Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Oil

A Simple side dish of mashed sweet potatoes with coconut oil.  That's it and it is delicious.

A re-post of the original from 5/24/2013.  Adding pin-able image, tweet-ables, and editing.  225 views and 2 +1s.

I will no longer put butter in my mashed sweet potatoes.  It's not about health or nutrition, or even an aversion to dairy (though those are all good reasons) it is about taste.  Once I added coconut oil to my sweet potatoes I was hooked.  The coconut oil brings out the sweetness of the potato, and adds a creaminess, like butter.   I must stress:  if you like sweet potatoes, get and use some coconut oil with them.  Here is the easy 2 ingredient recipe.

Easy #2ingredient MashedSweetPotatoes w/ #CoconutOil  [Tweet this]

Another recipe in my Thanksgiving sides series.  Everyone knows about sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving but why not try Mashed Sweet Potatoes.  You could make it more like casserole by adding some cream (or keep it dairy free and use coconut milk), cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, and top with chopped Candied Pecans.  This will be my "sweet potato casserole" this year.

Trade #Sweetpotatocasserole 4 MashedSweetPotatoes #thanksgivingsides  [Tweet this]

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Oil

Servings:  2
Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 very large sweet potato
1-2 Tbsp coconut oil
Cinnamon (optional)

Peel and cut the sweet potato in small even pieces.  Place in a saucepan and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil for about 10-15 minutes until potatoes are soft.

Remove from heat and drain.    Remove sweet potatoes to a medium-sized bowl (or just put back in the saucepan) and mash with 1-2 Tbsp coconut oil.  No need to add any other liquid because sweet potatoes absorb more liquid while boiling than regular potatoes (but if you think you need some reserve some of the cooking liquid and use it).

Makes 2 servings.

Enjoy.

Also mentioned in this post:

Candied Pecans

For more vegetable sides check out:

Cinnamon and Cumin Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Maple Glazed Carrots                                          -

Sauteed Kale                                           -

Linked to:  Pretty Pintastic, Best of the Weekend, 2 Cup, Lou Lou Girls, Wake Up, Whimsy

Follow Joy Bee's board Joybee Whats for Dinner blog posts on Pinterest.

Read more ...

Simple Carrot and Cucumber Salad

A 3 ingredient salad of carrots, cucumbers and lemon juice.  So simple yet so tasty.

I was looking for salad ideas to accompany my Spiced Lamb and Hummus.  Since I wanted to keep to the same Mediterranean theme I searched for ideas in a Greek cookbook that I have.  I knew I could make the usual Greek Salad but I wanted something different and simpler.  When I came across this salad I knew instantly that I had my salad.  What could be easier than only 3 ingredients (I guess only 1 or two, but...)?  I love carrot not to mention they add terrific color to any meal.  I was a little skeptical because the carrots are just tossed in lemon juice and I thought it would be too sour but the sweetness of the carrots blends with the tartness of the lemon juice to make one amazing flavor.  The cucumbers may seem like a random addition but they also taste great with lemon juice and add a different type of crispness to the salad.  I actually used the cucumbers to scoop up hummus and lamb.  Now my new favorite way to eat hummus is on a cucumber.

Simple Carrot and Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

2 carrots, coarsely shredded
1 cucumber, sliced
1 lemon, juiced
salt to taste

I used my food processor to shred the carrots and I shredded them long ways to have longer strips of carrot (this adds to the texture of the salad).

Place shredded carrots, cucumber slices, and lemon juice in a large bowl and toss to combine.  Add some salt if desired (I think I forgot to add salt and it was still delicious).

Cover salad and refrigerate for about 1 hour to allow flavors to meld.  Serve cold or at room temperature.

Makes 4-6 servings

Enjoy.

Linked to:  Pretty Pintastic, Best of the Weekend, Saturday Night Fever, Share it Sunday, See Ya in the Gumbo, Merry Monday, Lou Lou Girls, Teach Me Tuesday, Brag About It, Whimsy Wednesday, Wonderful Wednesday, Wednesday Roundup, Full Plate, Plant Based Party, Eat Create Party, Freedom Friday 

Follow Joy Bee's board Joybee Whats for Dinner blog posts on Pinterest.

Read more ...