Indian Harvest Shepherds Pie

Background: I enjoy finding ways to incorporate seasonal ingredients and tastes into many of my dishes, replacing more common ingredients with new and interesting ingredients, and mixing themes from different cultures into the same dish. This recipe has all of those elements! The Indian Harvest Shepherds pie is a twist on a traditional shepherds pie, but uses ground turkey instead of beef, sweet potatoes instead of traditional, and it incorporates quinoa as a low carb/high protein grain. The spices are a mix of American harvest spices and traditional Indian Spices. The combination is a textural and palatable adventure that is low carb, low fat, and full of flavor.

Originally from: Inspired from plain ground turkey meatloaf!

Serves ~ 4 -5

Approximate time, from prep to table: 1:15

Ingredients:

- 1 to 1.25 lbs of ground turkey

- 4 large sweet potatoes

- 1 large red onion, chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped, or 1 Tbs garlic powder

- 1 pint grape tomatoes

- 1/2 cup of quinoa, uncooked

- 1 egg, beaten

- 1.5 cups of raisins (best if mix of golden and red)

- 2 Tbs finely chopped fresh ginger, or 1 tsp powdered ginger

- olive or canola oil

- 2 Tbs butter

- 1 cup whole milk, or cream

- 1.5 tsp cury powder

- 2 tsp salt

- 1 tsp red pepper flakes, or clancy's fancy hot sauce (optional)

- 1.5 tsp cinnamon

- pinch of nutmeg

- 2 cups of water

Directions:

Cut the Sweet Potatoes into quarters, or another chunky shape, and set them on a baking sheet drizzled with oil. You will be mashing or blending them later, so how you bake them is up to you. Bake the potatoes at 375 for 35 min.

In a large pan, saute on medium high heat 1/2 of the chopped onion, the chopped ginger (if powder add later), chopped garlic in oil. Saute until the onions begin to become translucent and the garlic is lightly browned. Garlic will brown faster than onions so you may wish to add it later. Once the onions are translucent, stir in the quinoa and 1 cup of raisins, and let them absorb some of the oil and flavors for 1 minute, then add the 1 cup of water and let it cook down on medium high heat - it should be bubbling. Once most of the water has simmered off, test the quinoa, if it is still hard, stir in 1/2 cup of water and let it simmer until the quinoa becomes softer but still somewhat firm (it will never be as soft as rice, it is more like couscous). Once the quinoa is ready and all water is simmered away, set the pan off the heat and to the side.

In a large glass mixing bowl, mix the ground turkey, egg, salt, cinnamon, curry powder, red pepper flakes or clancys fancy hot sauce (optional heat and yum). Now add the saute mix from the pan you set aside and stir until all is evenly mixed. Take out a 8x12 to 8x16 inch baking pan, lightly coat the base in butter or oil, and spread in the turkey mixture - it should be about 1.5-2 inches thick.

By now your potatoes should be done baking, and out of the oven. Place them into a blender or mixing bowl (I prefer a submersion blender for this part), pour 2/3 cup milk or cream, butter (optional), nutmeg, and a dash of salt and cinnamon. Blend or hand mash until nice and soft. Take the mashed potatoes and spread them evenly over the turkey in the baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 F, and then broil for 1-2 min on High, until the top of the potatoes have a very light browning on top.

While the shepherds pie is baking, saute the remaining 1/2 onion, pint of grape tomatoes, pinch of cinnamon and salt, and raisins in a pan with oil. Add a little cream or whole milk for consistency if you desire once the onions start to brown. Cook this until the grape tomatoes "pop" and their skin visibly breaks in one spot. This is your "chutney" base.

Once the shepherds pie is done baking take it out and allow it to cool briefly. Put a few scoops of the chutney in the base of a large bowl or plate, and place a few square of the pie on top and serve!

Moroccan Chicken Casserole

***We interrupt the quest for seasonal recipes with this newly discovered dish.***

Background:  Does anyone else love a good casserole?  Three days worth of dinners?  I can't be the only one. I just made this for the first time on Sunday and it was a hit in a major way.  I don't want to build up your expectations too much, but I had done two days of teeth whitening and even though I was already in minor agony from sensitivity, I still ate this citrus-y, pepper-y dish because I couldn't not eat it!  I changed up the directions a little for efficiency, but it is pretty much the same as on the original website.

Just ignore that pan... I am not the neatest cook when I'm trying to get dinner done on schedule!

Originally from: Mark's Daily Apple (see here for prettier pictures than I took)
Serves ~ 6-8
Approximate time, from prep to table: ~ 90 minutes, 55 of that is baking time

Ingredients:
2-3 pounds of chicken (I used 6 chicken breasts)
2+ Tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
2 Tbsp ginger root, finely chopped or grated (let's be real: less than 2 Tbsp of powdered ginger)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (don't be a food snob: 1/2 tsp minced or powdered garlic)
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin coins
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne (optional: only add the cayenne if you want a really spicy dish)
1 green pepper, chopped (generally cheaper than red pepper)
28-ounce can of diced tomatoes (do not drain)
1/2 cup minced parsley or cilantro
2 tsp salt
1 head cauliflower
1 lemon

Directions:

Salt and pepper the chicken. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a deep pan over high heat. Add the chicken, browning well, about 3-5 minutes a side.

Remove the chicken from the hot pan, cover to retain moistness, and set aside. Turn heat down to medium and add onion, ginger, garlic and carrots and as much butter or olive oil as needed to saute. Cook until the onions are soft. Add remaining tablespoon of butter and all spices. Stir well. Add red pepper, the can of tomatoes, and minced parsley or cilantro. Don't forget the salt (like moi)! Simmer during the next step.

Preheat oven to 375. Meanwhile, chop the head of cauliflower into small pieces. Push the pieces through a food processor using the grating blade to create a nice rice-like texture. (Alternatively, shred with a grater by hand or just grate in a food processor until cauliflower is the size of rice.)

Pour the cauliflower into the vegetable mixture and mix well, so that the cauliflower is completely covered by the sauce.

Coat the bottom of a 9x13 pan with some of the vegetable mixture. Place the chicken pieces on top with space in between them.  Pour the remaining vegetable mixture over the top, pushing it down in between the chicken pieces.  Slice a lemon into thin slices and lay on top of the casserole. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the tinfoil and cook for 25 more minutes.  Enjoy!


Note/Tips:
-I think this will be great for leftovers over the next few days because these types of spices combine well over night.
-Don't let the ingredient list intimidate you--it is mostly spices or easily prepped vegetables.
-Check out penzeys.com for a great variety of spices at good prices.  For more expensive spices, I buy a larger quantity from Penzey's in a bag and then store in my fridge or freezer to retain freshness.  It is generally less expensive than a small container from the grocery store.  I love Penzeys Spices!

Sweet Potato Fries

Background:  I really needed a sweet potato fries recipe after Grant mentioned how much he loves them! Besides, baked sweet potatoes are good, but mine like to leak out of the foil and onto the bottom of the oven.  How annoying! I make these as a side to cheeseburgers or salmon.

Originally from: a website I don't remember...
Serves ~3
Approximate time, from prep to table: ~40 minutes, including 10 minutes of prep

Ingredients:
3 large sweet potatoes
1+ Tbsp of olive oil or melted butter
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
dash of cayenne pepper (I do not eat spicy things, so this is a good "heat" for me, although it would probably be negligible for most people)

Directions:
Combine cumin, salt, paprika, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.


Preheat oven to 400. Peel sweet potatoes.

After destroying my old peeler on butternut squash, my new peeler is amazing!

Cut into wedges. Dump sweet potato wedges into a large bowl, coat with olive oil or butter, and sprinkle with spices as close to evenly as possible.

If desired, line a large baking sheet with foil.  Place sweet potatoes on the baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes at 400, longer for crispier fries.  I try to remember to turn them over at around 20 minutes, but they are still good if you forget.  Enjoy!

Delish!

Note/Tips:
-Best eaten immediately.
-Does anyone else have a spice concoction for sweet potato fries to share?