{Week 27 Vegetable Challenge: Potato}

8/27/2012

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Although I'm a little behind on getting my posts online, I've still been working on the veggies!

And although I've had potatoes french fried, baked and scalloped, I've never tried gnocchi, so that's the goal here! But more than that, it includes a handful of other yummy summer veggies too...

Thank you to one of my readers for suggesting this recipe... Gnocchi with Farmers Market Fresh Vegetables!
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Recipe: http://triblive.com/home/2366681-74/gnocchi-potatoes-salt-cup-tomatoes-cooked-dough-flour-freshly-ice#axzz27REirtOK

The recipe also calls for fresh cherry tomatoes... and these lovely little heirloom cherry tomatoes are so beautiful! Savor the rainbow!
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Roasting these little beauties really gave them such a great flavor!
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Now on to the gnocchi-making...

You basically mash the taters, and create a little volcano to put the egg...

PS - I'm pretty sure I used WAY more potatoes than I was supposed to, I'm not great at measuring by weight, and I got these from my dad's garden, not a bag with a measurement...
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I will say, if you've never made them before, it's not a quick and clean process... I think I had flour on every surface of kitchen!
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Finally to the point of rolling, chopping, boiling then icing these little buggers...
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Part of the fresh summer vegetable sauce included some leftover corn-on-the-cob I had from the other night with some fresh parsley and garlic...

Then toss in those roasted tomatoes!
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It's a really simple, light sauce... I'm used to "Prego" which covers everything, so I was worried that there wasn't enough to cover the gnocchi... 
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But it was actually quite delicious!!! Believe it or not, there was enough juice that had simmered out from the roasted tomatoes, corn and garlic that covered the potato gnocchi and gave it a good flavor! It had a hint of sweetness, I think from the corn, and it was a great combination. Next time, I would probably add some grilled chicken to make the meal more "complete" for us. Also, I'll make sure to use the correct amount of potatoes!

All in all, it was a SUCCESS! (However, I'll keep this as a weekend meal, I don't think I want to try to make these on a weeknight again!)
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{Week 20 Vegetable Double Challenge: Beets & Sweet Potatoes}

7/24/2012

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A double veggie recipe, as an attempt to make up for the lack of veggies lately...

I've been successfully avoiding beets for a few months now... My friend, Lexi, recommended this recipe to me, but something about beets is intimidating to me... Maybe because it's in the root family and I haven't been a huge fan of these root plants.
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I finally saw fresh local beets at the farmers market 2 weeks ago. They are nice and small, which make me think that they'd be more tender. They've been living in my fridge since then because it's been way too hot to turn on the oven!

But tonight, these little puppies are about to become Roasted Beets n Sweets!

Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-beets-n-sweets/
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I'm not going to lie... washing the beets was really gross because those roots feel exactly like a rat's tail. Well, I've never touched a rat's tail, but I imagine it would feel just like that. Not a very appetizing start, beets!

And I did get out the gloves... dyed pink hands wouldn't go with my outfit for work tomorrow.
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Beets are so bright when they're peeled and chopped! This picture looks a little like raw meat, but I promise it's not.
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Good thing I wore the gloves! Oh, side note for those of you who have also never eaten a beet - it might make you pee pink tomorrow... I haven't experienced it, but have been told that it's normal. And after seeing how they stain your skin and anything else, it doesn't surprise me.
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Much less scary, sweet potatoes, I'm back in my comfort zone... these aren't all that different from preparing regular potatoes.
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All seasoned up! Yum!
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All mixed up and ready to roast!
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All caramelized and crispy from roasting... The beets are a little less scary with the sweet potatoes and onions in there to help even them out.
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Trying a beet all by itself, I'm a little leery....
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Annnnnd... I survived! I may not plan on making beets all by themselves anytime soon, but they weren't horrible.
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Sometimes mixing flavors together is a better way for me to buy into it... Even with other veggies, I like to have a "shish-kebob" - aka a little of each flavor at once!
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And the shish-kebob method was much more successful! The whole dish was quite sweet, maybe a tad too sweet, I'd probably knock the sugar down next time. But overall, it wasn't bad, especially with the veggies mixed together.

Verdict? Semi-success! Not a fan yet of beets on their own, but this recipe made me give them a shot and I even kind of liked them! And sweet potatoes? They're not hard to like :)

Thanks for the recipe Lexi!
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{Week 1 Vegetable Bonus: Sweet Potatoes}

11/24/2011

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I've never eaten sweet potatoes besides the french-fry version, so again, this was another big step for me! My mom made these delicious Twice Baked Bourbon Hazelnut Sweet Potatoes with our Thanksgiving dinner and they were SOOO good! Check out the recipe below! Seriously, how could these not sound good?

http://aspicyperspective.com/2010/11/count-down-to-thanksgiving.html
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