Home made sweet potato fries and mixed greens with walnuts, cranberries, and quinoa with honey dijon dressing. You might note that sweet potatoes and cranberries have sugar, albeit natural, in them…such a coincidence that sugar made it into my savory cooking. Weird.

Ok, so start with some sweet potatoes – however many you want (I find 1 big potato can easily feed 2 people) cleaned, but skin on. Be sure to cut off any eyes or roots and rough spots. This is where solanine lives (a poison that is found in potatoes – it’s only toxic in large doses, but best to avoid consuming if possible).

Cut them into desirable sized matchsticks – I like them to be on the skinnier side so they crisp up better in the oven. Sweet potatoes have a lot of sugar in them, which makes them bad candidates for deep frying because the sugar causes them to burn too quickly. If the potatoes are cut too thick, they will cook, but will be more mushy than crispy.

Put the potatoes on a pan in a single layer. You can line the pan with aluminum foil if you want to. I tend not to do this. Ever since Chef Carole, my food safe instructor and amazing Chef, told me there is some debate about cooking with aluminum foil and it’s correlation to alzheimer’s, I have decided to err on the side of caution. The choice is yours!

Toss the potatoes with 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil (just enough to coat), and salt and pepper.

Put the potatoes in the oven at 400F for about 25 minutes. If the fries aren’t crispy enough, turn the oven on broil and crisp them up!

For the salad, just place mixed greens, walnuts and cranberries in a bowl (amounts depend on how hungry you are – I use half a bag of pre-washed lettuce, which is about 2.5oz, 1/4 cup of walnuts, and 1/4 cup of cranberries). Make your quinoa according to the instructions on the bag, and season with salt and pepper. Add about 1/2 cup-1 cup to the bowl, depending on your preference (but make sure it’s not piping hot or it will wilt the salad). Mix the dressing (recipe below) and pour over the salad. Toss. Enjoy!

Onward to the next project: vegan, gluten free pumpkin spice muffins with soy vanilla icing. Stay tuned!!

Lauren

xxx

P.S. If you want to learn more about the social intimacy event I told you about last week, check out this article in The Huffington Post:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/liza-utter/social-media-tips-_b_868078.html

Lauren’s Honey Dijon Salad Dressing

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon honey

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup canola oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix it all together and serve! You can keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days.