Sweet Potato Salad

After a classic Greek Salad, this is one of my family's favourite salads to make. We make it for family get togethers and everyone loves it! It's also a good way to dress up sweet potatoes for someone who doesn't love them plain as chips. 

Ingredients:

3 Sweet potatoes

olive oil

1/2 pack low-fat feta cheese

1 package of spinach

3 tbsp pumpkin seeds (roasted)

1 lime

1/2 cup of sweet chilli sauce

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame seeds (roasted)

The recipe is not my own, I got it from Sarah Percy, a daughter of someone my mom worked for, and she published it in the Guardian. The only thing my family does differently is add less feta, she uses an entire package, whereas we only use half to reduce some of the sodium.  

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F and on a baking sheet, place peeled, sweet potatoes cut into discs

2. Drizzle with olive oil and cook for about 30 minutes or until soft

3. In a non-stick frying pan, roast the sesame seeds until they start to brown and then roast the pumpkin seeds until they brown and start to pop

4. In a small bowl, mix lime juice, sweet chilli sauce and soy sauce. Mix in the roasted sesame seeds

5. The salad assembly is in layers. First, layer the bottom of the bowl with spinach, then place a few sweet potato slices on top, and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds and feta. On top of this layer, drizzle some dressing. Make another layer and drizzle again, until you have used up all of the ingredients.

Enjoy!

-A

Sneak Attack Lasagna

Ali and I have been holed up in our study rooms over the past few days, going a little stir crazy for sure, and for me that means little exercise and craving treats...all the time. This is a recipe for a dish that I like to have on hand during exam time because it's healthy, easy to make in advance and sneaks in extra veggies.

What you will need:
Sauce:
1 pound of ground chicken or turkey
6 Italian sausages
3 medium onions
head of garlic
olive oil
1 head of celery - finely diced
6 medium carrots grated
10 mushrooms grated or finely diced
3- 4 cans of tomatoes - blended or pureed
dried oregano, basil, salt and pepper, hot chilies to taste

Lasagna:
1-2 packages of noodles
Spinach
Cottage cheese
Mozzarella cheese

Directions: 
Saute garlic and onions in olive oil until soft. Add in meat and brown. Add veggies, tomato puree and spices and simmer over medium heat for an hour. To make the lasagna fill the bottom of a glass dish with some sauce, then layer the noodles on top, then add a layer of spinach, and then a layer of cottage cheese (or whatever order you like), when you are done cover with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour, or store in the freezer. We make a few at a time so we have dinners for busy times, like exams!

Enjoy!
-M

^^ making a few lasagnas ^^ 

^^ layering^^ 

^^ cottage cheese layer ^^

^^ bake at 350 for about an hour or until golden brown on top ^^

^^ enjoy^^ 

Saint Patrick's Day Spinach Bread

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
Saint Patrick's Day has always been a big part of my life because today is one of my best friends birthday! She is a little leprechaun and since we were 5 years old she has always made sure that I was participating in the days festivities, especially making sure I was wearing green or else she would torture me with a million pinches (don't worry today is no exception, I made sure to wear my plaid green shirt and green undies).

I made this recipe in her honour. It isn't the traditional Irish soda bread but it does have some green incorporated in it making it suitable for the special day.

Ingredients:
2 cups white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 pkg quick rising yeast
2 tsp crumbled rosemary
1 tsp salt
1 cup medium hot water for the yeast
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sugar
3/4 package frozen spinach

Topping:
3 tsp oil
Thyme
Marjoram
Sage
Rosemary
Kosher salt
To be honest I was in a rush because I forgot about some homework I had to do, so I didn't measure these. The key is making the thyme and rosemary the main flavour and just having dashes of the others.

Step 1: Combine all the main ingredients in a bowl, except for the spinach and mix until it forms a ball. I usually mix the yeast and warm water together first before adding it to the mixture.

Step 2: Knead dough on a lightly floured surface and then place in a greased bowl in a warm area to rise for about an hour

Step 3: I only had frozen spinach available so make sure to thaw it in the microwave and squeeze out all the extra liquid that you can

Step 4: Turn out dough on a lightly floured area (I mixed in the spinach here) and make it circular in shape, until it is about 1 inch thick

Step 5: Use the back of the spoon to create dimples in the dough. Spread oil over the dough and sprinkle with the herbs. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until light golden brown

-A