Sweet Potato Pasta

Most of our meals are not planned. I got a new veggie spiraler the other day and also found a bag of sweet potatoes in my pantry from before thanksgiving. I'm not huge on sweet potatoes, despite them being super super healthy for you, and despite having been on GAPS before, but I thought why not. I spiraled them up and just kind of went with it. It was the first time I ever attempted this dish, and while tasty had some lessons to be learned :)

• 2 Tbs Butter (or ghee or omit)
• 2-3 Tbs Olive Oil
• 1 Small Onion, minced
• 2-3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
• 2 Large sweet potatoes, noodled 
• 2 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 Tbs Sour Cream (optional)

If you don't have a spiraler, you can use a veggie peeler to make flat fettucine noodles. If you are using a spiraler, I have read that most have issues with sweet potatoes- personally i think because of the shape. For my spiralizer, i had to choose potatoes that were skinny enough to turn. I did spaghetti noodles, but wonder if the fettuccine style might be more pleasing to look at on the plate

I melted the butter, added the olive oil, and sauteed the onions and garlic. I also added some crushed red pepper because i like it. I added the noodles, tossed to coat, put a lid on it and left it to steam. I waited til they were cooked through before adding the balsamic, but i don't know that that was necessary.

This is sauteeing in olive oil with onions and garlic. Leaving it uncovered and just sauteeing for 2-3 minutes would have given me curly, al dente noodles.

 I melted in the sour cream around the 5 minute mark and it added a very pleasant richness to the dish. Add your protein so it is warmed through (i did canned clams) and devour.

*This is admittedly not the prettiest dish I've ever made, but it was tasty at every stage in the cooking process (it smelled amazing cooking in the butter and onions and tasted great too). The sweet potato is definitely edible at every stage in cooking, so i might make them more al dente in the future. The balsamic cream sauce was also delicious, but the dish would probably be prettier if i made the sauce separately :)

Vegetarian Lumpia

My mom traveled a lot as a kid (and is now a travel agent) and lived some pretty incredible places. I'm sure you know by now means that i grew up eating some rather non-traditional dishes for an American kid. One of my favorites growing up was Lumpia- a phillippino springroll filled with beef, bacon, potato, onion, carrot, and cabbage. I made this recently, but without the proper wrappers had some trouble rolling and frying them, so we ended up just eating the filling out the bowl. Tonight I needed a quick sidedish, so i omitted the meat and ended up with tasty pan fried vegetables.

Vegetarian Lumpia Sidedish

Time: 10-15 minutes
Serves: 2

• 1 Large Potato, peeled and diced
• 1/2 Small Onion, diced
• 1 Carrot, julienned, minced, or in peels (however you like)
• ~1/4 head of Cabbage, sliced thin.
• ~1 tsp Black Pepper

Place all the vegetables in a hot pan with about 1 Tbs of oil. Cover with a lid and cook until potatoes are done, about 10 minutes. Coat liberally in cracked black pepper, stir, and salt to taste. Serve alongside protein of choice.

I always have these vegetables in my house so it's a quick and tasty choice

*For the full version, add 6 strips of bacon, diced and 1lb of ground beef. Let the filling cool before you roll it into eggrolls. Lumpia wrappers are a special kind of wrapper- wheat and rice and super thin. Look for them in an Asian grocery store!

Lemony Cabbage

This is primarily a sidedish, but i also make it as a snack!

-1/2 cabbage
-2 Lemons, zested
-1 Tbs of Lemon Infused Oil
-Salt and Pepper to Taste
-Basil (optional)

Cut the cabbage to pieces of your liking, i generally cut it in 1"-2" squares, or thick slaw straws. Add cabbage to a hot pan and top with lemon oil. Stir to coat. Add zest of 2 lemons and juice of 1 lemon. Let simmer to a doneness of your liking- i like just barely translucent with crunch. Salt and pepper before serving. If desired, toss with basil before serving with a protein of your choice.

Eggplant w/ Carmelized Shallot

I have never been a very big fan of eggplant, BUT that's what's in season right now in our CSA box so when I was looking for a fast side dish to go with my protein this evening, i grabbed the eggplant off the counter and went to town. To be fair, I floured and pan-fried it, but you could substitute a gluten-free flour and/or bake the eggplant if that is your preference.

This is pan-fried eggplant topped with carmelized shallots and crabcake

-1 small eggplant, cut into 1/4" thick slices
-1/2 c flour- seasoned to your liking
-1/2 cup milk or cream
-1-2 Shallots sliced

Dredge the eggplant slices in cream and flour twice. Pour 2TBS of oil (we don't use soy in our house so for us it's usually olive or peanut oil- remember that olive oil has a low smoking point) into a hot pan and fry the eggplant about 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to papertowels to drain and carmelize shallots in the same pan. Top with finishing salt.