Sprint 2 the Table

Appetites and Adventures

5 on Friday + Vanilla Chai Frappuccino

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Life gets crazy.

 

I have about a million things that I ran out of time to do this week.  There are pictures on my computer of things I’ve been meaning to share with you all for weeks.  It’s embarrassing.

 

This Friday I am going to begin to catch up!  Here are 5 things I’m digging lately:

 

1. Dandy Blend

I won a bag of Dandy Blend in a giveaway from Tiffany @ Como Water.  It’s an herbal dandelion powder that supposedly has a coffee-like taste.

You know what?  It does!  Granted, it’s no replacement for your fancy Ethiopian blends… but for you non-fancy coffee drinkers and herbal drink lovers, I would recommend it.

 

 

The bag says to mix 1 rounded tsp with a mug of hot water.  That didn’t cut it for me.  I had to use 2 heaping tsp to get that coffee taste.  Hot “coffee” is good, but my favorite way to drink it was been mixed into other things.  Namely, mixed into a vanilla chai frappuccino.  (Recipe at bottom.)

Speaking of the frapp below…

 

2. Vanilla Chai Vega Nutritional Powder

Vega’s re-formulated Vanilla Chai also had a starring role in my  vanilla chai frappucchino.  I have previously tried Vega’s plant-based protein powder and didn’t care for it.  They did a great job on the reformulation!  I loved the 15g of protein to keep me full, and that it only contained 2g of sugar.

 

 

With many powders I find that the flavors are either too diluted or leave an artificial aftertaste – the new Vega doesn’t commit either crime.  It made an awesome chai-spiced cold drink to start out the crazy-winter-balmy 75 degree day!

 

3. Super Me! Wrist Cuff

This rockin’ cuff was ordered from Horse Feathers several weeks ago.

(Side note: Does any one else think “finger cuffs!” every time they hear the word cuff?  Chasing Amy reference?  Any one?)

 

 

Check out the website here.  They sell a bunch of different items and other cuffs with various quotes.  Mine says: “If I gotta be me, I’m gonna be super-me.”

They shipped fast and it arrived in a cute blue bag.  Sold.

 

4. So Delicious Chocolate Dairy-Free Ice Cream

This deliciousness is almost sugar-free – only 1g of sugar!!!  It was on sale (mind you, on sale meant it was still $5 a pint) at Whole Foods, so I treated myself.  My expectations were low… but OMG it is delicious!!!

 

 

 

5. YOU

You guys have been making me smile all week.

One of my new favorite bloggers, Lauren @ Oatmeal After Spinning made a variation of my Chili Nutty Tofu and declare it “perfection.”  If you haven’t tried baking tofu yet… you should! 🙂

Click here for my version (pictured below):

 

Click here for Lauren’s variation.

 

 

Gina @ Running to the Kitchen (Our blogs’ names should get married – no wonder I love her!) made my Vegan Goat Cheese-Stuffed Tomatoes.

I’m not one to brag (ok, I can be one to brag…), but these were damn good:

 

Click here to see Gina’s post, which includes some killer pics!  Read: much better than my iPhone efforts.

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Vanilla Chai Frappuccino

  • Vega Vanilla Chai protein powder
  • 2 heaping tsp Dandy Blend (or instant coffee, to taste)
  • 2 big kale leaves (optional)
  • Handful of wheatgrass (optional)
  • 1/2 c unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • Ice

 

Toss everything in your blender of choice, mix until smooth, and happily slurp away!

I topped mine with a few cacao nibs.  Whipped cream would have also been good. 😉

***

Crossfit update: I’m so sore that I actually did yoga yesterday.  I hate yoga.  It helped.

What’s the best new food/product/recipe you’ve tried lately?

Has anyone tried any of the above products?  I’d love to hear your opinions!

 

Raw Sweet Potato Hummus + WIAW

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Can eating too much orange food really tint your skin?

I think I may be in danger.  

Between the carrots and sweet potatoes I’ve been eating today, I’m going to look like a Jersey Girl.  GTL!

For real – it’s called Carotenosis.

 

Luckily Jenn’s What I Ate Wednesday doesn’t go green until March.  Orange fits perfectly with the February vegetable theme.

 

Breakfast:

This morning I met my boss for breakfast a “famous” local breakfast spot, The Flying Biscuit.  While boss-man is used to my picture-taking, my stomach wasn’t used to waiting so late to eat.  Totally forgot to take a picture.

No matter.  My tofu scramble wasn’t that great.  I would have rather had my homemade Indian-Inspired Tofu Scramble:

Lunch:

My Foodie Penpal, Laura, has created a monster.  I made another round of Bibimbap using the ingredients she sent me in this month’s package.

It’s an addiction.  That crunchy rice and  spicy sauce ain’t whack.

Click here to check out the recipe I posted yesterday.  The only change today was that I served it with cucumber rather than carrots.

Snacks:

First us was my first juice creation in the Vitamix.  It was all veggie and all delish!  This was a post workout snack, so I added my Sun Warrior protein powder.  I was worried that would make it a weird consistency, but it was quite pleasant!

In my juice:

  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 tsp maca
  • 1 C spinach
  • Handful of wheat grass
  • 1/4 C parsley
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 celery stalk
  • 1 in piece of ginger
  • 3-4 drops stevia
  • 2 in piece of cinnamon (I tossed a real stick in and it WORKED!)
  • 1/2 C water

Snack #2 was a recipe I’ve had marked from Rande @ The Vegetable Centric Kitchen.  Can you guess what this deliciousness is?

RAW Sweet Potato Hummus.  It was insanely good, and an embarrassing amount was consumed… much of it straight from the blender.  I made a few modifications (recipe at the end of this post).

The only difference in using a raw sweet potato is that it isn’t quite as sweet as it would be if it had cooked and caramelized a bit.  To me, this makes it a perfect hummus candidate.

The liquid smoke added a neat dimension with the nutty-sweet tahini, and the spices were just enough to give it a kick on the end.  Even cooler was the addition of Meyer lemon and miso.  These added some sweetness, along with a little tang and saltiness!

Of course, I also had my daily Kombucha!  Served from my growler of Buchi Fire from Whole Foods.

Dinner:

The orange didn’t stop at snack time.  Even post-cleanse I have been craving an increasing amount of raw food.  For dinner I ate the rainbow in the form of this giant salad.

In my salad:

  • Spinach
  • Broccoli and radish sprouts
  • Shredded red cabbage
  • Cucumber
  • Carrot
  • Celery
  • Tomato
  • Onions
  • Sweet Potato Hummus Dressing (1 T hummus + 1 T apple cider vinegar + 2 drops stevia)
  • Angela @ Oh She Glows’ Endurance Crackers

Angela’s Endurance Crackers have been on my list to try for a long time as well.  I needed something to go with all that hummus, so today seemed the perfect day to try them out!  My only modification was to use 2 tsp of the Ras al Hanout spice blend made for my Babaganoush Soup rather than her onion-salt-herb blend.

If you haven’t tried this recipe, I highly recommend it.  I’d love to try a sweet-cinnamon version in the future!

Dessert:

Cinnamon-Vanilla Ice Cream.  The Vitamix was me on a wintertime ice cream bender.  I was working late and felt yet another treat bowl was in order.  Thank god it can be made healthy!  This purple bowl inefficiently hides a “secret” ingredient.

The ice cream blend is really easy – unsweetened vanilla almond milk, vanilla, stevia, cinnamon, and ice… and the secret ingredient.  Purple Cabbage.

I know you think I’ve lost it, but I swear on my shoe collection that not a trace of cabbage taste could be detected.

 

Sweet Potato Hummus

Modified from this recipe from Rande @ The Vegetable Centric Kitchen

  • 1 medium sweet potato (raw and unpeeled)
  • 2 T tahini
  • 4-5 drops liquid smoke
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 Meyer lemon
  • 1 T water
  • 1 tsp yellow miso
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 2 T fresh thyme

Toss everything in food processor or blender and until smooth.

Note: If using Vitamix, toss the whole lemon in; otherwise, only use the juice of the lemon.

Make 1.5 cups.

***

Spicie Foodie’s “Your Best Recipe” for the month of Feburary is up today!  Hop over to her site to check out my Vegan Goat Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes and everyone else’s awesome contributions!

Do you ever intentionally try to eat more raw food?

Do you watch Jersey Shore?  I’m amazed at how passionate people are about it!

Butternut Squash Chia Pudding

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Book Club dinners when you’re on a cleanse are hard.

They’re even harder when you’re hosting and therefore responsible for food.  The icing on the cake is that the theme is French (to go with this month’s book selection).  Who ever heard of French vegan food?!

This may have had me sweating a bit.

So I said to myself:  Man up.  You can do this thing.  I think. 

Predictably, I’m got a late start today so the details will have to come later, but it went really well!  Like, 100x better than I expected.

The menu included:

  • Provençal Spread and Veggies
  • Salade Niçoise with Tempeh “Tuna”
  • Oven-Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with (vegan!) Goat Cheese
  • Roasted Eggplant Bruschetta

I warned everyone ahead of time that it would be a clean dinner… and they subsequently brought meats, desserts, and wine. 🙂

French wine Dessert was the saddest thing for me to miss.  There are so many possibilities for making French desserts that would have been fun to create.  There will be many other dessert opportunities in my life though.  And bottles of French wine.

In order to feel a little less left out, I created my own dessert to enjoy.  And you know what… I can honestly say it was satisfying.  (But I did swoon a little over homemade banana pudding.)

 

Chia pudding has long been a breakfast favorite.  As of last night, it’s been upgraded to dessert.

No this isn’t chocolate cake.  But it is good.

Made like a traditional chia pudding (chia + liquid + congeal in the fridge), the twist here is the sweet squash and a quick blend at the end.

The cocoa-flavored stevia did give it notes of chocolate-y goodness.  I also loved the classic pie flavors the vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg lent the dish.

A spin mix in the Magic Bullet at the end smoothed out the chia to make this like the pudding you grew up eating,  (Thanks to Kasey @ Power Cakes for the idea!)

Yes, you can have your pudding even if you don’t eat your meat.

 

Butternut Squash Chia Pudding

  • 1/2 butternut squash, roasted
  • 3/4 C unsweetened coconut milk
  • 1 T chia seeds
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 7-8 drops cocoa stevia
  • Shake of salt

In a small bowl, mash up butternut squash until it becomes a puree (some small pieces are ok).  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 mins (or overnight for breakfast).  The chia will absorb most of the liquid.

Place mix in a blender (I used my Magic Bullet) and blend until smooth (about 20 seconds).  Remove, place in bowl, and enjoy!

Note: This would make a great post-workout snack!  Just add a scoop of protein powder and increase the amount of liquid you mix in.

Unfamiliar with the benefits of chia?  Click here for my post on why they rock!

***

I cannot wait to share the rest of the meal with you all!

For those with diet restrictions, do you ever feel left out in food-centric social settings?  How do you navigate?

Has anyone ever been to France?  I’m thinking that may be this year’s big trip…

Drinking My Valentine

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No candy hearts here.

 This Valentine’s Day marks the first one I’ve ever celebrated candy-free.  It doesn’t seem like a big deal… maybe it’s because Valentine’s Day is a a Tuesday and I’m spending the entire day holed up in a conference room with my boss prepping for a meeting tomorrow?  Or it could be because I’ve been single for 2 years.

In lieu of silly things like candy and flowers, I’m drinking my holiday spirit…. and for once it doesn’t involve red wine.  Today I bring you the best new smoothie I’ve made lately: Roasted Beet and Orange.

You know you make a lot of green smoothies when you get excited that the beets overpowered the spinach to make a red smoothie.

I have never liked beets.  The dirt flavor was off-putting and I didn’t like how they stain everything they touch (I also never ate chicken wings because they are too messy… and the bone grosses me out).

Recently, I discovered how delicious they are with citrus – orange and grapefruit in particular.  When we started the cleanse, I decided to take the plunge and roast them myself.  This has only made me fall completely in love with them!  Just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Freshly roasted, the flavor turns more earthy than straight-up dirt.  I find that the sweetness in these beets came forward more as well.

Source: tasteinspired.wordpress.com

After using the first beet in last week’s red cabbage lentil salad, I started on beet #2.  It’s fairly common to see beets listed in juices, why not smoothies?

This post-workout, protein-loaded breakfast smoothie turned out better than I’d hoped!  The orange flavor was quite prevalent, and the almond extract was an amazing compliment.  Both of these are what I credit for hiding the beet “funk” I was sensitive to.

In case you were wondering, beet sunflower pesto* also eliminates the funk.  🙂

*That post also explains why you should buy ’em even if you don’t like ’em. 

Oh yeah…

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Roasted Beet and Orange Smoothie

  • 1 C spinach
  • 1/3 C beet, roasted
  • 1/2 a medium orange
  • 1scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 cap full of almond extract
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp guar gum (optional)
  • 7-8 vanilla stevia drops
  • 1/2 C unsweetened coconut milk
  • Water and ice, to taste
  • Ground flax seed, to top

Put it all in the blender/Magic Bullet and let the magic happen!

***

I’m seriously thinking of taking up online dating.

Do you feel like it’s V-Day today?  Or just another Tuesday?

What is your favorite Valentine’s candy/chocolate/treat?  I love those Reese’s hearts.

High 5 for Monday

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So many new things to talk about!

 

This weekend has been the most low key I’ve had in a while, but it was much needed.  I hit the ultimate level of productivity: not only did I wash the sheets, but I also washed the mattress cover and flipped the mattress.  Be honest: when was the last time you washed you mattress cover?

 

As much as I know you all are riveted by my cleaning accomplishments, here are 5 other announcements that might be more interesting to you (I know my mattress is riveting).

 

1. I am excited to announce that I am a Recipe Guru @ Around the Plate.

You can just call me “Guru” if you wish. 😉

There’s a new button on my side bar for easy access to the site.  If you click on it, go to “thePlate Community” tab and click on Recipe Gurus.  I’m the second from the bottom.

I am excited about the chance to share fun food ideas with more people… and the added motivation to keep it clean. 🙂

 

2. My Recipage is live!

This is really exciting because it will be MUCH easier to search recipes, ingredients, etc on Sprint 2 the Table.  I’m done with Breakfasts and Mains.  All new recipes will be added on Recipage from now on.  Check it out on the top menu bar!

It’s a slow process, but I thought I’d go ahead and unveil it… which will force me to speed it up. 😉

 

 

3. The Blend Retreat is May 4-6th in Boulder, CO.

 

Blend was named from the combo of two things: Blogger + Friend = Blend!  It’s designed to be “relaxed, laid back retreat for healthy living, food and fitness bloggers across North America!!  Instead of focusing on seminars and speakers, the focus will be on FELLOWSHIP and having a weekend away to get to know one another in real life!”

I’m going and you should too!  Tickets are just $75 and there are some great sponsors and activities planned (dinners, hikes, bootcamp class, etc).  Seriously – for this price I was shocked to see how much is included.  Click here for the schedule and here for the list of attendees.

 

4. The dinner with my cleanse buddies was a win.

 

We had so much fun.  One friend brought a delicious avocado-red pepper soup and the other brought an awesome fruit blend covered in cinnamon for dessert.

I brought back another old cleanse recipe – Mamma’s Italian Stir-Fry.  It was just as good the second time around!  This is a great recipe for using what you have.  I used portobello mushrooms rather than shiitake, used 1 huge eggplant, added a red pepper, and tossed in some apple cider vinegar and ground oregano.

 

We ate dinner (sans wine for the first time ever), enjoyed fruit for dessert out of martini glasses, talked about the random smoothies we’ve been making (no one likes what blueberries do texture-wise when blended), and then enjoyed a rousing game of Clue.  Old school and awesome.  Until I lost.

 

5. I ate some ugli.

Ugli fruit, that is.  Have you guys ever seen these?  They are indeed ugly on the outside, but taste like an orange-y grapefruit.  Not quite as sweet as an orange, but it lacked the bitterness of a grapefruit.  I loved it as part of my breakfast!

 

According to Wikipedia, the Ugli fruit was discovered growing in the wild and is a hybrid of a grapefruit, orange, and tangerine.

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This week was a good one for weights… a little lacking on cardio.  I get to try running again on Wednesday and I think my body know that and is subsequently rebelling against the elliptical.  I hate that thing!

Most exciting is my BodyRock progress.  This week’s first video included a progress check – we were to re-do the fit test from Day 1.  I honestly didn’t think I’d improve that much.  For 50 seconds you do as many of each exercise below, take 10 seconds of rest, and then move on to the the next.

 

Apparently I wasn’t feeling the burpees (I was really sore… also, I hate them), but I was really blown away at the improvement in tuck jumps!  All of this without buying any of their equipment.  It can be done with free weights and a bench (or couch).

I can’t wait to see what the final 2 weeks of the BodyRock 30 Day Challenge brings!

 

Workout Recap (2/6 – 2/12)

***

Added benefit of the cleanse: I spent about $350 less this week than I normally do.  Holy cost savings.

What did you do this weekend?

Did it suddenly become arctic where you live?  I actually saw snow flurries!

 

Sweet Potato Pie Chia Pudding

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We’re on Day 5 of a successful cleanse!

16 to go.

Honestly, it hasn’t been hard.  It’s been so great having the friend support, and seeing them feel good makes me even more determined.

Results come quickly!  My friend sent me the following message yesterday morning:

I have an inordinate amount of energy.  This from a girl who consumed no less than 6 servings a day of caffeine… I’m like, let me clean the whole house, do laundry, and work all day with my kid on my hip.  WOO!

I’m so proud of my best friend!!!

The daily breakfast smoothies continue.  I do love smoothies.  With all of the random things I throw in them, I rarely end up with the same concoctions (except my favorite Liquid Sweet Potato Pie).

Atlanta is finally getting cold(er) this week and the thought of a cold drink for breakfast was too much to handle.  Then I remembered – seeds are allowed on the cleanse… that makes chia pudding legal!

I typically make fruit-based chia puddings like this peach cobbler chia or this banana cashew… but there was a giant sweet potato staring at me.  With my favorite smoothie in mind, I decided to try it as a chia pudding.

Sweet Potato Pie Chia Pudding.  Sweet chia, it was good.

Nuts aren’t allowed, so that ruled out adding my usual nut butters… again, seeds are legal… sesame… tahini!

Turned out to be a genius mix-in.  The nutty, toasty flavor came through subtly, adding a cool dimension.

The martini glass certainly added something as well. 🙂

Sweet-potato-chia-pudding

Sweet Potato Pie Chia Pudding

  • 1/4 large sweet potato, baked
  • 1 T chia seeds
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1/2 C unsweetened vanilla coconut milk (or other liquid of choice)
  • 2 tsp tahini
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ginger
  • 2-3 drops vanilla stevia
  • Shake of salt
  • Pinch cloves

In a bowl, mash up the sweet potato until smooth.  Mix in all other ingredients and refrigerate at least 1 hour (or overnight).  If it looks too thick, add more milk or water as needed.

Stir and enjoy!

***

Weekends are always my clean-eating weakness, so I’m really excited to have a dinner and game night with my cleanse buddies!

Have you made chia pudding before?

Are you celebrating Valentine’s Day this weekend?  Share your plans – let me live vicariously!

Clean(se) Eating + WIAW

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My friends and I went crazy.

Monday we kicked off a cleanse.

21 days of veggies, fruits, and protein shakes.  We also get a serving of lentils or wild rice per day, and on day 11 we can add 1 (4 oz) serving of deep sea fish or chicken (I’ll be adding tempeh). Yep – I’m bringing back the Standard Process Cleanse and taking my friends down with me.

We have been exchanging smoothie pics (mine are the greenest – bwhahaha!), sending desperate emails inspired by caffeine-withdraw… MMSing refrigerator pics…

Mallory’s fridge, post-WF trip

We are also planning cleansing group dinners.  Friday is group dinner #1 and game night.  In lieu of wine, I suggested we make grape smoothies.  If we ferment the grapes ourselves, is it cleanse-approved?

Needless to say, this is going to be the cleanest What I Ate Wednesday I’ve posted in a loooong while. 🙂

AND Jenn read my mind because she’s encouraging everyone to post a veggie-centric WIAW.  Check out Jenn’s blog to see what everyone else at this Wednesday!

Breakfast:

Breakfast is the hardest meal.  There’s not a lot of traditional breakfast food that are “approved” other than smoothies and fruit bowls.  Smoothie it is.

This morning was my all-time favorite smoothie: Liquid Sweet Potato Pie.

I do really like protein smoothies, and often eat them for breakfast post-workout… but some days you just want a warm bowl of oatmeal!

Lunch:

I revived an old cleanse favorite from when mom and I did this in 2010.  This is probably my favorite soup ever: Butternut Squash-Apple Soup.

My only tweak was to use fresh basil instead the rosemary… then I added some dried rosemary too ’cause I love it.

Lunch part 2 was a GIANT salad.  I tend to bring these to work to be eaten directly from the plastic container when I have about half of the greens left.

In my salad:

  • Arugula
  • Raw asparagus (julienned)
  • Leftover roasted zucchini
  • Celery
  • Broccoli sprouts
  • Nutritional yeast
  • Lemon juice + EVOO

Snacks:

Midday veggie break with dip – as much as it may look like a turd, that’s eggplant dip.  Veggies dipped in veggies, FTW.

Post-dinner snack dessert was a protein banana softserv.

In my serv:

  • Frozen banana
  • 1 scoop protein powder
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 5-6 drops vanilla stevia
  • ~1/3 C unsweetened vanilla coconut milk
  • With berries on top

Dinner:

Last night Heather came over for dinner.  She was nice enough to loan me her bike for a bit while my knee heals, and I offered dinner (and wine… which I now can’t have) in return.  Luckily Heather is vegan, so my menu options weren’t terribly weird to her.

Cabbage with lentils, beets, spinach, and eggplant “bacon.”  To be honest, I could eat like this all the time.  

Recipe to come!

In lieu of wine, I sipped on fresh kombucha from a growler of Buchi Fire from Whole Foods’ tap.

Stellar customer service story – they were having trouble with the tap at my local Whole Foods.  I waited a solid 10 minutes and the bottle would only fill a little over half way.  The awesome guy working the tap got a manager, who COMPED the contents of the growler.  That right – I got it for FREE… plus 2 regular-sized bottles of Buchi Fire to equal a full growler.

I joke and refer to Whole Foods as Whole Paycheck a lot, but they really do offer quality products and a fantastic customer experience.

***

Don’t forget to enter to “Be My Veggie Valentine” and win 1 of 3 boxes of heart-shaped veggie cookies from Cookie Underground!  Click here to enter.

I’m seeing a lot of juice cleanses lately – have you done one?

What is your favorite “clean” food?

Nacho Wednesday

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I am a big fan of trying new things.*

*Unless those new things are Dad’s Nads.

I’ve been really good lately about working through recipes/ideas I’ve noted to try.  This week I have made 3 new dishes already this week!

Side note: I’m really excited/flattered that so many people tried my Citrus Chickpea Cilantro Salad!  Check out this rendition by Sarah @ Quotidienne Moi. 

 

Back on track: with all the fun new recipes, this What I Ate Wednesday is more like “what I’ve eaten so far this week.”

 

Breakfast:

Great morning workouts leave me ravenous and in need to protein.  Kasey @ PowerCakes created this “Power Pumpkin Roll” that I knew I had to try.  This monster is ~450 calories and packs 45g of protein!

I am powerful.

I followed her recipe exactly, though next time I may add another 2 T of pumpkin and leave out an egg white.  I’m curious to know if it would work with flax eggs… that’s a lot of egg though!

Even if you don’t make the roll, make the Chia Vanilla Frosting.  I don’t often think yogurt tastes like dessert, but this one really does!

Lunch:

It must have been the week of orange, because my lunch was even more vibrant than the pumpkin roll!  This miso-laced carrot soup was as delicious as it looks!  Recipe to come Friday!

Served with a giant arugula and celery salad, which I dressed with hot sauce from the Mexican grocery store (the only place to go shop you are serious about heat), nutritional yeast, cumin, and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Dinner:

Last night I had a couple of my favorite over for dinner.  My favorite Sports Glutton, Jed, recently shared a link to his Sweet Potato Nachos that I’ve been drooling over ever since.

One of my dinner guests is gluten-free, and we all make an effort to eat clean.  This dish is a much healthier alternative to your typical nachos, particularly with some modifications!

I used dried black beans… though I was a bit panicked when I realized I forgot to soak them.  Some Googling lead me to a cool method by The Paupered Chef that involved a quick boil followed by 75 mins in the oven.  I have never heard of cooking them in the oven, but it worked perfectly!  Click here for the details.

Post-oven, I let the beans rest until it was time to re-heat for company.  Jed simmered his beans in beer… I am fresh out, so I added the following (post oven-bake) to flavor my beans over medium heat:

  • 1/4 C veggie broth
  • 1/2 yellow onion
  • 2 Chipotle peppers in adobo
  • Dashes of paprika, garlic, parsley, red pepper, cayenne pepper, and oregano

While that cooked I prepared the sweet potatoes… the easy way with Alexia’s Sweet Potato Waffle Fries.  Nom.

When the fries were done I topped them with tomatoes, serrano peppers, and queso.  Back into the oven on broil then went while I sliced an avocado and minced cilantro.

Remove, decorate, and devour.

 

Oh yes, there was also wine.  A Roquevale 2005 Portuguese Red (Alentejo) blend of Aragonez, Alfrocheiro, and Cabernet Sauvignon.  This was a big, fruity, dark wine that I could drink all night long.  Arguably a little heavy for a spicy Mexican-ish meal, but I love a big wine.

Also exciting: I got to use my chalkboard wine art glasses!

I was the lucky winner of a giveaway at Ancient Fire Wine and received 4 bottles of wine from Tapena.  The Garnacha we tried was delicious!  It was approachable without compromising body.  We picked it as an earlier wine (thinking it would be lacking), but it was great!  I’d drink it anytime!

Dessert:

For dessert we nibbled on the vegan, gluten-free dessert I teased you with last week… I’m finally posting the recipe tomorrow!

We also have another dessert nibble courtesy of Callie – she sent over some Rawxies to sample and OMG are they ever good.

My favorite was the Cinnamon Walnut Raisin.  I love how the cinnamon came through – so often the taste gets lost in the sweetness of desserts.

Raw, gluten-free, and vegan… and totally worthy of a dessert platter to share with friends.  I may have enjoyed one as an afternoon snack as well… 🙂

***

Those Sweet Potato Nachos would be a GREAT addition to a Super Bowl spread!

Are you watching the Super Bowl?  Any fun dishes planned?

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten so far this week?

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