You say potato, I say sweet potato

It's been awhile since I've had sweet potatoes, or any potatoes for that matter. As I have tried to cut down on my starches, potatoes were some of the first things to go.

But, every once in awhile it's just time to splurge. I just couldn't resist Martha's Loaded Sweet Potato Skins, so I decided to make them for a main course tonight.

It was a super simple recipe. I cooked the potatoes in the oven at 425 for around 40 minutes, until the potatoes were soft. I made some buttermilk by mixing 1/4 cup of low fat milk with 3/4 teaspoon lemon juice. Once the potatoes were done, I scooped out 1/3 cup from each of them. I mixed this potato with the buttermilk while mashing.

I then placed the mashed potato mix back into the potato skins and baked these for 15 minutes. When these were done, I topped with a scallion and plenty of sour cream. Naturally, I skipped the bacon.

These totally hit the spot, and made a fantastic dinner.

Recipe (courtesy of Martha Stewart):

Ingredients

• 4 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds total), scrubbed and patted dry
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika, plus more for garnish
• 4 slices bacon
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 scallion, sliced, for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, rub sweet potatoes with oil; season with salt and pepper. Bake until tender, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool on sheet (keep oven on).
   
2. Halve sweet potatoes lengthwise; scoop out 1/3 cup flesh from each half into a medium bowl. Add buttermilk and paprika to bowl. Mash until smooth; season with salt and pepper. Stuff sweet-potato skins with filling. (To store, refrigerate, up to 2 days.)
   
3. Arrange sweet-potato skins on sheet; bake until lightly browned around edges, about 15 minutes.
   
4. Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook bacon over medium until crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain on a paper-towel-lined plate; crumble. Stir together sour cream and 2 tablespoons water; drizzle over sweet-potato skins. Garnish with bacon, paprika, and scallion; cut in half to serve.
   

Dressing up

As a frequent pre-diabetic necessitated salad eater, I am constantly on the lookout for new salad dressings that will make what has become ordinary just a little bit extraordinary.

I found a great option that not only tasted fabulous, but was a great way to use up some of those chives I have been trying to get rid of. Martha's Chive Vinaigrette was just what the doctor ordered.


And it was super simple. I just mixed in some chopped chives, dijon mustard, red wine vinegar water and Splenda, which I substituted for the honey the recipe called for. Once I mixed these together, I combined in some olive oil, gradually mixing so that the dressing combined correctly.


I decided to serve the dressing with my favorite salad staple: quinoa. I love quinoa because it makes a normal salad much more filling, enough for a large lunch that will tide me over for my long days from work to school. I added in carrots, grape tomatoes and cucumber to top it off.

The result was just the salad revamp I was craving. Easy enough to pack for work the next day, but different enough to keep me just a little bit on my toes.

Recipe (from marthastewart.com):

Ingredients

 Makes 1/2 cup

• 1/4 cup minced chives
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 teaspoons honey
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients except the oil.
2. Slowly add the oil, whisking vigorously, until the vinaigrette is emulsified. The vinaigrette will keep, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Read more at Wholeliving.com: Chive Vinaigrette