As always, I was on the internet browsing through tastespotting and came across a recipe for Sweet Potato Falafels.  The recipe appealed to me for the following reasons:

• It only required 5 ingredients: corriander, cumin, sweet potatoes, sesame seeds, chick pea flour
• It didn’t require a ton of work
• Sweet Potatoes are in season (I think – can anyone confirm this for me)
• It would appeal to vegans

The only downsize was the fact that chick pea flour is not something I have in my pantry and required a trip to the bulk store. Not the end of the world  – happy to support my local health food store.

Here’s what you need:

2 medium sized sweet potato

1 1/2 tsp ground corriander (I used a handful of fresh – well washed)

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 cup chick pea flour

1/2 a lemon

sesame seeds

Method:

1. Bake the entire sweet potato in the oven at 425 degress and bake till soft (app. 45 min). Let cool and then scoop out the insides of the sweet potato. (note: I peeled them, sliced them, and then baked them)

2. When they are soft, put the sweet potato in a Cuisinart and add the chickpea flour, corriander, cumin and the juice of the lemon.  Pulse till smooth. (note: this could be done with a fork)

3. Roll them in your hands and shape them into small, thick logs. (best way to describe it).

5. Once shaped, roll them in sesame seeds.

6. The original recipe says to bake them – but I felt like frying them (me. bad). So I fried them in a small amount of oil till lightly browned.

Final Product:

There was a suggestion to serve them with tzaziki but you could dip them into any of your fav condiments or even eat them plain.

Hope you like this recipe as much as I did.  Many thanks to the honeycomb blog for posting this on tastespotting and to 101cookbooks who originally posted this recipe in 2009.

Happy Cooking.

Had some friends over for dinner the other night, which gave me the opportunity to try two new salads and repeat one favorite salad. I used tastespotting to look for new recipes and once again, I wasnt disappointed.

TOMATO/HEARTS OF PALM SALAD (I have been making this for years..its a winner) p.s this recipe is from a friend

Ingredients

2 containers of grape tomatoes (cut in half – this is the longest step)

1 can of sliced hearts of palm

corriander

1/4 cup of red onion

Dressing – (sorry I dont have the measurements….will you forgive me?)

vegetable oil

ketchup

cayenne pepper

Preparation:

Mix the tomatoes, hearts of palm, and red onion together in a bowl. Mix the dressing. Pour the dressing over the salad.

END RESULT:

SPRINGY QUINOA SALAD WITH SUGAR SNAPS, MINT AND GINGER YOGURT DRESSING

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

1/2 lb sugar snaps ( I had peas in a pod – so I used them instead)

1/4 cup sliced, toasted, almonds

1/4 cup fresh chopped mint

Dressing

3/4 cup plain yogurt

2 tsp fresh grated ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp honey

Preparation:

Prepare quinoa. Add almonds, mint and snap peas to the quinoa. Mix together dressing and add to the quinoa mixture.

END RESULT:

NOTE: I bet this salad could be prepared with couscous instead of quinoa or even as a pasta salad.

Mixed Greens with a Buttermilk Herb Dressing

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 mayonnaise

tarragon, chives, parsley

a bit of minced onion or minced shallot

Preparation: Put all ingredients in the Cuisinart and pulse till the herbs are chopped. Pour the dressing over mixed greens.

END RESULT:

Entertaining Made Easy…According to momwhoruns:

a) select a date and then invite the guests

b) decide on the menu. I generally do one main course, 3 sides, one dessert. The internet saves me. You can find all the recipes by clicking on the item. I’m pretty sure I found all of them on tastespotting.

c) buy groceries and begin to cook. (often I do this in stages vs. doing it all at once).

d) buy flowers and set the table.

e) ENJOY the good food and the great company.

Here’s what I served to guests a few weeks ago:

Roasted Carrot Cumin Dip

Quinoa and Smashed Herb Salad (sorry no photo – had a senior moment)

Barefoot Contessa’s Basil Mashed Potatotes

Baked Salmon with Kale and Dill with Harissa

www.tastefoodblog.com

Strawberry Raspberry Crisp. (recipe to follow in another blog post)

Another fav. part of having company over is to set the table and buy the right flowers. What do you think?

I cant wait to entertain next month.