CSA Box Ideas: Sweet Potatoes

We have been getting a lot of sweet potatoes from our CSA boxes. The nice thing about them is that they keep for a long time, so if they are starting to pile up in your pantry like in ours, at least they aren’t rotting (yet). Our problem with sweet potatoes is that our kids don’t like them!?! It’s such a sweet vegetable, that it’s hard for me to understand why neither kid likes them. So, it’s up to Brett and me to eat them all.

We love to make sweet potato “fries,” although they aren’t fried, so the name is misleading. We chop the sweet potatoes into French fry shapes, toss them in olive oil, salt and pepper and bake them on a baking sheet at about 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fries, flipping them once or twice during baking.

(This picture is actually from ONE single sweet potato we got last year that was a massive one! This is before they are cooked.)

Last night I found another way to use an extra baked sweet potato I had in the fridge: sweet potato pancakes! They were so moist, so beautiful and so delicious! And the kids got breakfast for dinner with a hidden veggie. Here’s the recipe I used, which calls for whole wheat flour and is also great with bananas or berries instead of sweet potatoes:

Whole wheat sweet potato pancakes
(with minor alterations, courtesy of http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/):

2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon of fine sea salt
1 teaspoon ground flaxseed (optional)
1 tablespoon honey
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted + butter for frying
1-2 baked sweet potatoes (depending on size), skin removed
100% pure maple syrup for serving

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground flaxseed. Stir until well mixed and then make a well (hole) in the center of the bowl by spreading the flour mixture to the sides of the bowl. Pour the honey, eggs, milk, and 2 tablespoons of melted butter into the well, then gradually whisk from the center outward until the ingredients are well combined but still a little lumpy. Do not over mix the batter. Gently fold in the sweet potatoes (mash them up to soften them if they are coming out of the fridge). Preheat a non-stick or cast iron griddle (or sauté pan) over medium-high heat and cook like any other pancake!

You can easily freeze leftovers layered in between wax paper for a quick weekday breakfast.

Graduation

Mr. and Dr. Burkhart and kids! :)

Penny and John (M.A. and M.D.)

Julie and Knox (also PhDs)

I finally graduated with my PhD in French from the University of Texas at Austin! There were many times when I honestly did not think I would ever be able to say that! Brett and I took the kids out to Texas for a long weekend to celebrate my accomplishment and we had a great time! My mom and dad also flew out with us to celebrate. Even my dad and Julie (who live in Australia) made it to the ceremony! We really enjoyed seeing everyone in Austin and of course eating at our favorite restaurants (Chuys, Manuels, Korea House, Amy's Ice Cream, Central Market and we even tried a new place that was also excellent called Fabi and Rossi). We basically ate our way through the city and consumed obscene amounts of chips, salsa, guacamole, and tortillas (freshly cooked like you can find no where else - ok, except maybe Mexico). The ceremony on Saturday was really nice, well, unless you ask Pierce, who did not enjoy it one single bit (wished we'd had a sitter for that one!!!). Overall, it was a great weekend and a great way to finish my time in Austin. We were SAD to leave on Sunday, knowing that we now have no more reasons to go back to that cool city! But, let's be honest, we're also quite GLAD to not be sending any more tuition checks their way... :)

We have a LOT of great pictures, so I'll have to post them on our gallery site soon, because this blog is too hard to put many pictures on.

CSA Box Ideas: Spinach

The spinach we have been getting from our CSA has been completely delicious! It tastes nothing like grocery store spinach. And it is one of the most nutrient-dense vegetables available (behind kale, collards and bok choy, according to Whole Foods' ANDI rating system). We get a LOT of it and have found so many ways to make it "disappear." Here are a few:


1. Just use it as a salad. Top it with a hard-boiled egg, some spring onions, nuts and even strawberries for a perfectly delicious and perfectly seasonal spring salad.

2. Stir it into soups at the last minute and let it wilt.

3. Stir it into polenta (along with parmesean cheese) and top with fresh farmer's market tomatoes with garlic, olive oil, balsalmic vinegar, salt and pepper. So delicious! We tried this last week and it was really wonderful!

4. Make spanikopita.

5. Use it in quesadillas. It will wilt down to almost nothing and add a good dose of iron to your meal!

Recipe for disappearing spinach: Split pea, lentil and barley soup

This is a really simple recipe I love because it fulfills my three primary criteria for a weeknight meal: 1. It's highly nutritious, 2. It's very inexpensive, 3. It's easy!

I suggest buying the dry ingredients in bulk so you get just what you need and spend the least amount of money. I buy enough for three or four batches at a time and divy it all up and store it in the pantry for an easy weeknight meal.

1/4 cup dry lentils
1/4 cup barley
1/4 cup dry split green and/or yellow peas (I mix both)
1/4 cup tiny pasta, like stars or alphabets
fresh or dry thyme
4 cups low-sodium broth (veggie or chicken) or 4 cups water and a low-sodium bouillon cube (veggie or chicken)
olive oil
any extra veggies you like
a hearty double handful of spinach, washed and chopped
grated parmesean
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in your soup pan and sautee any veggies you have on hand. In the spring I use spring onions and possibly carrots (both chopped small) because I get them in my CSA box. Add the lentils, peas, barley, pasta, broth and thyme once you have sauteed your veggies for a few minutes, stir, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook covered for approximately 45 minutes or until peas and lentils are soft. When I make this, most of the liquid boils off and is absorbed into the food by the end of the 45 minutes. If you want yours soupier, just add more broth. Once the peas and lentils are soft, throw in your spinach and turn off the heat. It will wilt as you stir it in. Add a handful of grated parmesean and mix until melted. Serve garnished with a little more grated parmesean and some fresh thyme.

This dish is FULL of protein (over 20 grams) and fiber and iron (thanks to that spinach) and has almost no fat and minimal sodium if you use a good broth. Like I said, it is easy to measure and mix the dry ingredients ahead of time and have a few of these ready to go in your pantry. You can easily alter this dish with the different seasons by changing up the veggies you add to it. When spinach is out of season, try tomatoes or squash instead.

Enjoy!

Happy Second Birthday, Sweet Pierce!

We had a little celebration in Wilmington this weekend for Pierce's second birthday. He was SO excited to have cake and to have us all sing to him. His face lights up with amazement each time we sing the happy birthday song to him. It's so cute. We love you, Pierce!

They love to read!

The other day I was making dinner and realized both kids had disappeard. I went upstairs to see what they were up to and found them tucked into Pierce's new big-boy bed reading books. Sydney was reading to Pierce in a very motherly way and it was so cute! I love that these two love reading as much as I do!

Easter in Hilton Head

We had a nice Easter in Hilton Head visiting Brett's mom and sister.

We enjoyed a really wonderful and joyful Easter Mass at Jan's church and then said goodbye to Susan who left for her 2 1/2 year service to the Peace Corps in Georgia. We also got to dye some Easter eggs and go on an egg hunt!

Pierce prefered stabbing the eggs with his crayon to drawing on them...such a boy!

The kids loved going to the beach and riding on a boat to see dolphins.

It was a busy weekend! Thanks for having us, Jan and good luck, Susan!!

Happy Easter, everyone!