Sweet Potato Biscuits

These are moist and sweet, like a muffin, but not light and fluffy, so I’m calling them biscuits. They make a great accompaniment to lots of main dishes, soups, salads, etc.

Dry Ingredients:
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp sea salt
Wet Ingredients:
  • 1 medium sized garnet or jewel yam, peeled and finely grated
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 TB pure maple syrup (add more or less depending on how sweet you actually want these)
  • 4 TB walnut oil or melted butter
Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine the wet ingredients in another bowl. Add the wet to the dry and mix well.
Form golfball sized balls and bake on a lightly greased baking sheet at 350 for 15 minutes. They will be browned on the edges when done. I baked mine in a scone pan, which gave them their triangle shape. But, a baking tray should work just fine. Allow them to cool. Enjoy.

Black Bean, Pinto Bean, and Quinoa Patties

Ancient grain quinoa is jam-packed with nutrition. These patties can be a side dish or the star of your meal.

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 small yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 TB Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tsp smoked chipotle Tabasco (another hot sauce will do)
  • 1/2 TB ground cumin
  • 1 tsp dried cilantro (1-2 TB if using fresh)
  • 1 TB chopped fresh chives
  • ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • Aleppo pepper (or crushed red pepper flakes)
  • 2 cups yellow corn meal
Bring 2 cups water to a boil. Rinse one cup of dried quinoa in cold water and then add to boiling water. Reduce heat to medium, stir, and cover. In 15 minutes or so it should be doubled or more in size and all of the water should be absorbed. Remove from heat.
Start to saute the onion in olive oil. Add the garlic after 5 minutes and continue to saute a few more minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Add the rinsed beans to the mixing bowl and slightly mash some of them. Add the cooked quinoa and mix well. Then add the rest of the ingredients down the list- beaten eggs, Worcestershire, Tabasco, herbs and spices.
Roll into golf-ball sized balls and then roll in the corn meal. They are going to be sticky and you will loose some of the mixture that sticks to your hand. That’s OK. Cook them like pancakes on a 350 degree oiled griddle. Place the ball on the griddle and gently pat it down. Flip it after a few minutes and then really squash it with the spatula to make it rounder and flatter in shape.
I served these with guacamole, salsa, and shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Wild Rice and Veggie Salad

This started out as an experimental chilled salad, and turned out to be a delicious meal. Wild rice is the base, so cook one cup of wild or long grain brown rice (usually 1 cup rice to 2 cups water, boil, simmer 45-50 minutes). Remove the cooked rice from heat and let it sit a few minutes before transferring it to a large bowl.

The rest of the salad ingredients are:
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 cups chopped rainbow chard, separate the stalky parts from the leafy
  • 1 can cannellini beans, rinsed
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 yellow squash
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 TB cider vinegar
  • salt
  • pepper
While the rice is cooking, heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes or so, until soft. Add the garlic and cook another 3-4 minutes and remove from heat. Pour into a pyrex measuring cup because this will become the base for the dressing. Also, getting the onion and garlic out of the hot pan will help prevent it from continuing to cook in the hot pan.
Put the pan back on the stove and heat the stalky part of the chard for 3 minutes or so on medium high heat. Lower the temp to medium and add the leafy part. Cook until it is wilted. Add this to the large bowl (the one the cooked rice will eventually go in), but strain out the excess liquid first.
Slice the zucchini and squash into thick strips, toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and throw on the grill for a few minutes until they are starting to soften but still maintain some crunch. Remove them from the grill and let them cool a few minutes. Then slice them further into bite-sized pieces. Add these to the large bowl.
Add the rinsed cannellini beans to the bowl and mix this well. Then, assemble the dressing.
Add the maple syrup and cider vinegar to the onion, garlic, and olive oil and mix well. Toss the rice, chard, zucchini, squash, and beans with the dressing. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with feta cheese and avocado to round out the dish.

Tofu and Veggie Soba Noodle Stir Fry

As always with tofu recipes, let’s review. Firm tofu, frozen, thawed, pressed (see my recipe for Asian Style Baked Tofu).

First, marinate the tofu in:
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 2 TB pure maple syrup
  • 2 TB soy sauce
  • 1 tsp (or more depending on your preferences) Chinese Chili Paste or Vietnamese Chili Garlic Sauce
  • 1 square inch fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 TB toasted sesame oil
Mix up the marinade. Make cubes of the tofu and soak in this sauce for 30 minutes or more.
Next, follow the instructions on a package of soba noodles. Different brands may have slightly different instructions, so follow them, cook the noodles, drain, and rinse them in cold water to stop them from cooking. Put them to the side.
While the noodles are cooking, chop the following:
  • baby bok choy (an amount the size of a small head of lettuce)
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 pepper, any color will do
Throw the celery-like stalk part of the baby bok choy in a hot wok. Start to soften it a little in a splash of water. Then add the tofu cubes. Do not add the marinade yet. Just the cubes. Start to stir fry these for a few minutes. Then add the carrot and a couple tablespoons of soy sauce. Add the pepper and 1/4 cup peanut butter. Start to mix this and add 1/4 cup water to help dissolve the peanut butter. Next, add the leafy part of the bok choy and mix well. Be careful not to break the tofu cubes while mixing. Finally, add the noodles and the rest of the marinade from the tofu. Mix all of this well and heat the noodles thoroughly. Enjoy with chopsticks.

Mushroom and Pepper Pizza, Two Ways

This pizza was nearly perfect. Follow my recipe for Whole Wheat Pizza Dough. The toppings really stand out on this pizza.

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 pound mixed mushrooms from Hazel Dell. If you do not live in or near Boulder, CO, look for a supplier of fresh mushrooms near you. Store-bought mushrooms just aren’t the same.
  • 1 green pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • Feta cheese
  • Swiss cheese
  • fresh ground black pepper
For the topping-
Wash and slice the mushrooms and pepper. Heat a couple tablespoons of the olive oil in a pan and add the mushrooms. Let these start to cook down for a few minutes before adding the garlic and pepper slices. After 8-10 minutes, remove this from the heat and strain the mushrooms from their juices.
Spread the rest of the olive oil over the rolled-out pizza dough. Cover the pizza with the mushroom mix and start to bake it at 425 for 5-7 minutes. Remove the pizza and add the cheese. I did half feta and half swiss, but it could easily be all of one or the other cheese. Continue to bake another 5 minutes or so until the crust is done and pizza can easily come off the pizza stone. Grind some fresh black pepper and enjoy.

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A Bolder Table is a place where I bookmark my favorite recipes for later along with some occasional musings. It's my personal digital recipe compilation... Let's say it's my cookbook. Thanks for stopping by! -Megan
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