For the Love of Sweet Potatoes

Ever had one of those weeks where the only thing that could make you feel better was sweet potatoes – well this week was one of those weeks.  Did I mention that sweet potatoes are one of my favorite foods?  I love them mashed, roasted, roasted with a little maple syrup, curried, in veggie burgers, on top of shepherds pie, in place of pumpkin in a pie, as fries with ketchup …  – in my opinion they're good no matter how you choose to prepare them.

When the hubby got home tonight and asked the usual question "What would you like for dinner?" I knew that whatever we had it needed to include sweet potatoes.  My first inclination was to roast them with the carrots and cauliflower in the fridge but in the back in the recesses of my mind I recalled a delicious curry recipe, which had been absent from our dinner table for a while.

Actually the recipe comes from a cookbook called Savoring India – it's a Williams Sonoma cookbook by author Julie Sahni. The original recipe is Gobhi Masala, which is a fragrant cauliflower stew – and it calls for the standard white potatoes, which are not my favorite. Actually anytime a recipe calls for white potatoes I always substitute sweet potatoes I don't even think about it.

We started by heating 3 Tbsp. of oil. To the oil we added 2 cassia leaves, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 tsp. cumin seeds and fried them in the hot oil for 30 seconds until the seeds began to sizzle. To the spices we added 2 small onions finely chopped and cooked until lightly browned (about 3 minutes) then added 1 Tbsp. peeled and grated fresh ginger, 1 Tbsp. ground coriander, 1 ½ tsp. salt, 1 tsp. cayenne pepper, 2 chopped tomatoes, 1 can coconut milk and ½ cup of water.  Stir the mixture to combine and then add 2 lbs. of cauliflower (be sure to peel and chop the stem and the leaves they add an additional flavor) and 1 sweet potato chopped in 1-inch cubes. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce heat to low and cook for approximate 35 – 40 minutes. 

We served it with basmati rice and a black lentil and kidney been dal – it really hit the spot – as you can see, there is no problem too big for a sweet potato solve.

For those of you in Minnesota – it's time to get outside and enjoy this beautiful weather we're having.

Thanks for stopping by,

Ann