Random Recipe Wednesday: Sweet Potato Dal

Overkill can kind of ruin a thing for you.  For example, I don't think I'll ever eat another orange-pineapple sandwich cookie in my life.  We must have had those every single day on a family camping trip.  Don't get me wrong, I was obsessed with them at first, but after a 2-3 week road trip I'd had my fill of orange-pineapple sandwich cookies for life.

I almost did the same thing with this lentil and sweet potato dish.  The first time I ate a bowlful I knew I wanted the recipe.  When I was back in my own kitchen I made it so many times over the next few months that I thought I'd never swallow another spoonful.  Wrong.  It's been several years, so I decided to pull out the recipe again.  Nope, definitely not sick of this anymore.  I'm not quite as obsessed with it as I was the first go-round, but it sure hit the spot.  Fragrant and filling, a warm bowlful will leave you feeling satisfied but not overly stuffed.  Sometimes I get so lost in all things chocolate, peanut butter and baked that I forget how much I enjoy something savory from the stove-top.

Tuesday's Twist: Microwave Sweet Potato Chips

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

Some of you know about my microwave experiments driven by curiosity.  Last week I set out to make potato chips.  You can imagine my surprise when the microwave produced crispier results than the oven.  Since it worked so well with regular potatoes I decided to give sweet potatoes a try as well.

Sweet potato fries usually fall on the softer side, so I expected limp, soggy slices instead of chips.  Once again the microwave produced crunchy chips, even without oil.  All you need are sweet potatoes, a microwave with a turntable and parchment paper.  Oh, and the time and patience to watch the microwave action carefully.  If you don't babysit these little guys, they can go from a crispy crunch to carbon rather quickly.

Tuesday's Twist: Sweet Potato and Squash Soup with Citrus and Sage

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

The great debate over creamy vs. crunchy peanut butter is a cousin to the soup conundrum.  Generally I prefer a chunky soup with a variety of textures, but one sip of this silky smooth soup and had me swooning for another spoonful.  Now that I've mentioned peanut butter and used far too much alliteration let's begin.  I'll start by warning you that I was in a terribly indecisive mood while planning this pot of winter warmth.  You know, the kind of mood where I just want to add everything instead of keeping it simple.  Yeah, too many options and I get carried away.

A spoonful of creamy velvet was the one thing I was sure about here.  But our soup must be silky soft without using heavy cream.  Enter two secret ingredients, cauliflower and Greek yogurt.  After making a version of this cream-free cream of mushroom soup, I was sold on using cauliflower and Greek yogurt for a thick and creamy, ultra-smooth soup with extra protein but without the fat.  Lately there's been multiple versions of baked potato soup using the cauliflower trick for low-carb creaminess.  If it works with potato soup, why not sweet potato?

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Sweet Potato Polenta with Cinnamon and Smoked Paprika

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Because some recipes are so weird I just HAVE to try them.  My curiosity always gets the better of me.

I'll risk sounding like a broken record here and remind you how much I like to combine little bits and pieces of random recipes.  Stick with me though, you just might learn something in the process, like how my mind wanders from grits to potatoes to soup to cookies and back...with a sprinkle of cinnamon and smoked paprika.

I've eaten grits once, maybe twice, but we're not too familiar with them this far north.  After spotting Jenna's recipe for Sweet Potato Grits I figured it was time to give grits another whirl.  I didn't do my homework and used the cornmeal in the cupboard as opposed to grits.  Grits are made from hominy, which is corn soaked in lye.  If hominy isn't involved you just have cornmeal, which makes polenta.  Now I know for next time.

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Nutty Orange Harvest Soup

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Because some recipes are so weird I just HAVE to try them.  My curiosity always gets the better of me.

This orange soup has such a smattering of weird ingredients I wasn't sure if I wanted to post it.  I debated back and forth, snapped a few pictures just in case and finally decided to just go with it.  I've seen orange fall soups popping up everywhere on the blogosphere lately and decided this might not be way too wired after all.  And even if it is, that's exactly what Weird Recipe Wednesday is all about. Since it's Halloween, it seems like as good a time as any for a slightly strange bowl or orange liquid.  Annnnd now that I've hesitated and stalled a little longer I suppose we can get to the soup.