Parmesan Sweet Potato Fries with Horseradish Sauce ♥

Today's vegetable recipe: Homemade sweet potato fries. Wedges of fresh sweet potato dusted with chili powder and grated Parmesan, then roasted.

OH MY. If you've not found Superbowl 'endzone appetizers' yet, grab some sweet potatoes and turn on the oven. These disappear in minutes and taste great with a beer. There's just enough spice, just enough sweet (from the sweet potatoes, my favorite variety, Red Garnet) and just enough oven time that they almost melt.

NUTRITION NOTES Not that sweet potato fries are, ahem, diet food, especially dipped in a dusky horseradish sauce, but I was able to really limit the fat. By melting the bacon grease, then using my hands to distribute it among the pieces of sweet potato -- it just went further and thus the recipe maintains my standard fat:vegetable ration, 1T:1lb.

PARMESAN SWEET POTATO FRIES with HORSERADISH SAUCE

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 1 hour
Serves 4

1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into wedges
1 tablespoon bacon grease, melted (or butter or olive oil)
1 teaspoon chili powder
Grated Parmesan, about 1 1/2 ounces
Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 425F. With your hands, toss sweet potatoes in the fat, rubbing each surface. (You can switch to a spatula now, if you wish.) Toss in the chili powder, Parmesan and salt. Arrange on a rimmed baking sheet, roast for 15 minutes. Turn over. Roast for another 15 - 30 minutes, turning occasionally, until cooked through and slightly crispy on the outside. If you like, put under the broiler for 2 - 3 minutes to crisp up a bit. (But do know these are more like 'limp' than 'stiff' fries.)

HORSERADISH SAUCE
1 cup crème fraîche (how to make homemade crème fraîche) or sour cream
1 tablespoon horseradish
2 teaspoons Sherry wine vinegar (I used a gorgeous port vinegar from O Olive Oil)

Mix!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
(Sweet Potatoes Only) Per Serving: 164 Cal (35% from Fat, 14% from Protein, 50% from Carb); 6 g Protein; 6 g Tot Fat; 3 g Sat Fat; 2 g Mono Fat; 21 g Carb; 4 g Fiber; NetCarb17; 5 g Sugar; 154 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 791 mg Sodium; 13 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 3 points

(Horseradish Sauce Only) Per two tablespoons: 83 Cal (90% from Fat, 4% from Protein, 6% from Carb); 1 g Protein; 9 g Tot Fat; 5 g Sat Fat; 2 g Mono Fat; 1 g Carb; 0 g Fiber; NetCarb1; 0 g Sugar; 27 mg Calcium; 0 mg Iron; 19 mg Sodium; 27 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

KITCHEN NOTES
Raw, peeled sweet potatoes brown when exposed to air so be sure to move quickly once they're peeled.

MORE APPETIZER RECIPES
~ Standing Veggies, a great way to present fresh vegetables ~
~ Spinach, Artichoke & Bacon Dip, a crowd favorite ~
~ more appetizer recipes from A Veggie Venture ~

From Kitchen Parade, a few favorite appetizers that are easy to transport and serve:
~ Easy Radish Spread ~
~ Easy Italian Appetizers ~
~ Black Pepper Almonds ~
~ more appetizer recipes from Kitchen Parade ~

~ a year ago this week, Peasant Cabbage Soup, sweet 'n' sour cabbage, my favorite soup from a whole month of soup recipes ~

~ two years ago today, Fennel Goulash, Day 298, fennel, tomato, potato, mushrooms ~

PRINT JUST A RECIPE! Now you can print a recipe without wasting ink and paper on the header and sidebar. Here's how.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

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Eat more vegetables! A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and is the award-winning source of free vegetable recipes, quick, easy, and yes, delicious. Start with the Alphabet of Vegetables or dive into all the Weight Watchers vegetable recipes or all the low carb vegetable recipes. © Copyright 2008

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Pi Day - Let's Make Homemade Pie!

No recipe today -- just an announcement about a food blog event centered around Pi, whoops, make that Pie!

See today's Pi Day announcement at KitchenParade.com.

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Eat more vegetables! A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and is the award-winning source of free vegetable recipes, quick, easy, and yes, delicious. Start with the Alphabet of Vegetables or dive into all the Weight Watchers vegetable recipes or all the low carb vegetable recipes. © Copyright 2008

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Quick Ways to Doctor a Bag of Green Beans

Today's un-recipe: Ways to doctor frozen green beans with ingredients from the pantry and refrigerator.

So it's January 31st and we've been 'cutting back' and 'slimming down' for a month now.

How did we do? How do we feel?

Me, after four straight weeks of (almost) religiously counting Weight Watchers points, I'm finally feeling back in control (except for weekends, my danger zones) and feel new resolve to 'keep counting'. To help out, I've stocked the freezer with no-fuss no-muss frozen vegetables. I got tired of just plain ol' green beans so decided to spice them up a bit and was amazed at how many different ways they could be fixed, just using on-hand ingredients.

So this list is no recipe -- just, I hope, an inspiration to look into the depths of your own pantries. If you've got an idea for doctoring green beans, leave a comment -- we'll inspire one another!

#1 Beans with Mayo & Soy Sauce Toss cooked beans with about 1 tablespoon mayonnaise and 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce.

#2 Beans with Peanut Butter & Soy Sauce Toss cooked beans with about 1 tablespoon peanut butter and 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce (or just plain crunchy peanut butter).

#3 Beans with Orange Toss cooked beans with 1 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate.

#4 Beans with Lemon & Honey Toss cooked beans with a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, a half tablespoon of honey. Season with lemon pepper.

#5 Beans with Popcorn Oil Toss cooked beans with a half tablespoon of flavored popcorn oil. Yum!

#6 Beans with Horseradish Sauce Toss cooked beans with a tablespoon of sour cream and a half tablespoon of horseradish.

#7 Beans with Mustard Toss cooked green beans with a spoonful of good mustard. (Many thanks to Elizabeth from Blog from Our Kitchen for this tip! She likes a coarse mustard.)

NOT SO GOOD
Green beans tossed with black bean sauce

~ recipes for fresh green beans ~

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JANUARY'S FAVORITE RECIPES

Who else pays special attention to recipes that Food & Wine and Cooking Light identify as 'staff favorites'? So here are the 'staff favorites' (ahem, yes my own) for January from A Veggie Venture. They represent the season, yes? with spare, healthful food and a comfort-food soup.

~ Broccoli with Sautéed Garlic, the favorite side vegetable ~
~ Quick 'Massaged' Kale Salad, the favorite vegetable salad ~
~ 15-Bean Soup, January's favorite soup ~

~ Favorite Vegetable Recipes, nearly three years of favorites, just one per month ~

PRINT JUST A RECIPE! Now you can print a recipe without wasting ink and paper on the header and sidebar. Here's how.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

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Eat more vegetables! A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and is the award-winning source of free vegetable recipes, quick, easy, and yes, delicious. Start with the Alphabet of Vegetables or dive into all the Weight Watchers vegetable recipes or all the low carb vegetable recipes. © Copyright 2007

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Salt-Roasted Beets ♥

Today's (crazy?) beet recipe: Fresh beets roasted in a salty crust, topped with a horseradish sauce. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point.

To sell a house, forget baking cookies just before prospective buyers arrive, so last-century passé! Instead, roast beets wrapped in salt and horseradish and citrus zest. Oh my, who knew that horseradish could smell so good? (And besides, how could I resist an addition to all the ways to cook beets?)

The recipe comes from the February 2008 issue of Bon Appetit, bookmarked in a dozen spots for intriguing new ideas for cooking vegetables. This is the first of several, I suspect, to appear here ...

SO IS THIS A NOVELTY or the LATEST & GREATEST? Well, I'm not sure. The aroma while baking was -- wait, you already know that was amazing. And then -- it was easy enough to crack open the salt layer but once that was off, the beets were hard to peel, a real surprise since after beets bake (wrapped in foil, say, like the ones pictured behind the salt mounds), the peels slip off as easily as banana peels, no trouble. (Possible explanation: The skin-level dryness may have been caused by the difficulty I had getting the salt-horseradish mixture to adhere to the entire beet, exposing a band around the middle.) And the salt-roasted beets tasted like, well, roasted beets. (Possible explanation: I didn't have fresh thyme the recipe called for, and only a small amount of lemon zest. So it's possible that these flavors would have infused into the beet flesh.) I'll have to try again, to see. And I'm definitely looking forward to that horseradish scent wafting through the house ... and the horseradish crème fraîche , which was wonderful.

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MORE BEET RECIPES from the ARCHIVES
~ Harvard Beets, an American classic ~
~ Beets & Feta, my favorite beet salad,
the one I serve to people who aren't yet turned onto beet goodness ~

~ Karelian Borscht, from Kitchen Parade, a favorite from my time in Finland ~
~ Those Pink Potatoes, from Kitchen Parade, the casserole that took a party by storm ~

~ still more beet recipes ~

~ one year ago this week, Simple Skillet Green Beans,
what just 1/4 teaspoon of sugar does to beans ~
~ two years ago today, Cashew Chicken Curry, from Kitchen Parade,
a wonderful curry that reminds me of London take-away ~

SALT-ROASTED BEETS

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 2 hours
Serves 4

1 pound fresh beets (about 3), washed well, tail trimmed about an inch long, top trimmed without cutting into the beet itself (this is to keep the beet juice inside)

2 cups kosher salt
5 tablespoons horseradish
2 tablespoons fresh thyme (I recommend trying this, for more special flavor)
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (ditto)

HORSERADISH SAUCE - more than enough for the beets
1 cup crème fraîche (how to make homemade crème fraîche) or sour cream
1 tablespoon horseradish
1 tablespoon chopped chives (the extra color would be nice)
2 teaspoons Sherry wine vinegar (I used a gorgeous port vinegar from O Olive Oil)

Preheat oven to 375F. Mix the salt, horseradish, thyme and zest. On a baking sheet, create a pile of salt mixture for each beet and press beet into it. Cover each beet with the remaining salt, using your hands to encase the beet in salt, covering completely. Roast for 1 3/4 hours. Remove from oven, crack off salt. Peel the beets, slice, place on plates, drizzle with horseradish sauce.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
(Assumes only a tablespoon of horseradish sauce per serving)
Per Serving: 90 Cal (42% from Fat, 9% from Protein, 48% from Carb); 2 g Protein; 4 g Tot Fat; 3 g Sat Fat; 1 g Mono Fat; 12 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb9; 8 g Sugar; 32 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 98 mg Sodium; 13 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION
Bon Appetit, February 2008

PRINT JUST A RECIPE! Now you can print a recipe without wasting ink and paper on the header and sidebar. Here's how.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

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Eat more vegetables! A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and is the award-winning source of free vegetable recipes, quick, easy, and yes, delicious. Start with the Alphabet of Vegetables or dive into all the Weight Watchers vegetable recipes or all the low carb vegetable recipes. © Copyright 2008

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Black Sesame Noodles ♥

Today's quick supper or side recipe: Pasta tossed with an Asian-style sauce of garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, peanut butter, soy sauce. Weeknight quick. Vegan. Low carb (with low-carb pasta). Weight Watchers 5 points.

Who else is prone to this?

Day One. Spy a recipe calling for some obscure (to us) ingredient, fun! Take note.
Day Fifteen. Spot the ingredient in a grocery. Hey! that's what such-n-such recipe called for. Bring it home, add it to the pantry, middle shelf, front row, right in plain sight.
Days Sixteen to Sixty. Life.
Day Sixty-One. Spy the ingredient again, this time at the back of the pantry during the quite-successful-so-far ambition to actually use , not just store, the pantry's contents. Wonder, Now what recipe was that for?

Welcome to my life. And say hello to the black sesame seeds purchased last fall for some now-forgotten recipe but much welcome in this pasta sauce from a brand-new cookbook, Jack Bishop's A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen, a Christmas surprise from my pal Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen.

I loved-loved-loved the sauce -- on the pasta but also, leftover, massaged into another kale salad, my latest daily obsession (at least it's a healthful obsession!). The recipe called for grated radish and cucumber (and carrot which I was out of) so I was expecting a colorful plate. But both looks- and taste-wise, the vegetables somehow disappeared into the pasta, which is perfect of course for sneaking vegetables into a diet. But me, I'd be tempted to skip the vegetables, then serve this pasta as a side dish with a protein and a leafy green vegetable.

To my taste, what's special about this recipe is the great sauce, more than the sauce-pasta-vegetable combination.

WHOLE WHEAT PASTA This is my first time to try whole wheat pasta and honestly, I was unimpressed. It was tough and sticky and didn't offer up the expected nutty flavor. Others are raving about it, so perhaps some brands are better than others? I'd love a recommendation. In the mean time, I'm sticking to the low-carb / low-glycemic Dreamfields Pasta, also recommended by Kalyn!

Note to Vegetarians

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VEGETABLE RECIPES using SESAME SEEDS from the ARCHIVES
~ Sautéed Broccoli with Toasted Garlic, Orange & Sesame ~
~ Carrot & Sesame Salad ~
~ the oh-so-gorgeous Armenian Tahini Bread ~

~ more sesame seed recipes ~

~ one year ago this week, Creamy Spinach with Beets, an expected combination ~
~ two years ago today, Eggplant Lasagna ~

BLACK SESAME NOODLES

Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Time to table: 30 minutes
Serves 8 (if allowing 2 ounces pasta per serving) or 4 (if allowing the standard 4 ounces per serving)

1 pound pasta (recipe called for fresh linguine, I used whole wheat linguine)

VEGETABLES (what the recipe called for)
1/2 an English cucumber, skin on, grated large
1 carrot, grated large
4 radishes, grated large

SAUCE - enough for 1 pound of pasta
1/4 cup black sesame seeds, toasted in a small skillet (carefully! don't let them get away from you and burn them!)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger (I used ginger from a jar, from an Asian market)
2 garlic cloves (I used 3 large cloves and loved the garlic-y-ness
Hot red pepper flakes - the recipe called for 1 teaspoon, I used just a sprinkling

Fresh chopped cilantro, to garnish
Few reserved toasted sesame seeds, to garnish

Cook the pasta in well-salted water. Drain in a colander and return the pasta to the hot pan.

Meanwhile, grate the vegetables, either by hand or in the food processor.

Meanwhile, mix all the sauce ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

In the hot pan, toss the hot pasta and sauce. Stir in the vegetables. Transfer to plates. Garnish with cilantro and sesame seeds.

NUTRITION ESTIMATES
With traditional Italian pasta
Assumes 2 ounces pasta per serving, Per Serving: 298 Cal (22% from Fat, 14% from Protein, 65% from Carb); 11 g Protein; 7 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 3 g Mono Fat; 50 g Carb; 4 g Fiber; NetCarb 46; 5 g Sugar; 61 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 506 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 5 points

With whole wheat pasta
Assumes 2 ounces pasta per serving, Per Serving: 284 Cal (20% from Fat, 13% from Protein, 67% from Carb); 10 g Protein; 6 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 3 g Mono Fat; 49 g Carb; 7 g Fiber; NetCarb42; 4 g Sugar; 61 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 521 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 5 points

With Dreamfields Pasta
Assumes 2 ounces pasta per serving, Per Serving: 288 Cal (42% from Fat, 27% from Protein, 32% from Carb); 11 g Protein; 7 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 3 g Mono Fat; 13 g Carb; 7 g Fiber; NetCarb6; 5 g Sugar; 61 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 506 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 5 points

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION

KITCHEN NOTES
Since the food processor out to make the sauce, I also used it for the vegetables.
The sauce can easily be made ahead, that would further speed the time-to-table on a weeknight.
If you have an electric tea kettle, use it to boil the water for the pasta. Very quick!
The recipe says that white sesame seeds can be easily substituted and I found little difference in taste.
In addition, it was hard to gauge how the dark-colored sesame seeds were toasting -- it would be easy to burn them, I suspect.
The sauce makes enough for a pound of pasta. Since "my definition" of a serving of pasta is only two ounces per serving, that means there's enough sauce for 8 servings.
LEFTOVERS While the sauce will keep over, I don't recommend 'dressing' the pasta to reheat later, especially if using the grated vegetables.

PRINT JUST A RECIPE! Now you can print a recipe without wasting ink and paper on the header and sidebar. Here's how.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

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Eat more vegetables! A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and is the award-winning source of free vegetable recipes, quick, easy, and yes, delicious. Start with the Alphabet of Vegetables or dive into all the Weight Watchers vegetable recipes or all the low carb vegetable recipes. © Copyright 2008

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Kitchen Parade: Superbowl Recipes for Hungry Fans

What's the best thing about the Superbowl? (Um, who's playing again? Hmm. Let's see. Green Bay isn't, right?)

Why, the food, of course!

This week's Kitchen Parade column features three favorites: a recipe for Chicken Nachos made with homemade Pickled Jalapeño Rings (they're refrigerator pickles!) plus Game-Day Pretzels, an addictive recipe from family friends in Minnesota.

Dig in -- enjoy!

Note to Vegetarians

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SO WHAT IS KITCHEN PARADE, EXACTLY? Kitchen Parade is the food column that my mom started writing for our family newspaper when I was a baby. Today it's published in my hometown newspapers in suburban St. Louis and features 'fresh seasonal recipes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences'. Want to know more? Explore KitchenParade.com, including Kitchen Parade's Recipe Box!

WHY DOESN'T THIS POST ACCEPT COMMENTS? Because I hope that you'll click through to the actual column and comment there!

E-MAIL & RSS SUBSCRIBERS You may subscribe to Kitchen Parade directly, then you'll receive the complete column and recipe directly in your In Box or RSS reader. Just sign up for Kitchen Parade via e-mail or Kitchen Parade via RSS.

A Veggie Venture is home of the Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and award-winning vegetable inspiration from Asparagus to Zucchini. © Copyright 2008

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10 Best Foods We're Not Eating

Looking for the energy of a puppy in spring? Consider this list from WebMD/Men's Health, the Ten Best Foods You're Not Eating. And tell me, where do you stand?

> A+ to anyone who's tried all 10.
> Kudos to anyone who's heard of all 10.
> Cheers to anyone who commits to find all 10!

1. Beets -- beet recipes, yes, we've got beet recipes

2. Cabbage -- yep, we've got cabbage recipes too

3. Guava -- oops

4. Swiss chard -- of course, Swiss chard recipes

5. Cinnamon -- and yes, recipes with cinnamon too

6. Purslane -- a green, hmm, must keep our eyes peeled for this

7. Pomegranate juice -- yum ...

8. Goji berries -- I keep hearing good things about Goji berries

9. Dried plums -- what 'prunes' are called these days

10. Pumpkin seeds -- a fall favorite, pumpkin seeds are also called pepitas

By the way, the adorable puppy is Sulo from Life of Jalo whose four amazing dogs do deliver dog-smiles every day!

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Eat more vegetables! A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and is the award-winning source of free vegetable recipes, quick, easy, and yes, delicious. Start with the Alphabet of Vegetables or dive into all the Weight Watchers vegetable recipes or all the low carb vegetable recipes. © Copyright 2008

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