Loaded Sweet Potatoes

Pinch of Yum (great spot for healthy recipes) has a recipe for Healthy Mexican Sweet Potato Skins that gets pinned a lot as "loaded sweet potatoes."

It's not super quick for a weeknight, but it's not too complicated either. Skillet roast some corn, then mix with beans and set aside. Saute some onions. Mix the corn, beans and onions with a bit of cilantro, the flesh of baked sweet potatoes, and some cream cheese, sour cream, and chipotles. Put it back in the sweet potato skin, top with a little shredded cheese, and bake till warmed and melty.

I followed the recipe as written, except I put powdered chipotles in with the roasting corn, rather than adding chipotles in adobo later.

They came out looking pretty decent. (The one on the right has a cablanca goat cheese topping, because my littlest guy was still nursing with a cow's dairy allergy, so I had to avoid the cheddar).

It was a very delicious, hearty meal! The 3-year old loved it, the sweetness of the sweet potatoes is a great way to get veggies in kids. It takes a little more effort than some of the "easy weeknight" recipes, but I think it's worth it because it's a solid one-dish meal.

Verdict: Tasty and healthy, a great vegetarian meal.

Roasted Cabbage

The pin for this roasted cabbage recipe from Martha Stewart came with the standard fawning caption "So addicting! Like crack! OMG!" or whatever. *eyeroll*

Like a sucker, I fell for it. Here's an original image:

I roasted the cabbage at 400 degrees, but by the recommended 40 minutes, mine looked like this:

And even overdone like that, the center part was still hard and a tad undercooked. Maybe a lower temp would work better? But you'd have to get it just right to still get the browning effect.

As for the flavor, I used salt, pepper, and cracked fennel seeds for seasoning, and I loved it. I thought they were delicious.

However, my husband and almost-3-year-old (both of whom will generally eat ANYTHING) each took one bite and pushed the rest to the side of the plate.

If you're keeping score at home, that's two of three non-picky eaters who thought this tasted bland, greasy, and just blah.

Verdict: Not a crowd-pleaser.