Thank You, Rita and Alicia (Especially Rita)

By Deb Jenkins
Staff Writer

As I promised, here are the rest of the yummy recipes from Alicia Silverstone’s cookbook “The Kind Diet,” that my sister-in-law Rita prepared during our weekend in the Cities.

But before I jump into them, I wanted to tell you about another GREAT find over the Father’s day weekend. We went to the Farmers market in Detroit Lakes on Saturday, and to our wonderful surprise there was—hold on to your hat or head, whichever—GLUTEN-FREE (COMPLETELY!) BOOTH!! What a surprise. It was just so much fun to talk to someone that really makes wonderful gluten-free desserts and breads. We purchased a chocolate mint cookie and strawberry rhubarb muffin for my daughter Morgan. One of the things Morgan complains about the most is the tastelessness of gluten-free carb items. Well, not only do products from Muffi taste good, they are beautiful to the eye before you even taste them. I just wanted to give you a tease, I guess. I asked about writing an article, and I have a lot of questions to ask them. But until then you can check out their web site at http://www.muffiglutenfree.com.
Okay, on to the recipes!

Cuban-Style Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Feel free to cut the sweet potato any shape you want for this recipe. Alicia prefers it in big pieces. Rita, my sister-in-law, cut them in what I would call potato wedge style.

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered (about 3 pounds)
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Fine sea salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.

Place the sweet potatoes in a medium bowl, toss with 2 tablespoons of the oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread the potatoes on the prepared baking sheet, and roast until they can be pierced easily with a knife but still offer some resistance, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes or so.

Transfer the potatoes to a large bowl, and toss with the garlic, lime juice, parsley and remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 4.

Okay, this is very hard for me to say: I think I make a killer vegan cornbread, but this really is the bomb! I love it.

Cornbread

1 cup sorghum or maple syrup
1 1/4 cups soy milk (or soy rice blend)
¼ cup safflower oil
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
½ cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Oil a 9x9 (or similar size) baking dish or 12 cup muffin tin.

Combine the sorghum, soy milk, and oil in a medium bowl and mix well. In another bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, and mix just until well combined.

Pour batter into oiled pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cornbread or muffin comes out clean. They will be golden brown and crazy delicious.

Lastly, here is the recipe for a very colorful dish, Summertime Succotash. I want to tell you right off the bat that I do not care for lima beans. Man, that is even hard to type without having bad thoughts. Anyway, enough about me and my likes and dislikes! The presentation and color of this dish almost had me eating lima beans. Almost I said! I did try one but found myself eating around all the rest and enjoying the dish just the same. So here it is for you to try:

Summertime Succotash

1 tablespoon earth balance butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup diced red onion
1 garlic minced
1 (10 ounce) package frozen baby lima beans, thawed (or 2 cups shelled raw beans soaked in water to soften)
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped basil
1 tablespoon white or red balsamic vinegar (white is best)

Heat the butter and oil together in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute for 5 - 7 minutes or until the onion begins to brown. Add the garlic, and cook 1 minute longer.

Stir in the lima beans, and saute for 5 minutes. Add the corn and tomatoes, and saute 1 minute longer or until just heated through. You don’t want the tomatoes to collapse and release their juices. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley, basil, and vinegar. Serve warm or chilled. Serves 6.

Okay, that’s it from the book. I have had all these dishes and I hope you try them all and enjoy them as much as I did.

Until next week eat well and stay safe. Any questions or comments email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)