Slow cooker sweet potato and cheddar soup

Effortless low cooker sweet potato and cheddar soup: easy, healthy and with just a bit of kick from smoky chipotle peppers. Effortless fall comfort food!

As we near the end of October, I'm happy to say that I still haven't made or eaten anything with pumpkin in it -- AND I HAVE SURVIVED! Seriously, I'm not a pumpkin hater. Not at all. You'll find lots of pumpkin recipes here on the blog. But this year, pumpkin-spice everything has made me feel like taking a pumpkin holiday and focusing on enjoying the other fruits and veggies of fall.

Which is how I got hooked on this slow cooker sweet potato and cheddar soup. It's got a couple of canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce cooked into it, which gives the soup just the right amount of smoky spiciness.

It's like taking all the best flavors and smells of fall and immersion blending them into a warming, comforting bowl of soup.

Makes me want to snuggle in front of a fire with a cozy chenille throw.

Which I could do if it would stop being 78 degrees outside every damned day! Jeez louise, enough already with the summertime: I am so ready for fall.

Lightened blue cheese potato salad

Lightened blue cheese potato salad, made with Greek yogurt, is the perfect side for late summer BBQs or back-to-school weeknight dinners.

I can't believe it -- kids are already headed back to school.

Seriously: that's cray cray. I feel as if summer has barely gotten started yet the new bus drivers are driving training routes through our area in preparation for the first day of school next week.

I grew up in New England, so I associate the first day of school with, roughly, Labor Day, not the first week in August. In my book, August should still be summer, given that it is still summer according to the calendar. And the thermometer as well.

Lordy, who can think about back-to-school corduroys when it's in the 90s outside? All I can think about is grilling out or eating salads so as to not heat up the kitchen.

Long live the August BBQ cookout!

And, of course, what's the best thing about cookouts? The side dishes! And nothing says "cookout side dish" like a good, creamy potato salad.

Am I right?

Baked poutine spring rolls

While I have been compensated for this poutine spring roll recipe by #CollectiveBias and its advertisers, all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that support me!  #SpringIntoFlavor

Baked poutine spring rolls, filled with sweet potato fries, grilled chicken and cheddar cheese, with mushroom gravy dipping sauce. Comfort food done light.

Regular readers know I'm a huge fan of poutine, that Quebecois comfort-food favorite of crispy french fries smothered with rich beef gravy and melty cheese curds. Talk about comfort!

But, in the same breath, I have talk about how not-so-healthy poutine can be -- which is why we don't eat it very often.

Leave it to The Ninj to figure out a way to get all the comfort-food flavor of poutine in a lighter, fresher package: poutine spring rolls, filled with sweet potato fries, grilled chicken and sharp cheddar cheese and served with a mushroom gravy dipping sauce.

While these poutine spring rolls may look complicated and decadent, I swear they're neither. For one, they're baked, not fried, which makes them that much healthier -- as well as easy to make. Plus, I've swapped the heavy cheese curds for just a sprinkle of sharp cheddar cheese and the thick gravy for a much lighter mushroom dipping sauce. They're comfort food done light.

Slow cooker chicken and sweet potato curry

Slow cooker chicken and sweet potato curry requires little effort but yields lots of delicious dinnertime results -- plus plenty of leftovers. 

Based on my Pinterest feed, you'd think that no one eats anything other than cookies, pecan pie and party appetizers during the entire month of December.

While cookie exchanges, office potlucks and party dessert tables are all awesome, let's not forget that there are still a whole bunch of dinners that need to be made and eaten this month.

Now, that doesn't mean those dinners have to be elaborate or complicated -- let's save elaborate and complicated for the buche de Noel and gingerbread houses. With everything you've got going on, you need at least one thing to be simple.

And what's simpler than a slow cooker dinner? Pretty much nothing, my friend.

Regular readers know that, as much as I love CSA produce, I'm just a wee bit of a meatasaurus. Case in point, this chicken and sweet potato curry. I adapted it from a vegetarian Bon Appetit recipe, touted for its ability to please everyone, no matter what their food issues.

Well, oops -- I just screwed the vegetarians and the vegans by adding chicken. But unless you're a vegetarian or a vegan, you will thank me.

Two-ingredient sweet potato applesauce muffins

Enjoy these quick-and-easy sweet potato applesauce muffins as a healthy breakfast or snack. No lie: They're made with only two ingredients!

Last week, I shared with you the delicious results of one of the best aha moments I've had lately: slow cooker sweet potato applesauce, made with naturally sweet apples and sweet potatoes and no added sweeteners. Squeeeeeeee! Pretty awesome, right? And healthy to boot.

But wait -- there's more!

A few of you mentioned in the comments that you loved the idea of adding sweet potatoes to applesauce but you weren't quite sure how to best use it (although the suggestions of pairing it with roast chicken or pork were fabulous!).

Come on: Did you think The Ninj would leave you hanging? And hanging with a boatload of applesauce on your hands?

Behold: Use your healthy sweet potato applesauce to make these super simple muffins -- and they only require one other ingredient.

Double squeeeeeee!

Seriously, how cool is this? Turn one healthy snack into another, with very little effort and without sacrificing any of the healthy factor.

Slow cooker sweet potato-apple sauce

Slow cooker sweet potato applesauce: only two ingredients, one crockpot and zero added sweeteners to create this easy riff on applesauce that has an endless number of uses.

Peeps, I am so excited about today's post -- inordinately so, but hey, sometimes it's the little things that make my day.

Why am I so excited? Because I had an aha moment that turned out to be super sweet. Literally.

I had a bunch of apples from my fall apple haul leftover and decided to make my favorite, no-effort slow cooker applesauce.  But I also happened to have a couple of sweet potatoes. And you know how apples get sweeter when you cook them into mush? SO DO SWEET POTATOES.

At that moment, this sweet potato applesauce was born.

And it couldn't be easier to make: two ingredients, one crockpot, zero effort. Well, nearly zero -- you do have to peel the potatoes and peel and core the apples. But after that? Just load up the crockpot and watch the magic happen.

Spanish tomato soup with smoked paprika potatoes

A unique Spanish tomato soup with olives, topped with smoked paprika roasted potatoes.

Are you familiar with smoked paprika? If you aren't, you need to be.

I'll admit, I'm not that sensitive to the nuances of different styles of spices. If a recipe calls for some weird-ass version of a basic spice, I usually just use the basic spice, rather than going to four different stores or having to mail-order it.

Remember my number one favorite-recipe criterion: must be easy to prepare. Mail-order spices don't make the cut.

Smoked paprika, however, is the exception.

I'm not sure what recipe originally turned me on to smoked paprika but, once I tried it, I was hooked. Yes, it's paprika, but it also has a not-so-subtle smoky flavor that you can really taste. And it's readily available in most grocery stores. Booyah.

This tomato soup recipe caught my eye because of the smoked paprika. And because it has olives in it (I know, right?). And because it is topped with roasted potatoes. Too crazy!

Verdict? It's fantastic! This is no ordinary tomato soup.  The flavors are smoky and spicy and the briny tang of the olives is the perfect complement. Plus, the roasted potatoes turn it into a meal rather than simply a soup.

Lightened baked potato soup

Enjoy this easy recipe for lightened loaded baked potato soup, made with rich greek yogurt, for dinner tonight.

Remember the steakhouse dinner of the 1970s? Or the 1980s? Oh hell, it's probably still this way at the Ponderosa -- I have no idea. A big slab of beef, accompanied by unlimited trips to the salad bar (I somehow always managed to smack my forehead on the sneezeguard) and a "loaded baked potato", usually showing up on the plate still inside its little foil jacket, split, steaming and heaped with melting butter, sour cream, less-than-fresh chives and, if you were lucky, a big old handful of shredded cheese.

And then remember the 1990s, when the "loaded baked potato" became a meal unto itself? And purported to be a healthy meal because you jammed it full of a bunch of steamed broccoli, which  then became a joke because you "drizzled" it with a boatload of melted Velveeta.

So, remember all that? Good. Because this baked potato soup has nothing to do with those kinds of baked potatoes.

This baked potato soup retains all the warm, creamy, heartiness of baked potatoes but leaves out the unwanted fat and calories that you often find in baked potato soup when it is made with cream.

(Come on, it's still Detox January -- you know I'm not cooking with cream.)

Sweet potato mac and cheese

Mac and cheese gets healthier and lighter in this creamy sweet potato mac and cheese recipe.

I freakin' love sweet potatoes.

Come on -- you've got to love a vegetable that is so naturally sweet that it tastes more like a fruit and, with a little dab of butter and a drizzle of maple syrup, practically becomes candy.

Now, take that sweetness and pair it with rich, comforting mac and cheese? Awesome. And then tell me that it's actually a healthier mac and cheese, not loaded with cheese?

Wicked awesome. It's a Detox January Miracle!

Perhaps even better -- well, at least for The Ninj in January 2014 -- this sweet potato mac and cheese is nice and soft. (You might remember I mentioned last week that I started the new year with some oral surgery -- not fun, trust me -- which necessitates eating a lot of soft foods.)

Now if you've ever have any kind of oral surgery, you know that when the dentist tells you to eat soft foods, the list includes things like ice cream. Jello and milkshakes.

Yeah, now that's a nice healthy diet for a week. Jeesh.

I survived the first post-op days by drinking my favorite green smoothie, which also made me feel pretty darned superior as it was healthy and loaded with veggies to boot.

(Go Ninj!)

But a Ninj cannot live on smoothies alone. I needed some real food.

Vermont potato chowder

 
Earlier in the week, I posted my review of Tracey Medeiros' new book, The Vermont Farm Table Cookbook: 150 Home-Grown Recipes from the Green Mountain State. (Spoiler: I loved it.)

As I noted in my review, while the book includes the expected recipes from chefs at Vermont's most celebrated restaurants, it also offers favorite family recipes shared by the farmers who provide many of the key ingredients to those same food professionals.

(And Oliver Parini's accompanying photographs are a feast for the eyes.)

As part of the review process, I have been cooking my way through the The Vermont Farm Table Cookbook, based on seasonality, and I've come across some new favorite recipes.

Case in point: the Ski Vermont Farmhouse Potato Chowder.

According to the accompanying story, the recipe was created by chef Gerry Nooney of Timbers Restaurant at Sugarbush Resort, as a way of helping Vermont farmers sell more potatoes. (Again, I love the connection between the food professionals and producers that the book highlights.)

Guinness beef stew (aka, Vendetta Venison Stew)

If you asked me last week, I would have told you I hated beef stew. In fact, that's what I told my sister
when she asked me if I had a good recipe for beef stew that I could share. What I said exactly was "Eeew, no, gross -- I hate beef stew."

I was basing this condemnation on being forced to eat beef stew when I was, oh, probably about eight years old. 

So my non-eight-year-old self gave it some thought. Really, what's to hate? Beef? No, I'm the meatasaurus, remember? Root vegetables? Nyet, I dig them. Beer or wine (as either works)? Yeah, that's hilarious -- not bloody likely.

Therefore, I decided to give beef stew a second chance by making my own, with two ninja twists:

1. I added Guinness for a St. Patrick's Day theme
2. I swapped out the beef for venison

Now, this is no ordinary venison, people. This is venison from my backyard. (Can't get much more local than 20 feet from the front door, now can you?) Not to mention venison with which I have had a running vendetta.

Lightened clam chowder

Lightened clam chowder

I doubt you thought you would ever see a recipe for clam chowder show up here during Detox January, did you?

Clam chowder: practically synonymous with creamy, buttery, this-can't-be-good-for-me-so-I-only-eat-it-on-vacation decadence.

But this is a lighter version of clam chowder, which means it's Detox January-safe -- heck, it's safe to eat whenever you like.

I thought about calling it "Skinny Clam Chowder" until I read on Twitter that appending the "skinny" moniker is "so over" this year, and, well, god forbid I look "so over." (Although don't tell that to the blogger at skinnytaste.com, which is where I got the inspiration for this soup; she might just have to change her blog name so she's not "so over.")

Besides being light, this recipe is also pretty fast and easy (you know that's my favorite combo), so it doesn't have to be relegated to a weekend meal. Go ahead, throw it into the weeknight rotation. Winter is a great time for body- and soul-warming soups like this.

Homemade tater tots (Secret Recipe Club)

Homemade tater tots: Don't bother to buy them frozen -- you can make them easily from leftover mashed potatoes.

Homemade tater tots

It's time once again for another reveal day for the Secret Recipe Club (SRC).

Here's how the SRC works: each month I am assigned another member's blog (a different one each month). I then pick any recipe from that blogger's site, make it and write about it here. There's also a link hop at the end of the post so that I (and you) can check out all the other participating blogs and their great recipes.

The blog I got to explore and cook from this month is Finding Joy in My Kitchen, written by the very prolific SnoWhite, who notes that her blog is all about "finding joy in cooking wholesome meals." Believe me, if you're looking for some good wintertime comfort food, you will have lots of choices from SnoWhite.

I love that Sno started her blog simply to show her mother, living far away, what she was cooking; my blog started similarly after I moved away from North Carolina. See how the SRC brings cooks together?

As Sno's site has so many great recipes (example: eight, count 'em EIGHT, different lasagna recipes!), it was definitely difficult for me to decide which one to choose. But I've recently been cooking out of The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making (as part of the From Scratch Club's virtual book club), which has me focused on making my own version of foods that we often buy pre-packaged.

So when I saw Sno's recipe for homemade tater tots, I knew I'd found my match!

Red pepper pumpkin soup

Enjoy this easy recipe for red pepper pumpkin soup -- for lunch or dinner, it's a creamy sipping soup that will warm your body and spirit.

Red pepper pumpkin soup

Before you say, "Two soup recipes in a row?", let me point out that, here in Vermont, it is 21 degrees and has already snowed -- before election day.

So yes, soup again.

But I'm giving you a lovely, seasonal soup that is so delicious and easy it would be appropriate to serve at the Thanksgiving table, if you serve a soup course.

So you really can't complain.

(And if you do, well ... no soup for you.)

I love red pepper soup. I have a go-to red pepper soup recipe that I make quite a bit, so I almost didn't try this recipe. I worried that the addition of pumpkin and sweet potato might disqualify it as a sipping soup, which is what my red pepper soup is: a soup that is comforting as well as nourishing, a soup that you drink from a coffee mug in front of the fireplace rather than from a bowl at the kitchen table.

But, being all ninja-like, I threw caution to the wind and tried it.

I think you'll be glad I did.

Sweet potato bisque (Secret Recipe Club)

Sweet potato bisque with homemade seasoned croutons -- a perfect (and easy) soup for fall.

Sweet potato bisque

It's time for another recipe from the Secret Recipe Club (SRC)!

Here's how the SRC works: each month I am assigned another member's blog (a different one each month). I then pick any recipe from that blogger's site, make it and write about it here. There's also a link hop at the end of the post so that I (and you) can check out all the other participating blogs.

I think fate intervened in my assignment this month. Imagine my delight when I headed over to Fran's Favs and found that I was to pick a recipe from a self-described "Italian foodie." That makes two of us!

It's always hard to pick just one recipe from an archive as big as Fran's but, with fall coming on, I gravitated toward the soups and one in particular caught my eye: sweet potato bisque.

Unlike Fran, whose folks were both great cooks (her dad even co-owned a restaurant, lucky girl!), I didn't grow up in a "we-love-to-cook" household -- more of a "we-need-to-cook-to-survive" household, with occasional lapses for holidays (that's when the big Italian recipes came out of hiding) or my dad's specialty: homemade pizza.  All of this means that, after only really learning to cook in my late 20s,  I came very, very late to the homemade soup party.

But once I armed myself with an immersion blender, there was no holding me back. Now I'm practically the Soup Nazi himself: mushroom, cream of asparagus, peanut, stracciatella, pumpkin, turnip, cauliflower ... the list goes on.

CSA Share Ninja Rescue: arugula and other greens

Spring greens soup

Finally, finally, finally -- we're starting to see some fresh greens in our gardens here in Vermont!

I'm harvesting baby lettuce and arugula, and my mustard greens, bok choy and kale are cookin' right along.

This week readers requested recipe help for arugula. Since I have tackled arugula before, I thought this week I'd just share one really good recipe in which you can use arugula or any other interesting greens that your CSA might be offering right now.

(Administrative note: Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you've been getting in your CSA share with which you need help but be advised that there will be no CSA Share Ninja Rescue post next week, as I will be on vacation. The feature will resume on Monday, June 25.)

Spring Greens Soup (adapated from Better Homes and Gardens)
I've called out arugula and spinach in this recipe, but feel free to substitute equal amounts of whatever spring greens you have on hand.

1 onion, halved and sliced
3 cups sliced mushrooms
olive oil
3 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
12-14 ounces Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
3 cups arugula leaves
3 cups baby spinach
2 cups parsley (I used Italian)
sour cream or creme fraiche, for serving

In a soup pot, cook the onion and mushrooms in some olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes to the pot and return the mixture to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 10 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat. Use and immersion blender to blend the potato mixture until fairly smooth. Add the arugula, spinach and parsley and return the pot to the heat. Bring it to boiling again, then remove from the heat again. Use the immersion blender again and blend it all up until it is smooth and has turned a beautiful spring green color. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, and serve with a dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche.

[Shared with the What's in the Box? link party]

CSA Share Ninja Rescue: hakurei turnips and sunchokes

I made yummy ice cream with these first-of-the-season strawberries!

Veggies are slowly coming into season here in Vermont but a bit more quickly in other areas of the country, based on reader requests and comments.

I have reached out to the CSA programs in my area to let them know about this feature, so they can share it with their members. If you're in a CSA and finding this "service" helpful, please feel free to do the same!

This week, we're talking turnips and sunchokes.

Hakurei Turnips

Smaller and with a more delicate flavor than standard turnips, Hakurei turnips were developed in Japan in the mid-twentieth century. Word on the street is that you don't even have to peel these little cuties (heck, one of the recipe authors called them "the Hello Kitty of turnips").

CSA Share Ninja Rescue: kale, asparagus, fennel and radish

Kale!

Clearly the harvests have started coming in around the country: I received more requests than I could handle this week for CSA Share Ninja Rescue, in which you, the readers, tell me, The Ninj, what veggies in your CSA share are giving you consternation and I give you some recipe ideas.

(Sadly, not so much bounty yet here in Vermont, where we just had another freakin' frost warning on May 17th!)

As always, if you need help with a veggie, leave a comment below or send me an email before this coming Friday. Recipes suggestions are posted on Mondays.

This week, readers in the Northeast asked for help with kale and asparagus, while some West Coast friends were confounded by fennel and radishes.

Kale
It's dark, it's tough, it's hearty -- and it's awesome! If you're new to kale, start out with lightly cooked versions. If you're already a fan, try using it raw, as well (I like to use it in place of lettuce on sandwiches and cabbage in slaws). Now, if only I could get Mr. Ninj to eat more kale, I'd be one happy camper.

• Kale and sweet potato quesadillas: These easy quesadillas have become a staple for me now. And I'm quite convinced that even kids will eat them.
• Kale chips: Move over potato chips, there's a new sheriff in town. 
• Kale and amaretti salad: Cookie croutons on your salad? Oh yeah! (adapted from a Ron Suhanosky recipe in the February 2012 issue of House Beautiful)

  Ingredients:
  1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  2 tablespoons olive oil
  1 bunch kale, washed, stems removed, chopped
  handful amaretti cookies, crushed (about 4 cookies if you use Lazzaroni brand)
  1/2 ripe pear, thinly sliced
  1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  salt and pepper
  
  Directions:
  Whisk together the oil and vinegar and toss with the kale. Add the pears and toss again, gently. Lastly, add salt and pepper to taste and top with crushed cookies.

CSA Share Ninja Rescue: bok choy and rutabagas

My indoor seedlings, as it's still a bit too chilly to plant the garden here in Vermont

Welcome back! It's the first week of the 2012 edition of the CSA Share Ninja Rescue, in which you, the readers, tell me, The Ninj, what veggies in your CSA share are giving you consternation and I give you some recipe ideas.

If you need help with a veggie, leave a comment below or send me an email before this coming Friday. Recipes suggestions are posted on Mondays.

This week, readers have requested help with rutabagas (reader from the South) and bok choy (not sure where she's from but I'll go with it). I'm just jealous that you're even getting fresh veg, as we are still having occasional frost here in Vermont.

Kale and sweet potato quesadillas: a recipe and some notes

Sweet potato and kale quesadillas

I have a problem.

My name is Jules, and I'm addicted to my panini press.

Seriously, I press the crap out of practically everything, breakfast, lunch or dinner. I'm even using it as a half-assed toaster, now that I've given up on toasters (they never work properly) and whenever I don't feel like turning on my oven broiler.

(Note: The press is less-than-great for frozen waffles but hey, I'm not that picky in the morning.)

Recently I realized, in my panini press zeal, that it would make an ideal quesadilla machine!

(Note: If I'm late to this party and you are saying to yourself, "Duh, girl, who doesn't know that?", please just keep it to yourself and let me have my moment. Thanks.)

Now, I have always made quesadillas the way I first learned: in a frying pan, folded over like an omelet. It works fine. But this just seemed too awesome, even if only for one superficial reason: grill marks!