Vegetarian

How-to: Crispy baked sweet potato fries

I’m a sucker for sweet potato fries. Way too obsessed with them. And so are my kids. Although we all know, let me assure you that there is NO tastier way to eat sweet potato fries than fried! However, baked sweet potato fries is by far a “better for you” way to enjoy them.

There’s no bigger disappointment to a sweet potato fries lover than soggy-limp fries. No matter if they are fried or baked. You want the crunchy-crispy-loud-to-the-bite fries. That’s it. More importantly, they need to be sturdy enough to be able to hold whatever you choose to dip them in!

The moisture content in sweet potatoes gets in the way of crisping the fries up in the oven. So, the first step to achieve perfect baked sweet potato fries is to adjust your expectations. These are baked fries—perfectly delicious—but, again, they are baked!

Now, the secret for perfect baked sweet potato fries can be narrow down to these steps:

Cut the potatoes evenly–1/4-inch thickness ideally—or you end up with uneven results like these…

Toss the fries with cornstarch as soon as you done cutting them. The idea is to get a thin coating of starch on the potatoes so it helps to absorb the moisture and create a crispy coating.

Use refined coconut oil. These fries need to bake at high temperature and refined coconut oil has a high smoke point. Use enough to coat the fries until they are somewhat shinny.

Season them with whatever your taste buds are ready for (cinnamon and sugar has happened here before.) My go to spice combo is paprika+chipotle powder+cumin+salt. Once seasoned, spread evenly on a lined baking sheet—I used a Silpat but heavy-duty foil works too.

The oven should be pre-heated at 400F degrees on a ‘roast’ setting if you have that option. If you only have a ‘bake’ option then crank the temperature to 420F.  Flip them once—and once only—after 25 minutes. Bake/roast other side for 20-25 minutes more.

Don’t wait too long to eat them. These sweet potato fries are best eaten right out of the oven. We love to dip them in chipotle ranch (3 parts ranch dressing to 1 part chipotle tabasco.)

I’ve endured many soggy attempts before I came to this. The cornstarch–more than any step– is the game changer here. Maybe you already knew the secrets to crispy baked sweet potato fries but, if you didn’t, I hope you give these a try.

Cheers and happy cooking!

Falafel Stuffed Eggplant with Yogurt Mint Sauce

I love falafel and I love eggplant. Putting them together this intimately was one of the best things it ever happen in my kitchen. No exaggeration here. And topping it all up with a creamy and tangy yogurt sauce makes this combo even better. Sounds like vegan porn to me.

Here is how you make it:

Wash and dry 2 medium eggplants. Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise and score cut sides with a crosshatch pattern. Drizzle some olive oil and salt on the eggplant halves. Place them cut sides down, on a baking sheet lightly coated with olive oil. Bake at 475° for 7 minutes or until slightly tender.

While the eggplant halves are baking prepare the falafel mixture according to box directions–I used a whole box of Cashab Falafel Mix for this recipe and it was almost the perfect amount of stuffing. I overfilled mine halves and, if you love falafel as much as I do, you should overfilled yours too!

Remove from oven and carefully scoop out pulp, leaving a 3/4-inch shell. You can reserve the pulp for another use or you can shamelessly eat it right away just like it did!

  

Spoon the falafel mixture into each eggplant shell. Bake at 450° for 25-30 minutes or until the falafel is browned and crispy.

To make the Mint Yogurt Sauce, follow the recipe below. You can serve the sauce on the side or drizzle it all over the eggplant. Why not do both?

Since I made this recipe I keep thinking what else can I possibly stuff with falafel. I’m obsessed!

Yogurt Mint Sauce

Dominique for dealiciouscooking.com/blog
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup plain yogurt I used whole milk yogurt. No regrets!
  • ¼ cup minced mint
  • ½ clove garlic finely diced or grated
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • Salt to taste Start with a little and add as much as you like, always tasting in between. I'm horrible when it comes to salting my recipes. Still learning!

Instructions
 

  • Place yogurt, mint, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, and cayenne in a small bowl and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. It'll be best to let sit for 30 minutes but it can be served right away. Store on an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

 

Black Rice with Kale, Mushrooms, Marsala Wine and Feta Cheese

Heirloom Forbidden Rice Package

This ‘black rice’ came in my Easter basket and to tell you the truth I thought it was just wild rice. I was not excited. Disappointed even.  As I put the bag in the pantry, I briefly read the package description…which led to Google search…that proved I live under a rock. As it turns out this Heirloom forbidden rice is NOT wild rice and it’s the healthiest rice in the world.  How haven’t I heard of it?

Down to the facts. Heirloom forbidden rice (aka black rice) has high level of minerals, antioxidants, is rich in a class of flavonoid antioxidants called anthocyanins, which are potent anti-inflammatories and have specifically been linked to a decreased risk of heart disease and cancer as well as improvements in memory.

Best of all, black rice taste a zillion times better than white or brown rice. It’s nutty, slightly sweet and it looks way sexier than any other rice.

This rice is not cheap so if you want to make it ‘dealicious’ keep checking the Whole Foods bulk section (it goes on sale sometimes) or try Cost Plus World Market where the one I got seems to come from.

There are good recipes out there for black rice but I had to use the kale and mushrooms in the fridge, so I came up with this recipe. It was the perfect side for our baked salmon.  Any type of kale would work for this recipe, but I used Earthbound Organic Baby Kale from Costco. Broccoli rabe (Rapini) or spinach would work too.

Black Rice, Kale, Mushroom with Marsala rice and Feta

 

Black Rice with Kale, Mushrooms, Marsala Wine and Feta Cheese

Dominique for DealiciousCooking
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup uncooked heirloom forbidden rice
  • ½ medium purple onion chopped
  • 2 cups crimini or white mushrooms sliced
  • 4 cups of raw baby kale
  • 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp Marsala wine
  • 1/4 cup of crumbed goat cheese or feta cheese
  • 2 3/4 cups of beef broth or water to cook the rice
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Start by cooking the rice with the beef broth in the rice cook. If you don’t have a rice cook, simply follow the directions in the package replacing the water with beef broth. If you don’t have directions (bought it in bulk) bring beef broth to a boil and add the rice. Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes in medium heat. Remove from heat and let stand covered. Reserve.
  • On a separate pan, sauté the onion in the olive oil until it becomes translucent. Add mushrooms and Marsala wine. Cook for about 3 minutes and add kale, salt and some pepper. Cook until kale reduces its size and looks fully steamed. Turn heat off. Add the cooked black rice mixing it well. Taste and adjust with more salt and/or pepper. Cover and let it stand for a few minutes, allowing the rice to absorb the kale/mushrooms/Marsala wine juice. Sprinkle the cheese over the rice before serving.