Black Bean Sweet Potato Burritos

Yum! This is one of our favorites from Taco Tonto's in Kent, OH that I've tried paying homage to at home in Warren.



Ingredients:

• 1 sweet potato, peeled and roasted
• 1 can black beans
• 1/2 c rice (makes 1 1/2 c cooked rice)
• 3 tbsp cilantro
• 1 c mung bean sprouts
• 2 c homemade or favorite salsa
• 6 whole wheat tortilla shells (10")

1. Cut cilantro into cooked rice while still warm.
2. Down the center of a tortilla, layer rice, sweet potato, and black beans. Top with mung bean sprouts and salsa.

3. Fold the two ends over the edges of the ingredients, then roll into a tightly formed burrito.
4. Grill on a flat top until tortilla is crispy. Serve with additional salsa for dipping.

Sweet Potato Casserole

This is a great "make-ahead" dish for Thanksgiving (can you guess what I've been doing today??) and was a smash the last time I made it. I'll post the recipe for a single batch, but all of the photos are for a quad batch, given the 30 people that we'll be feeding tomorrow :) In case you're wondering what a twelve-potato casserole looks like... I couldn't even fit it in my largest casserole dish

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 3 large), scrubbed
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten with a fork
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted plus more for the preparing the pan
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar, divided in half
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

 Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and pierce each one 2 or 3 times with a fork or knife. Bake for 60 minutes or until tender. Set aside to cool.

2. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees F. Scoop the sweet potato out of their skins and into a medium bowl. Discard the skins.

3. Mash the potatoes until mostly smooth but still a little lumpy (I did this part with my hands). Add the eggs, butter, 1/2 of the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and pepper to taste. Whisk the mixture until smooth.




4. Butter a casserole dish. Pour the sweet potato mixture into the pan and sprinkle the top with the remaining brown sugar and pecans. (For a larger batch, make an additional layer of brown sugar and pecans in the middle of the casserole). Bake for 40 minutes until a bit puffy. Serve immediately.

Western Scramble & Potato Pancakes

My dad and grandpa harvested a "Sheepshead" or maitake mushroom recently. Dad cleans and processes them and sends some my way chopped and frozen. Perfect! Here's some more info on sheepshead mushrooms for anyone who is interested. (Sheepshead/Maitake mushroom) They're really quite interesting to read about, because they can grow to be 50+ pounds. It's important to note that mushroom hunting (mycogphagy) can be very dangerous and it's of dire-import to do your homework prior to picking and eating wild mushrooms.

I used some of these mushrooms in scrambled eggs this morning and it was SO tasty!

Ingredients:

• 1 c mushroom
• 4 slices cooked bacon, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 of a large white onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

 Directions:
1. Saute the mushrooms in dab of butter until most of the water has cooked out of them. These mushrooms have a large water content, so 2 c of frozen will cook down to about 1/2 c cooked. You'll notice them start to brown when most of the water is gone.






2. When the start to brown, add the onion, garlic and green pepper. Saute together 5 minutes over medium heat. Throw the chopped cooked bacon in and toss for another minute until bacon is heated.






3. Reduce heat to low, add scrambled egg and fold together for 5 minutes until the egg is cooked through.

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Potato Pancakes are a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes and they're great with breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

• 2 c mashed potatoes
• 1/4 of a large white onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 c bread crumbs
•  salt and pepper to taste
• 2 glugs of vegetable or canola oil.

Directions:
1. Saute the onion and garlic over low heat with a tiny bit of oil for 5 minutes, until they're soft. Then add them to the COLD mashed potatoes along with salt, pepper, 1/4 c of flour and 1/4 c of bread crumbs. Mix together with your hands or a fork.


2. Combine the rest of the flour and bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Quickly form the mashed potatoes into patties (about a 1/2 c of potatoes each) and dredge them in the breadcrumb/flour mixture.


3. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the mashed potato patties and let cook 4-5 minutes before turning carefully. Don't stop and check them because lifting up the edges will cause them to break. Just have a little faith... lol

4. Cook 3-4 minutes on the other side and serve warm :) These come out crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and totally satisfying!

Grilled Pork Chops with Maple Syrup Sweet Potatoes

Another easy meal which is great for dinner guests as it is inexpensive, easy to make, and always a crowd pleaser. I served the pork chops and sweet potatoes with a side salad and Arizona Arnold Palmer mixed drinks. This half iced tea, half lemonade liquid mix, found in the liquor section of the grocery store, makes one of

my all time favorite summer drinks. Special thanks to Travis my grill master who does ALL the grilling!

Ingredients

Serves 4

4 1-inch thick bone-in pork chops (about 2 pounds)

Salt & Pepper

4 small sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into wedges

2 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs maple syrup

2 scallions, sliced

Directions

1. Heat grill to medium-high.

2. Toss the sweet potatoes with 1 Tbs oil and some salt and pepper.

3. Place the potatoes on the grill, reserving the bowl. Cook, turning often, until tender and slightly charred, 12 to 16 minutes.

4. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. After 10 minutes of cooking the potatoes place the chops on the grill. About 5 minutes per side.

5. To the reserved bowl add the syrup, scallions, remaining Tbs of oil and some salt and pepper. Add the sweet potatoes and serve with the pork.

Even Cash enjoys a pork chop!