Mmm ... Barbecue Sweet Potato Fries

Just before 2010 began, I swore I would lose all this excess weight before I turned 30 in June. I did lose weight … and kept it off … but I didn’t lose the mass of weight I intended. Heck, I really didn’t come close.

Still, recently several of my friends have mentioned that I look thinner these days. It’s always nice to hear that. And those pictures from Cape Cod? They are a vast improvement over last year. But 2010 isn’t over yet. There is still time for me to make a difference in not only my weight, but also  And some simple changes can put me (or anyone) on the right path again. Choosing fruits and veggies over sweets. Sticking to lean proteins. Exercising more. I can do it.

When it comes to healthy choices, choosing baked over fried is generally a good idea. Choosing sweet potatoes over white potatoes? Also a good idea. According to World’s Healthiest Foods, sweet potatoes are rich in vitamins A and C, both antioxidants, as well as a number of other nutrients. So, these baked sweet potato fries? Perfect.

Almost three years ago, I started making sweet potato fries (successfully) at home. Shawn, who swore he’d never like them, fell in love with sweet potatoes. It was a life changing moment for our family (Shawn, for his part, has become way more open-minded about food over the years).

It’s been awhile since I came up with a new seasoning mix for our sweet potato fries, so I decided to work on that recently. The idea of barbecue (think along the lines of barbecue potato chips) popped into my head. I couldn’t seem to escape it. So, I got to work.

My Baked Barbecue Sweet Potato Fries were a huge hit. Paige dove right in and asked for seconds. Will, who usually only eats a few, ate all of his and went back for a few more too. Me? It took considerable restraint to save some for Shawn (but I did!).

The flavor of these sweet potato fries is rich, sweet and complex — definitely barbecue in nature. The sweet potato fries are sweet, but not in a bad or artificial way. And making them? It takes a little less than an hour from start to finish, and is worth every second.

Do you love sweet potatoes?

You may also like …

• Chipotle Cinnamon Sweet Potato Fries
• Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries
• Parmesan Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries

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I love this photo. Aren't they cute?

Every year, the kids and I (and often our friends) head to local farms for pick-you-own fun. This past weekend, that meant apple picking. The apple picking season generally starts in September and goes through early November here in Connecticut, so we are more than half-way through the season (and late by our standards). Fortunately, the day we chose was sunny, but neither too hot nor too cold. Read the rest of this entry…

Mmm. Carrots. While I am not a huge fan of steamed carrots, I love carrots when they have a lot of flavor — and these do.

These aren’t your sweet-glazed carrots. Instead they have a rich savoriness, with a hint of sweetness and a whisper of tartness. They’d be fabulous served with a roasted chicken or turkey (like on Thanksgiving, which is coming way faster than I am willing to acknowledge).

Better yet, these are super easy to make. Mixing the ingredients takes just a few minutes (including the peeling and cutting of the carrots) and then they just bake for an hour. And since these are equally good hot or cold, you can totally make them in advance and serve them whenever.

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Last December, I had this amazing epiphany when I made Cream Biscuits for the first time. It wasn’t the first time I made biscuits, but it was the first time that it dawned on me how easy it is to make biscuits from scratch. Soon I was making Whole Wheat Biscuits on a regular basis.

But then summer came, and biscuit making took a back seat to fresh veggies and bright salads. I know some people bake all year, but I am not one of them.

Now that it’s fall again, I feel like baking biscuits again … and after having fabulous Cheddar Bacon Scones in Cape Cod, I had to try that combination in biscuit form. Cheddar cheese and salty, crisp bacon are always fabulous together. And in these tender, fluffy cheddar bacon biscuits, it’s just amazing.

And yes, they are super easy to make. Read the rest of this entry…

In MFK Fisher’s book, The Gastronomical Me, she begins her forward with these paragraphs:

People ask me: Why do you write about food, and eating and drinking? Why don’t you write about the struggle for power and security, and about love, the way others do?

They ask it accusingly, as if I were somehow gross, unfaithful to the honor of my craft.

The words struck me, because they are something I have pondered much over the years … and, with slightly different words, I am often asked about as well. After beginning as a newspaper reporter who focused on crime, punishment and politics, my career took a dramatic shift when I traded that for food writing. It seems like a fabulous writing prompt. So, here it goes …

Why I Write about Food and Eating

Crafting an answer to this question is much like the chicken and egg debate: which came first? My interest or my passion? My intent or the strong pull? The need or the want? It’s really hard to say.

But at its most basic level, I write about food because it’s happy, life-affirming and something enjoyed by many (myself included, of course). While food politics can polarize us in unbelievable ways, food itself brings people together — families over Sunday dinner, friends for a birthday celebration, coworkers for lunch. Food is something we need to survive, and also take pleasure in enjoying. Read the rest of this entry…

Fall, to me, ushers in the perfect weather for quick breads, coffee cakes and muffins … like these delicious ones. Lately, I have been thinking so much about making these things to enjoy for breakfast. Though I don’t do it as often as I like, baking breakfast breads is something I love. And these Apple Berry Muffins are totally deserving of that love.

This past weekend when we headed to the Cape, I brought along a batch of these Apple Berry Muffins. They aren’t overly sweet, but they are packed with berries and apples … delish. And when they are fresh baked, they have a bit of a crunch to the outer layer (don’t worry – they were still great on day two … just minus the crunch). The morning after we arrived in Cape Cod, several of my friends came over and we demolished the whole plate of them. They were that good. Read the rest of this entry…

A new meat market recently opened in my town, and I can’t wait to try it. Just a few years ago, meat markets were few and far between in my area. When I was pregnant with Paige, I spent hours searching the internet for butchers and meat markets in the area, coming up with little. Lately though, that has started to change and there seems to be a resurgence of specialty food stores. With two meat markets now in town, I am excited that shopping is getting back to the way I grew up with.

When I was a little girl, my grandmother and I would hit the grocery store for staples, and then head to the meat market for whatever meat would go with dinner. There was this one market that sold all sorts of wursts — German sausages — and I loved looking at the different colors through the display case. My favorite wurst? Bratwurst, which is an off-putting gray, but delicious all the same. So, when I saw a precooked version at the grocery store recently, I picked  it up … hoping it might be like I remember (and be super fast for a busy night).

I know, it’s not what I grew up with … but it was a passable substitution until I can find a meat market that does wursts well.

In any case, it was absolutely perfect for a fast dinner, which is what I do every Monday. That’s my busy day, so I only do quick dinners on Mondays. Basically, dinner needs to come together in under 20 minutes and with minimal effort. I can’t bother with long preparations or complicated dishes on that one day. Easy is what works.

So, with easy in mind, I pulled the precooked bratwurst from my freezer. But what would I serve them with? At first I thought maybe rice. No, tortellini. No. potatoes. But then it came to me — mix them with pasta, steamed broccoli and a little garlic-infused oil. Simple. Easy. Less than 20 minutes.

This dish has simple flavors, but it just hit the spot. And not just for me — Will and Paige both went back for seconds.

What do you cook when you don’t have time?

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Photo by Virtual Frolic

Traveling is among my chief passions. New places, new experiences, new memories … it all comes with a good trip. This past weekend, my kids, husband and I headed to Cape Cod for a fabulous weekend of eating, enjoying and attending a close friend’s wedding. And yes, it was a good trip.

Of course, we’ve been to the Cape before (many times for me), but this time was different. The weekend was all about seeing a dear, dear friend wed a wonderful, loving man. The ceremony was beautiful — the kind that leaves you with tears glistening in your eyes. But the moment from the wedding that will be with me forever is when the vows were done and they were officially married. The look of pure joy, pure happiness, on my friend’s face was breathtaking.

I told him to think of something funny ...

She just loves the beach.

The sky was amazing.

Other than the wedding, we had a pretty laid-back, unplanned trip. The agenda was loose. The plans formed as we went and we changed directions in a heartbeat. Relaxing …

We visited Nauset Beach, a lovely public beach in Orleans. The surf was wild that day, with tall, crashing waves hit hard with strong winds, sending a cloud of spray back as the waves rushed forward. It was mesmerizing. As for the kids, they laughed and giggled while they ran (and fell!) in the sand.

Of course, the long drive? Not so relaxing … The long weekend started with the kids and I dashing from school pick up to the train station to pick up a friend to the Cape. Unfortunately, by the time we made the more than four-hour drive northeast, the seafood restaurant we planned to eat at had closed for the evening. We ended up eating at Papa Gino’s on what seemed like the best veggie pizza and grinder ever. Honestly, we can’t say if it was hunger or truly good food influencing our opinions … Whatever it was, it was just right for the end of that day.

Where else did we dine? Read the rest of this entry…

A few years ago, I fell deeply in love with beet greens. They have a similar taste to beets, though far milder — like a beet-tinged spinach. And they are lovely served raw in salad, sauteed and more. Until learning that they were edible, I had always been in the cut-and-toss camp, though.

A similar situation popped up recently. While making roasted veggies the other night, I was left with a particularly beautiful bunch of radish greens. These looked so fresh, so green, so inviting. I couldn’t dream of tossing them away or sending them to the compost pile. While I contemplated using them, I noticed the vibrant carrot tops from a recent trip to the farmer’s market. Again, I couldn’t let them be wasted.

I did a little research to confirm that both radish greens and carrot greens are edible (answer: yes). So, then it was just a matter of how to cook them — or not. I initially planned to saute the carrot greens and radish greens, but after some contemplation, I decided to just make a salad with a lovely sundried tomato vinaigrette.

I just couldn’t stand the idea of wasting the greens. I mean if we don’t at least try to eat then, how can we know if we like them? And furthermore, if we do like them, then we are totally missing out by not eating them.

So I made a Carrot Green and Radish Green Salad with Sundried Tomato Vinaigrette.

We ate it, but the dish wasn’t a winner (mostly the fault of the carrot greens — the texture is similar to frisee and isn’t a favorite around here). Nonetheless, I was happy that we at least tried to eat them.

While we probably won’t be tossing carrot tops into our salads again anytime soon the pleasant flavor does make them prime for pureeing (hello, carrot top pesto!) or finely chopping for dips, soups and sauces. As for the radish greens? Those could be fab tossed with some Bibb lettuce in a salad.

We will definitely eat these greens again … There’s no need to just cut and toss.

PS – I need to retest the vinaigrette recipe before sharing it. It will be up soon!

We’re quickly moving towards wintertime here in New England, and with that comes earlier sundowns and less favorable daytime light. I am struggling with pictures, trying to get tasty shots with what light we have. Although I do have lights and whatnot for shooting photos at night, I have ever been particularly comfortable using them. But, maybe I need to. What do you think?

I just hope the photo does this dish justice. Although I usually roast vegetables for the speed and flavor of the method, this weekend, I wanted to take things a little slower to let the flavors develop more. As a point of reference, when you have an opportunity to do that, it’s totally worthwhile.

It all started with the radishes — the lovely bunch that came in our final CSA box last week. And knowing how delicious radishes are when cooked, I wanted to roast them badly. I scoured the cabinets for what to add to them — fingerling potatoes from a week ago, a spare sweet onion, some red wine … and then I did it. And the resulting dish was so good that I didn’t want to share (but of course, I did).

When eating this, try to stab a bit of the sweet, sweet onion with the sharp radishes and the creamy potatoes. It’s pure bliss. Maybe that’s why I had to have seconds and thirds (and why Will and Paige attacked their portions with ferocity).

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