Sweet potato mash with raw arugula

A rather delicious mix of sweet potato and veggies. Really worth a try if you haven’t already.

3-4 persons

Sweet potatoes: 3-5 (mid-size) rough cubes

Bell pepper: 1 cubed or sliced (I prefer red, but green and yellow also work)

Onion: 1 chopped

Leek: 4 inches, chopped

Garlic: 2 cloves, minced

Arugula: 2 handfulls (75 gr)

Cherry tomatoes: 8-12 cut in half.

Feta cheese: handful (75 gr)

Butter: chunk (50-70 gr)

Olive oil: 2-4 tablesp

Honey: 1 tablesp (optional)

Broth cube: 1

Parsley: 1 teasp

Chives: 2 teasp

Oregano: ½ teasp

Rosemary: 1 pinch
Thyme: 1 pinch
Paprika: 1 knife point

Pepper: ¼ teasp, to taste

Salt: 1-2 teasp

Boil the peeled and cut, sweet potatoes with the broth cube until they’re nice and soft. (Aprox. 20 mins)  While they’re boiling use a skillet to bake your onion, leek, garlic and pepper in the olive oil. Add the herbs and honey (if you chose to use it), ½ the salt and pepper until the bell pepper and onion turn nice and glassy. Turn of the heat. Drain water from the potatoes once they are soft. Leave off the fire. Make a chunky mash of them and add the butter and salt and pepper. Add the veggie mix and the small cubes of feta and stir it together. At the last possible moment (right before serving) add the raw arugula leaves and cherry tomatoes and stir until it’s all evenly mixed.

Serve with garlic bread, or Turkish bread fresh from the oven and a fruity white wine or lemon water. Very yummy.

Italian pasta wok

 

One of my favs is this light wok pasta that takes about 30 mins to make, at most, while still being highly nutritious and delicious.

This dish serves 3-5 depending on the hunger factor.

Macaroni: 1 packet (250 gr) Al Dente

Broccoli: 1 (500 gr), small rosettes

Mushrooms: 10-12, diced

Onion: 1, chopped

Garlic: 3 cloves, diced

Red pepper: (optional) chopped

Feta cheese (salad cheese-goat cheese) 75-100 gr, cubed

Cashews: 1-1 ½ handful chopped or whole

Olive oil. ¼ cup

Salt: ½ teasp, or to taste

Pepper: 1 pinch, or to taste

Honey: 1 tablesp

Paprika powder: ½ teasp

Italian herbs: 1 teasp

Or:

Parsley: 1-2 pinches

Oregano: 1 pinch

Basil: 1 pinch

Rosemary: 1 pinch

Cook the pasta al dente. Whichever kind you prefer, it works with any, really. I like the look of macaroni in this dish, but any other will do. Look on the package for the time your pasta needs, subtract 1 minute of cooking time, rinse well with cold water after draining the pasta, and you’ve got al dente.

Set aside.

Use a big wok, or any other non-stick pan, and partially heat the oil at mid-heat. Add your garlic and onion (either normal or red) and let sizzle until the onion starts to look a little transparent, add the cashews and stir until some crusting becomes apparent. If this doesn’t happen, increase the heat until it does. Stir frequently throughout. Next come the broccoli rosettes, stir regularly until their green color becomes a brighter, darker green. Sprinkle the herbs, paprika, salt and pepper over it, and then the honey. Add the mushrooms and keep stirring until your mushrooms become darker and shrink a little. Lastly, stirring, add your cheese and red pepper, if you opted for that, wait until the cheese melts and voila, dinner is ready.

This dish goes well with a salad, after a pumpkin soup, or with some marinated chicken on the side.