Sweet Potato Burritos

1 large sweet potato, cooked and mashed
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp cayanne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
colby jack cheese, shredded
whole wheat/multigrain tortillas

Cook the sweet potato however you would like (I microwaved mine for ease of operation).  Mash it in a bowl with the added spices (through salt and pepper).  Place some of the mashed sweet potatoes in the center of a tortilla, and sprinkle with the shredded cheese.  Roll into a burrito shape, and place on a hot skillet.  Once browned, turn, and brown the other side.  Serve with all the toppings you desire!

Here was our topping spread!  We used guacamole, fresh chopped tomatoes, chopped scallion, fresh cilantro, pickled jalapenos, Greek yogurt, salsa, chopped romaine heart lettuce, and some of the leftover poblano pepper dressing from the avocado tacos!  The sweet potato mixture was really sweet, and had just a hint of spice.  It went nicely with the more spicy/cool toppings.  Another delicious, easy, summery meal around this house.

Fried Avocado Tacos

 When I saw this recipe for fried avocado tacos in the latest edition of Bon Appetit, I knew this was going to be made in my kitchen!  I am SO glad that I took the time to make this recipe.  The flavors were fabulous, and the textural combination of the soft avocado with the crispy shell was just as exciting.  My major issue with this recipe is that although it seems quite simple at first glance, it's really anything but!  The poblano took some time to roast, although I have to admit that J loved watching me hold the pepper over an open flame.  He frequently could be heard saying, "Mommy, be careful!".  And, the frying of the avocado combined with all the other condiment preparation made this meal a slight undertaking.  However, despite the effort, the final product does not disappoint! 

This is a picture of the final taco, but I have to admit to realizing I had forgotten to top with the pico de gallo until after the photo was taken...oops!  You'll have to use your imagination to add it in;)
I stuck to the recipe, but did use Greek yogurt in place of sour cream in the poblano dressing.
And, of course, this is the beautiful fried avocado.  Yum!

To make this meal even more enticing, we had a fair bit of refried beans, pico de gallo, lettuce (I used romains hearts in place of iceberg), and the poblano dressing left over.  So, today for lunch I made a modified "taco salad"using said ingredients.  It was a lovely lunch, if I do say so myself!

Anise Biscotti

1 c all purpose flour
1/2 c sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 egg
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp anise extract

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place the dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together.
In a small bowl, beat the egg, egg white, and extracts. 
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, until a dough forms.  Using your hands, shape the dough into a smooth rectangle about 6" wide and 10" long.  Place dough onto a lined jelly roll pan (I use a silpat).
Bake for 25 minutes, and remove from oven.  Slice into 1" thick biscotti pieces.  Place on one side, and put them back in the oven for another 10 mins.  Remove, and flip, and repeat for another 10 minutes.  Enjoy!

I used to make these biscotti ALL the time...I mean, around once a week, and then something happened, and I hadn't made them in years.  I love this recipe because it literally takes about 2 seconds to throw together, is super easy and basically foolproof.  Plus, the simplicity of the recipe lends nicely to experimentation.  Sometimes I'll add chocolate chips or dried fruit, and other times I'll dip the finished (and cooled) cookies into melted chocolate.  You can even try adding different flavors (like espresso, maple, etc, etc). 

I don't know why these went by the wayside.  The biscotti were just as delicious as I remembered, and the kids loved them, especially when dipped into their milk!  The added bonus there was certainly getting to drink the slightly sweetened milk after all that dipping!  I know this will be showing up again soon.

Eggplant, Tomato, Avocado, Mozzarella Sandwich

The other night D asked if we could have a sandwich for dinner.  It had been a really long time since we'd done anything fancier than grilled cheese on the sandwich front, so I happily obliged.  (Of course the kids still had the grilled cheese!)

This meal was summery, super easy, and very simple.  I bought a fresh country loaf, topped it with some fresh slices of mozzarella (you can't see it under all the veggies!), topped that with some grilled sliced eggplant, sliced tomato, and sliced avocado.  For D's sandwich, I finished it off with a second piece of bread, and grilled it panini-style.  For mine, I just left off the top and had an open-faced sandwich.  A fresh and delicious treat!

Salad Nicoise

D and I love salad nicoise, and as the weather gets warmer, this meal definitely climbs up the favorites list!  Salad nicoise simply contains greens (any type of lettuce you like will do), carrots, cucumber, avocado, steamed green beans, any other choice vegetables, a hard boiled egg, and some tuna salad.  For this particular salad nicoise, we used a lemon-dill tuna salad, and a simple vinaigrette dressing.  So healthy, so easy, so delicious, and perfect for summer!

Oh, and those flecks all over the carrots does not signify unwashed veggies, it's just some freshly cracked pepper to finish out this meal!

Walnut Shortbread

I love shortbread.  It's sweet, slightly salty, and crumbly.  I liked the idea of having a shortbread chalked-full of nutty flavor, and lots of lemon to balance it out.  I found this recipe for walnut shortbread on Whole Living, another one of my favorite recipe sites.  I've been thinking about whipping this one up for some time now, but hadn't gotten around to baking it yet.

This weekend hit a lull, and we needed a good activity to entertain the kids.  They love it when we pull out the "kitchen stand", so I decided it was finally time to try this recipe out.  To eliminate making a TON of shortbread, I halved the recipe to make one 8" round.  This was plenty of shortbread, especially because L isn't a huge fan of this treat.  J likes to refer to it as "strawberry shortcake", and will happily munch on it when it has been topped with a bit of strawberry jam! 

D and I really enjoyed this recipe.  The flavors are perfect, and it has a hint of salt, a hint of nut, and hint of lemon, and is just the perfect amount of sweet.  It's great for a snack or to finish off a cup of tea.

Sole Meuniere, Green Beans, and Almond-Mint Quinoa

It was another hot one here today.  I think we've skipped spring, and hopped right into summer.  I was in the mood for fish, and J has been asking for "candy fish", which is otherwise known as sole meuniere!  Tonight seemed like the perfect night for this fresh, lemony sole dish.  Along side it, I served some sauteed green beans that I simply sauteed in a bit of olive oil, butter, and sprinkled with lemon zest just before serving. 

I've been loving quinoa these days, and since I had some in the pantry, I thought it would round out this meal nicely.  I cooked the quinoa in a 1:1 mixture of broth and water, and after turning off the heat, I added some toasted sliced almonds and chopped fresh mint.  Delicious!  Of course neither of the kids would touch the quinoa (ugh!), but D and I really loved the flavors.  A simple, but gourmet to end our day.