakeaholic Mama
serves 6

Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes
1 large yellow onion, quartered
2 small apples, peeled and cored
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs butter
4 cups vegetable stock (or chick'n)
1 bottle hard cider
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbs maple syrup
1 cup cream

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Pierce potatoes with a fork. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes or until tender.
3. Meanwhile, add onion, apples, garlic, and butter to a large pot over medium heat. Saute until apples break down and onions are translucent.
4. Add stock, cider, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Simmer on medium-low heat until potatoes are finished baking.
5. Once potatoes are cooked and have cooled enough to handle, cut down the middle and scoop our the flesh. Add to the pot.
6. Using an immersion blender (or a regular blender), blend soup until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in cream and serve.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas

Simple and delicious enchiladas! Just the perfect amount of spicy, and a great way to let those in-season sweet potatoes shine.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas
from a Couple Cooks
serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:
3 cups diced sweet potato
15 oz. can black beans
8 oz. canned diced green chillies
1 medium red onion, diced
1/2 Tbs. cumin
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper
~2 cups salsa verde
6 - 8 oz. Colby jack cheese, shredded
14+ bag enchilada-sized tortillas
Optional: sour cream and cilantro to garnish

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
2. Place sweet potato in a pot, cover with water, add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cook until tender  (~12-15 mins)
3. Drain and rinse the black beans.
4. In a large bowl, combine black beans, sweet potato, onion, chilies, cumin, chili powder, garlic, salt, and ground pepper. Mix to combine.
5. Warm the tortilla for a minute in the microwave. In a large baking pan, add enough salsa verde to cover the bottom.
6. Fill each tortilla with 1/4 cup of filling and a handful of cheese. Roll up and place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat until the filling runs out. Top with remaining salsa verde and cheese.
7. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve with sour cream and cilantro.

Sweet Potato Schupfnudeln with Brown Butter and Thyme

 These delicious little things are basically sweet potato gnocchi, rolled long and pan-fried. Definitely worth the work. You could probably serve these with simple olive oil and grated Parmesan.

Sweet Potato Schupfnudeln with Brown Butter and Thyme
from 1 big bite

Ingredients:
1 lb. sweet potato
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
5 Tbs. flour + more (I used quite a bit more)
2 tsp. ghee (or oil) + more as needed

for browned butter:
5.3 Tbs. butter
5 sprigs thyme

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 450F. Pierce sweet potato all over with a fork, and bake on a lined baking sheet (or I used my bread pan) and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until a fork slides easily through the flesh.
2. After sweet potato has cooled for a bit, mash with a fork and add yolk, salt, nutmeg, and flour. Once thoroughly combined, add just enough flour to get a dough that comes together nicely (may be a little sticky)
3. Dust hands and cutting board with flour. Form a log, and cut into ieces until each piece is finger-length and thick.
4. Heat pan to medium-high heat, and melt ghee. Cook schupfnudeln until golden brown, rotating so at least 3 sides of each are browned.
5. Garnish with browned butter and leaves of 2 thyme sprigs.

for browned butter:
1. Add butter and leaves of 3 springs of thyme to sauce pan over medium heat. Once butter has melted, stir until little brown specks form at the bottom. Take off heat, and drizzle over schupfnudeln.