Curried Swai and Curried Mashed Sweet Potatoes

In regards to my last post, I feel like there might be something I need to clear up about the foods I post in this blog. Or maybe it isn't, but I'm going to anyway.

The food I make in this journal is Americanized. Each and every thing I serve is in no way authentic of anything, other than this food is authentic Americanized food. Everything is cooked in California. Nothing is intended to be authentic ethnic food. Everything is just the food I eat.

With that being said, I made curried swai and sweet potatoes. The curry with the sweet potatoes was amazing! It always surprises me when I combine sweet potatoes with a flavor I wouldn't think sounds like it would mesh at all... And it just does. Like my sweet potato tacos, for instance.

Curried Swai

Ingredients

2 swai fillets

1 green onion, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

pinch of curry powder

pinch of red pepper

1/2 tbsp flour

1/4 tbsp Brummel&Brown yogurt spread

Directions

1. Rinse the fillets in cold water. Pat dry and place in a shallow baking dish.

2. Combine the green onions, garlic, curry powder, and red pepper. Rub over the surface of the fish. Cover and refrigerator for an hour.

3. Remove the fish after an hour and coat with flour.

4. Melt the yogurt spread or other margarine or butter in a baking dish in a 350 oven. Add fillets, turning once. Bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes.

CALORIES: 82 calories
CHOLESTEROL: 49 milligrams
FAT: 9 grams
SODIUM: 71 milligrams

Curried Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

3/4 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tsp curry powder

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 tsp salt

Directions

1. In a boiling pot of water, cook the sweet potatoes until tender - about 15 minutes.

2. In a skillet with the vegetable oil cook the onion for about 4 minutes. Add the curry powder and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Mash the sweet potatoes with the sour cream and salt. Stir in the onions.

CALORIES: 156 calories
CHOLESTEROL: 7 milligrams
FAT: 4 grams
SODIUM: 238 milligrams

Sweet Potato Tacos

I promise, this is my last sweet potato/spinach combo in the near future.

Once again, I was unsure about this combination (sweet potatoes and SALSA?!) But it really ended up being delicious. For being a meat-free meal it was more filling than had I made a wrap with ham on it and some vegetables.

The sweet taste of the sweet potato was not overpowering, which could have been weird given the nature of this meal. The salsa and sweet potato at first thought made me squeamish, but when I put it in my mouth I realized there was no reason to worry.

Sweet Potato Tacos

Ingredients

1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1/2 cup kidney beans

1 tortilla

small handful of spinach

salt and pepper, to taste

1 tbsp Brummel&Brown yogurt spread

Directions

1. In a small pot boil the sweet potato. When soft mash with salt, pepper, and Brummel&Brown. Mix in the beans.

2. In a skillet heat up the tortilla.

3. Place a handful of spinach on the tortilla and top with the sweet potato.

* garnish with salsa and sour cream if you desire (I suggest it!!), though I did not include those in the calorie calculations

* serves 1

CALORIES: 356 calories
CHOLESTEROL: 0 milligrams
FAT: 10 grams
SODIUM: 942 milligrams

Sweet Potato Smoothie

I wasn't lying when I said that sweet potatoes and spinach have been a huge part of my diet as of late. I think there's still a sweet potato sitting in there waiting for me to use it. I know for sure that there's a bag of spinach in there too. I could probably do a week of sweet potato/spinach recipes and not get sick of it.

I said recently that I used to make smoothies for breakfast almost everyday. I need to get back into that again, especially since school starts for me on Monday. It's an easy breakfast that sustains me until lunchtime.

This absolutely was not a normal smoothie for me. Despite my current love of sweet potatoes, I have never used a sweet potato in a smoothie. And I have used spinach in my smoothies before, but in the past I was also using strawberries or something equally colorful, so my smoothies have never come out this interesting color of green that the sweet potato/spinach smoothie created.

Despite the bizarre pigment, it was absolutely delicious and I ended up making it two days in a row.

You can thank my MFP friends for this recipe being here. I was asked to make a smoothie, and a smoothie I did make!

Sweet Potato Smoothie

Ingredients

1 cup almond milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp honey

1/2 cup peeled, cubed, and boiled (until soft) sweet potato

1/2 banana

handful spinach

ice cubes

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in the blender. BLEND!

* serves about 1 and a half

CALORIES: 150 calories
CHOLESTEROL: 0 milligrams
FAT: 3 grams
SODIUM: 153 milligrams

Roasted Sweet Potato, Black Bean, and Shrimp Salad

One of my MFP friends this week asked that I make a high protein salad. Not really knowing what that meant, I decided to make a sweet potato and black bean salad. Unfortunately this combo only resulted in being 8 grams of protein. Clearly I have no idea on protein or something.

But this salad did magically become a high protein salad.

The night before I had made coconut shrimp for dinner. Thing is.. I didn't end up eating it, because I had forgotten I had dinner plans. But I didn't want the shrimp to go bad, so since they were thawed out I cooked them up and decided I could find a use for them later. Their use became apparent the next morning when I was throwing this salad together. In the shrimp went and up the protein increased to 23 grams!

I've really started to love sweet potato, so this is also a plus. I think the next two recipes you'll see after this one involve the sweet potato. It seems like sweet potato and spinach are the two staples as of late in my recipes.

This recipe is definitely going to be entered into Kahakai Kitchen's Souper Sundays!

Roasted Sweet Potato, Black Bean, and Shrimp Salad

Ingredients

2 egg whites

1 1/2 cups panko

1 tsp ground cumin

3/4 cup flaked coconut

24 large shrimp, shelled and deveined

3 large sweet potatoes

1 large onion, chopped

3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 14-oz can black beans

1 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500.

2. Beat egg whites in a small dish. Combine the bread crumbs, coconut, and 1/2 tsp of cumin in a ziplock bag.

3. Dip the shrimp in the egg whites and then shake in the dry mixture. Add to a baking sheet.

4. Bake for 6 minutes. Flip over. Bake for 6 more minutes. Set the shrimp aside.

5. Reduce the oven temperature to 400. Place the sweet potato and onion in a baking dish. Toss with 1 tbsp olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and mix with the shrimp. Add the black beans as well.

6. In a small bowl mix together 2 tbsp of olive oil, salt, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, and 1/2 tsp of cumin.

7. Pour the dressing over the sweet potato and shrimp mixture. Toss well.

* serves 4

CALORIES: 566 calories
CHOLESTEROL: 71 milligrams
FAT: 18 grams
SODIUM: 851 milligrams

Chicken Tikka Masala and Sweet Potato Roti

I'm a sucker for everything Indian. It's definitely not the easiest cuisine to perfect. The flavors are different, they're strong, and they're not always easily available.

When I see a curry recipe (or any Indian recipe) I am always inclined to try it. Unfortunately the dumb boyfriend isn't excited about Indian food, but this is why I cook things I like, even when he's around. Tonight it didn't matter though.

During college I went to India with my mom for a 2 week excursion. In India (despite eating some of the tastiest food of my life) we participated in an event put on by WAGGGS (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts). The 2 week session involved planning and running a 4 day summer camp for some of the poorest children in India. These children all were the children of construction worker families. I learned so much in India, things I never could have learned from a textbook. I learned about the beauty of other cultures. I experienced true culture shock. I saw that things that I find normal are not normal everywhere and that some things that I find atrocious are not universally seen as such. I learned about the spirituality in India, learning about both the Hindu and Buddhist religions. I became even more aware of the caste system and saw more oppressed people than I've seen in my life. I befriended a beautiful little girl, Prema, despite us not speaking the same language. I learned how to communicate beyond words. I saw the biggest smiles on the faces of these children.

I miss it so much and I really wish I could go back, but I doubt I'll ever have that opportunity again.

When I eat Indian food though, it reminds me.

Chicken Tikka Masala
from here

Ingredients
2 tsp canola oil
1 small onion, minced
1 tbsp ginger, peeled and minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes
4 oz fat free plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup skim milk
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chili powder
16 oz boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size chunks

Directions

1. Heat oil in a skillet. Add the onions and cook until golden. Add the garlic and ginger until fragrant.

2. Mix in the spices and cook for less than a minute.

3. Mix in the tomatoes, milk, and yogurt. Bring to a simmer and add the chicken. Simmer the sauce with the chicken for 15 minutes.

* serves 4

CALORIES: 226 calories
CHOLESTEROL: 60 milligrams
FAT: 4 grams
SODIUM: 437 milligrams

Sweet Potato Roti
from here

Ingredients
1 sweet potato
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp brown sugar
salt to taste
1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Directions

1. Peel potato and cut into chunks. Place in a pot of water and cook until soft.

2. In a food processor pulse the sweet potato until mushy.

3. Mix the rest of the ingredients together to create a soft, pliable dough. If the dough is too dry add water. If it's too sticky add flour.

4. Pull the dough into small ping pong size balls. Flatten with your hands and roll thin with a rolling pin.

5. Cook in a skillet covered with Pam, butter, or oil until golden brown. Flip and repeat.

* makes 10 rotis

CALORIES: 115 calories
CHOLESTEROL: 0 milligrams
FAT: 0 grams
SODIUM: 5 milligrams