I don't know what qualifies as a lot of sweet potatoes in one's diet, but I think we eat them a lot. A LOT. Baked sweet potatoes are so easy, filling & nutritious. Sweet potato fries create a bit more work, but are delicious. But I love a twist in the recipe every now and again. Spicy Smashed Sweet Potatoes from Paleo Cupbard are delicious little bites mouthfuls of nutrition that I throw into the mix every once in a while.
Ingredients:
- 2 medium sized sweet potatoes
SPICE MIXTURE
- 1/2 tsp. chili powder
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 1/2 tsp. paprika
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
SAUCE
- 1 Tbsp. raw honey
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
Method:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees & mix together spice mixture & grease a cookie sheet for later use.
- Poke a few holes into the sweet potato and bake for 40 minutes until potatoes are almost cooked all the way through.
- Remove potatoes & turn oven on broil. Peel skin from potato & slice potato 1-1.5 inches thick. Place potato slices on greased cookie sheet.
- Use a cup bottom or something with a similar diameter to smash each of the potato slices until the sides crack a bit.
- Mix together honey and olive oil. Drizzle half over the potatoes and sprinkle half of the spice mixture onto potatoes.
- Place cookie sheet under broiler for 3-4 minutes & remove once potatoes caramelize and turn a nice brown color (careful not to burn!).
- Carefully flip potatoes and drizzle remaining honey and olive oil mixture, and sprinkle with remaining spice mix. Place under broiler another 3-4 minutes.
- Remove, serve & enjoy!!!
This recipe is one I saw on Instagram, posted by Paleo Effect. It looked so delicious. My daughter happened to see it also and emailed them for the recipe prior to posting.
This was dee-licious. My husband, who is NOT an avocado eater, also liked it. When I made this I only used one avocado and more pineapple to persuade my husband to eat it. I also did not incorporate the mint. He gets a bit fussy about things he considers "unmanly" in food. (That isn't his word for it, I am keeping it clean) I also used a jalapeno from the garden in lieu of the chilies.
2 Avocados
1 cup pineapple
1 tablespoon green chilies
1/4 cup red onion
Juice of 1 lime or lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped mint
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Just chop it all up (if you don't like it spicy, just omit the chilies) and serve!
I am not sure where I originally saw this recipe. The original recipe used a different type of pepper, but I saw it during football season and it inspired me to try it using jalapeño peppers. We always have tons of these peppers from our garden and it can be a challenge figuring out new ways to use them.
Make some guacamole. My favorite recipe is from the Food Network website.
3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded, and peeled
1 lime, juiced or substitute lime juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 medium onion, diced - I prefer a red onion for it's color
1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
- Place avocado pulp in a bowl and toss it with the lime juice, drain and reserve the lime juice.
- Mash the avocado and add salt, cumin, and cayenne.
- Fold onion, jalapeño, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic.
- Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice and mix.
For the poppers:
- Cut jalapeño peppers in half lengthwise. Remove stems and seeds.
- Roast peppers in oven at 400 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes until the peppers are slightly soft.
- Place peppers on serving dish and fill each pepper with guacamole.
- Fry some bacon. You will crumble the bacon and sprinkle over the top of the guacamole filled peppers.
Some at our box have tasted this recipe. This is the basic salsa recipe I use for canning my salsa using tomatoes and peppers grown from our vegetable garden. I will typically add more tomatoes, because we usually have plenty, and we grow a variety of hot peppers, so in addition to the jalapeño pepper, I may put a lemon pepper, habanero pepper, etc. My husband like extremely spicy food so he usually insists on at least one batch that is too hot for human consumption.
This recipe came from allrecipes.com. They are a great source for all types of recipes; some easier to turn in Paleo recipes than others.
12 Roma tomatoes
2 cloves unpeeled garlic
1 onion - I prefer red onion
1 jalapeño pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin - roasted cumin is the best
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
- Preheat broiler
- In baking dish place tomatoes, garlic, onion, and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
- Broil vegetables for 5 to 10 minutes, or until outside of vegetables are charred.
- Remove vegetables from oven and once cooled remove & discard tomato skins, tomato cores, pepper stem, and garlic skin.
- In a food processor, coarsely chop the all vegetables. Transfer to bowl and mix in cumin, salt, lime juice, and cilantro.
I honestly don't remember the original source for this recipe, but I have seen similar recipes on multiple sites. I fed this to my non-vegetable eating family and they absolutely ate it up. My brother even requested the recipe. That is HUGE!!! These are typically the ingredients used. The quantity is not exact as I pretty much just chop enough of each or what I have on hand. I always make way more than two people can eat because it is a great leftover.
Brussels sprouts, remove ends and either halve or quarter depending on size
Broccoli florets, I usually use an entire head
Cauliflower florets, again I use the entire head
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Approximately 6 slices of cooked bacon and crumbled with bacon grease retained
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Once all vegetables are cut, toss together with some olive oil, salt, and pepper
- Do yourself a favor and spray the baking sheet with a little Pam - put all vegetables on a baking sheet
- Bake vegetables at 400 for about 25-30 minutes or until they reach the desired "doneness". I like mine slightly charred and the little leaves that fall off the sprouts are a crunchy delight.
- During the last few minutes of cooking I toss the vegetables with a little bit of the bacon grease I have reserved. For additional crunchiness, turn on the broiler; but only briefly!!!
- Toss the vegetables with the crumbled bacon and serve.
