HELLO WORLD, the weather in Philadelphia is finally warm. Oh warmer, warmer weather. I celebrated at ten degrees warmer. Now, it’s up to a lovely 50 degrees and walking outside is not only bearable it’s lovely lovely lovely! John held a BBQ at his house in honor of the weather. Since I’m still on my detox, I knew I had to grab a few things for myself. With the nice weather, we went to the farmers’ market and for once, I did a few laps rather than jet in and out. The vendors even ran out of items and my usual herb shopping was put off until next week.
The funny thing is, having visited the farmers’ market for the past few weeks, the farmers have begun to recognize me. As I was talking over the potatoes (still off limits for the detox) with a farmer, his friend came over excitedly and said, “I’ve seen you here at the market, I’m so excited you’re buying from us today.” It made me blush and I knew I had no choice but to grab four pounds of delicious sweet potatoes. The lady farmer said, “well, one will make you an entire pie.”
“Oh no, I have much bigger plans.”
We ended up grilling more food than anyone has ever needed. Lots of burgers, hot dogs, chicken, and Korean bulgogi was had. I stuck pretty well to my diet (I may have eaten more meat than I’m supposed to.) and managed to eat my weight in grilled vegetables and pineapple. I didn’t even eat my latest batch of cupcakes. That was tough, since I hung out with all of my boys. Each of which had at least two cupcakes or more. (There was no competition, but Tim won. He at six.)
And damn, those cupcakes look gooooooood.
With my four pounds of potatoes in hand, I played with some of my favorite flavors to make detox-friendly side dish. This can be made into a soup, but I’m kind of a fan of purees, it saves a few calories for a great consistency. Additionally, if you’re reading this Jeff, it is a great side dish especially with the kick of ginger.
Ginger Sweet Potato Puree
serves six | prep time about ten minutes and takes about forty minutes overall
One T or glug of EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)
Three cloves of garlic, chopped
Two medium onions, chopped
A chunk of ginger (about an inch long, sliced in three pieces as pictured and crushed with the end of the knife to give flavor)
Three pounds of sweet potatoes cut into two inch pieces
Five cups of water or chicken broth
One teaspoon of pumpkin pie seasoning (or a little of cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice)
Salt and pepper TT
One T of honey (optional)
A few T of brown sugar (optional)
In a large pot and over medium-high heat, throw in a glug of EVOO. Let heat for a minute or two then add the chopped onions. Once translucent, add garlic and heat for another minute or so.
Add sweet potatoes, ginger, and water/broth (it should cover the sweet potatoes, if it doesn’t add more– I really eyeballed it.) and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium low and boil water until sweet potatoes are soft about twenty to thirty minutes (like mashed potatoes.) Drain the ‘taters.
Remove the ginger chunks and toss. Blend the mix, if you use a food processor for this part, careful since it’s hot it will expand and might explode. Once pureed well, add pumpkin pie seasoning, salt, pepper and (if you choose, it’s not detox friendly, but adds a sweetness, the honey and brown sugar.) Serve.
