"Hawaiian" Sweet Potatoes

Some people tend to get their feathers ruffled over Hawaiian pizza.  Personally, I think if something tastes good, just eat it. If all food was required to be made the traditional way, things would get boring after a while.  If pineapple on pizza isn't your thing, don't order it.  But if you enjoy salty and sweet together, Hawaiian pizza can be delicious. 

These stuffed sweet potatoes take the Hawaiian pizza premise and add some fibre to make a main dish without much meat for a lighter meal.  The recipe is adapted from Clean Eating magazine.  

You'll need two large sweet potatoes, plus the items below.

Pierce the sweet potatoes and bake them for about an hour in a 400 degree oven.

Meanwhile dice the pineapple into small chunks.

Take a cooked ham steak 

And dice it the same size as the pineapple.

Chop and add some green onions as well, reserving some chopped green tops.

Carefully slice the cooked sweet potatoes and scrape out the insides, leaving a layer of sweet potato on the skin.

Add the ham, pineapple, green onions and shredded mozzarella to the sweet potatoes and mash together.

Mix well and then stuff the sweet potato skins with this mixture.

Top with some mozzarella and put them back in the oven for 20 minutes to warm through and melt the cheese.  

Once they come out of the oven, top with the sliced green onions and serve.

Curried Pork Medallions on Watercress

This is a lovely, light, summery salad.  I made it several times last summer and pulled it out to enjoy along with the warm spring weather we've been having lately. 

Here are the ingredients: pork tenderloin, watercress, radishes, tangerines...

And for the marinade/dressing: maple syrup, sesame oil, curry paste, soy sauce and rice vinegar.

Mix the marinade ingredients together and marinate the pork tenderloin for at least 30 minutes and up to a few hours.

Grill the tenderloin and reserve the marinade.

Boil the marinade for about 5 minutes.  This will be the dressing for the salad.  

Slice some radishes.

Peel the tangerine, halve it and slice it into segments.  This is much easier than cutting supremes and just as tasty.  

Wash and spin dry your watercress.  You can also use other greens or a combination of cress and greens, which I did here.

Top the greens with sliced radishes and oranges.

Then top that with thinly sliced pork tenderloin. 

Drizzle with the warm curry dressing for a delicious, light spring or summer meal.  

Short & Sweet Sunday - Israeli Couscous with Pine Nuts and Parsley

I always seem to find interesting grain mixes at Costco. But they come in enormous bags so I need to find interesting ways to use it up.

Israeli couscous is larger than regular couscous and has a nice chewy texture when cooked.  This particular mix also includes a small amount of quinoa, dried chickpeas and orzo.  

Since I didn't read the recipe carefully, I used a slightly different technique to cook the dish, but it all worked out in the end.  

I cooked the orzo in chicken stock with a cinnamon stick and bay leaf.

Meanwhile, toast some pine nuts until light brown, not too dark!  Also, saute some shallots. If you're on the ball you'll saute the shallots first, then add the couscous, spices and stock, but adding the cooked shallots after is ok too.  

To the cooked couscous, add the sauteed shallots, minced parsley and the pine nuts.

Mix it all together...

And serve. 

I served with a grilled pork chop and broccoli.

Tasty!  Now I need to find about 10 more recipes to use up this bag of couscous.  

BBQ Ribs My Way

I've read a lot of cooking blogs and forums and one of the most contentious, controversial food items I've seen discussed is the "right" way to cook ribs. I know different places in the US have long BBQ traditions but where I live, we usually just grill the meat.  These ribs might not be done by any traditional method but there's no denying that they taste delicious!

First I braise the ribs in the oven. No, I don't boil them or smoke them, maybe you or your ancestors do but these are ribs my way!

Sometimes I use different liquids and spices but this mix is super easy and turns out delicious. I brush the ribs with apple juice and then sprinkle with Montreal chicken spice.

These are pork back ribs but you can use side ribs.

I brushed the apple juice and spices over the ribs and wrapped them in foil. 

I braise these in the oven for a long, long time at a low, low temperature.

I braise them for three or four hours until they are very tender. 

I then cut the ribs into smaller pieces for the grill.

My ribs are smothered with barbecue sauce on the grill. You can make your own or use store bought sauce (I like Diana's Spicy the best).

Grill until hot and lightly charred.

For an embarrassingly enormous meal, serve with a baked potato and grilled asparagus.

These might not be ribs the traditional way or your way but they are my way and there's no denying they're delicious!

Chipotle Mac & Cheese

I try not to cook with cheese too often because it can be so bad for you, but it is SO delicious.  This is based on a recipe from Cooking Light magazine and doesn't use too much cheese but gets a creamy texture from a surprising ingredient - sweet potatoes.

First, roast two large sweet potatoes until soft, about an hour.

Scrape the flesh of the sweet potatoes into a bowl and mash.

Take a few chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.  I used one too many for my tastes - this was super spicy - but it was perfect for my spice-loving husband.  

These can be kind of a mess to chop, they tend to stain the board, so I put them in a measuring cup with the milk for the sweet potato mash and used an immersion blender to chop them.  It worked perfectly!

I poured the milk and chipotles into the mashed sweet potatoes and mashed it all together until mostly smooth.  

Then add a few ounces of shredded monterey jack cheese. Not too much at all.  

Next, add the cooked (whole wheat) macaroni and mix together.

And spread it in a 9 by 13 casserole dish.  You can go ahead and serve this as a vegetarian entree, or...

... cook up some spicy sausage to top the macaroni.  You can use Mexican chorizo, or use spicy Italian sausage. 

Crumble and brown the sausage in a pan and then spread it over the top of the macaroni casserole.

Now broil it in the oven until the sausage is sizzling.  

Top with sliced scallions before serving.

The sweet potatoes make it so creamy and the chipotles really pack a punch. Next time I'd add less spice and probably skip the sausage for a lighter, milder meal.  But this was a big hit with the spice and meat loving contingent!  

Short & Sweet Sunday - Tropical Fruit

This is not a recipe. 

A few weeks ago we had summer in March. The temperature was almost 30 degrees Celsius. So I decided to celebrate "summer" with the summery taste of tropical fruit.


We have an Asian grocery store in town that generally has a great selection of exotic fruits.

I bought Ataulfo mangoes, watermelon, dragon fruit, figs and mangosteen.

I took them out on the sunny deck, cut them open and chopped them up and had a summery feast!