Jamaican Sweet Potato Poutine

This is one of the most delicious dishes I have EVER made!!  I'm always excited when I see Jamaican Sweet Potatoes in the grocery store, because I really prefer them to regular sweet potatoes.   Their flesh is less orange, a bit sweeter, and really yummy.  These are easy to spot in the grocery store because they have purple skin.    You want to make sure that you buy them when the skin isn't too damaged because when they get old they become inedible. 

I start by peeling, and cutting up, the sweet potatoes.  I roast them in the oven around 375 degrees with a bit of oil.    Keep an eye on them, because they will overcook and dry out really quickly. 

I never thought I liked a mushroom gravy until I tried making one!   I buy the big packages of 'imperfect' mushrooms from No Frills.  I rinse them, chop them up into small pieces, fry them, and then add some water and tamari sauce (a few tablespoons, at least), and then boil them down some more.   Right before it is time to put them on the potato, I thicken them with just a little bit with arrowroot powder (but you can use corn starch too).  

The cheese is Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds.  

Black Bean Brownies with Vegan Icing

This is the only way I can keep chocolate in the house!   I can't easily dip into a container of cocoa powder when I get a craving.   Forgive me for the terrible photograph, some things just don't love the camera.   A word of warning, you can make a black bean brownie that will fool someone if you don't tell them, but not with this recipe!     These are very good, but they definitely taste 'healthy.'  

I used this recipe for the brownies, with the following modifications to the ingredients:

• two 398 ml cans of black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 2 large flax eggs (2 heaping Tbsp flaxseed meal + 6 Tbsp water)
• 3 Tbsp avocado oil
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder 
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

I put the flax eggs ingredients into my food processor, and mixed them for a minute. I left that to thicken for a minute.   Then, I added all the rest of the ingredients and blended them for A Really Long Time (so that the batter was smooth).  I made these in silicone muffin cups, which I find super handy!   

I made the icing using this recipe, with the following modification to the ingredients: 

• 3/4 cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (still warm)
• 6 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp applesauce
• 2 tbsp arrowroot powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla 
• pinch of salt 

As I usually do, I skipped all the fancy instructions and just put everything in my Magic Bullet and blended it up.    I then stuck it in the fridge for a few hours before I iced the brownies.   

I've started making the applesauce for these recipes from scratch.   It only takes about five minutes to peel and cut up an apple, put it into a small saucepan with a bit of water, and make your own applesauce.    Homemade apple sauce tastes exactly 1000% better than the stuff you get in the grocery store, and it costs less too.   

Hummus and Garlic Stuffed Olives

I don't know what I did before I had a Vitamix to make hummus AND I don't know what I did before garlic stuffed olives!    You can make hummus in something other than a Vitamix, but I find it tastes a lot better coming out of a high-speed blender.   I know that's not helpful if you don't have one; however, it is still infinitely cheaper, and better for your health, to make it yourself. 

The garlic stuffed olives are available from President's Choice or Costco.   

​I make my hummus with a combination of the following ingredients:

• canned organic garbanzo beans*  **
• tahini (available in the multicultural sections of grocery stores at a much cheaper price than the health food sections)
• smoked paprika 
• lemon juice
• olive oil
• water
• a clove or two of raw garlic (peeled)

I can't pretend to be able to tell you the ratios I use, so I would leave it up to you to find a recipe that can guide you in that regard.   I also think it is just fine to dump things in!   

* Organic beans taste A LOT better
** If you're like me, and you have autoimmune disease, you may find you digest canned beans much better than home-made ones.    My theory for why that is happening is because the canning process reduces some of the problematic ingredients, such as agglutinin.    I have experienced IMMEDIATE autoimmune flares from eating beans I had prepared myself, using all the best techniques to render them easy to digest.   Want to learn more?  click here!  

Butternut Squash Pasta with Balsamic Glaze

It has occurred to me that perhaps I should sweep my porch before I take these photos.   This is a great meal to make during times like this because it is quite fast, and all the ingredients come from  your pantry and/or cold storage. 

The ingredients are:

• your favourite pasta (I used brown rice fettuccine noodles from Tinkyada)
• one butternut squash
• two onions
• pine nuts
• balsamic glaze (I buy this pre-prepared, my favourite brand is Nonna Pia's, which you can find around town and at Costco)

The instructions are:

1. Peel the onions, and then slice them into strips.   Fry them at a high heat at first, and then leave them at a low heat, stirring occasionally, until they caramelize. 
2. Cube the squash.   You can do this by cutting it in half right where it stops being straight.   This makes it easier to cut the skin off both sections with a knife.   Then, remove the seeds and cut into cubes.    I put the cubes into a stainless steel steamer basket and steam them until you can easily puncture them with a fork. 
3. Prepare the noodles.  Everyone has their own way of doing this.   I boil the water ahead of time.   I add the noodles and stir them frequently for about the first third of the time I cook them.   Then, once the water gets a bit cloudy, I turn down the heat enough so that the water doesn't boil over, and stir them very infrequently.   When they're the right texture, drain them, rinse them, and mix them up with a tablespoon or two of olive oil.  

That's it, just add all the ingredients together, and you have this delicious dish!  

Quesadillas

This a great lunch to make during a pandemic because almost all of the ingredients came from the pantry/freezer.    I used Dempster's 100% corn tortillas, which I had in the freezer.  I pulled a can of re-fried beans and a jar of salsa from the pantry.   I used some cilantro that was about to go bad in the fridge, along with Daiya Smoked Gouda, inside the quesadillas.   Delicious!