Sweet Potato & Greens Soup with Turkey Sausage

That Sausage, Potato & Kale Soup is hands-down my go-to soup.  But a few weeks ago, I decided to mix it up a bit and try it with sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes.  The result was a delicious and comforting taste of Fall that I swear kept getting better as we ate our way through the leftovers.  So this is the perfect make ahead soup as it really does get better the longer everything has to marinate in its own loveliness.  And since kale and collards are pretty interchangeable, you'll be able to use up this week's sweet potatoes, collards and yellow onion in one dish!  Just what all of this cold weather calls for...HOT SOUP!

Sweet Potato & Greens Soup with Turkey Sausage

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp garlic, minced

1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped

6 links turkey sausage (hot or sweet depending on your heat preference), casings removed and meat crumbled

2 - 32 oz containers of reduced sodium chicken stock

1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled & diced

1 bundle collard greens or kale, leaves stripped from stalks and roughly chopped

Salt & pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Saute garlic and onions for 3-4 minutes or until translucent.  Add in turkey sausage and stir to continue to crumble.  Increase heat and cook until sausage is cooked through and browned.  Deglaze pan with a bit of the chicken stock and stir to get any browned bits off of the bottom of the pan.  Add in the rest of your stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat but still keep liquid at a vigorous simmer and add in your sweet potatoes.  Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.  Reduce heat to a simmer and add in chopped greens.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.  Simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes and then remove pot from heat to allow soup to finish setting up and cool slightly.  Taste broth and season with additional salt & pepper, if needed.

Thanksgiving Favorites: Sweet Potato Maple Streusel

Thanksgiving In Nalls’ Kitchen!

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Sweet Potato Maple Streusel

Ingredients:

3 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes

1 cup water

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 tsp kosher salt

3/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 cup all-purpose flour (or alternative flour of your choice)

1/2 cup maple sugar (if you can't find maple sugar, substitute any large granulated sugar, or add some drops of maple extract to your sugar and mix well)

1/3 cup brown sugar

3/4 tsp cinnamon

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Butter a 9x13" baking dish.  Peel sweet potatoes, reserving 1 inch pieces of ends for use in the streusel topping.  Coarsely grate these reserved pieces until you have 1/2 cup of gratings; set aside for later use.  Cut the rest of the sweet potatoes into 1/3 inch thick rounds, and arrange them in overlapping rows in your baking dish.

In a small saucepan, bring water, maple syrup, butter and cider vinegar to a light boil, stir in your salt & pepper, and pour mixture over sweet potatoes.  Cover the dish tightly with foil.  These can be made up to 6 hours in advance and refrigerated  just make sure you let them warm up to room temperature for about an hour before baking.  When ready, bake covered at 375 for about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare your streusel topping.  Mix your flour, sugars and cinnamon in a bowl.  Add the melted 6 Tbsp of butter and, using your fingers, rub it in until the mixture begins to form clumps.  Mix in your reserved 1/2 cup of grated sweet potato.

When sweet potatoes have baked for 40 minutes, remove from oven, increase your oven temperature to 400 degrees, and top sweet potatoes with the streusel mixture.  Return to oven and bake uncovered at 400 for an additional 35 minutes until streusel is golden and crisp.

How Sweet It Is To Be Po-Ta-To!

And you thought, I was only good for radish and beet puns?  HA!  You underestimate my level of cheesiness.

Since this weekend, I'm going to experiment with a sweet potato version of my Sausage, Potato & Kale Soup, I thought I'd tide you over with some of our sweet potato highlights.  It may be Throwback Thursday, but we think these sweet potato recipes are keepers!

Chipotle & Herb Roasted Sweet Potato Chips

Kale, Sweet Potato & Lamb Polenta Pizza

Why yes, that is a Darth Vadar spatula.  The Force is rather strong in my kitchen.

Veggie & Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potato Maple Streusel

 

This recipe is a staple at my family's Thanksgiving table, so for those of you ordering our Thanksgiving Survival Kits, I highly, HIGHLY recommend making this with the sweet potatoes you receive.

Kale, Sweet Potato & Lamb Polenta Pizza

Polenta-crust pizza is kind of my jam these days.  I just buy pre-made polenta, smush it into submission onto a baking pan or pizza stone so it's thin enough and pizza-shaped, and then par-bake it for about 5 minutes before adding the toppings so I can get it to start crisping up.  Last year when I discovered the joy of polenta crust pizza, I used up some kale to make this kale, sweet potato and lamb pizza.  And yes, that is a Darth Vadar spatula in the photo, and yes it was an item purchased off of our wedding registry.  Along with a Storm Trooper spatula, the non-digitally remastered original trilogy (because Han shot first), and a Death Star cookie jar.  Now that I've flashed my nerd card, enjoy this delicious and wonderfully fragrant pizza!

Kale, Sweet Potato & Lamb Polenta Crust Pizza

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground lamb
Olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
2 cups kale, chopped
Salt & Pepper
1 sweet potato, thinly sliced into chips
1 package of prepared polenta (or use any pre-made pizza crust, make your own or even try this recipe with Cauliflower Crust Pizza)
1/2 cup marinara sauce (I use Nature's Promise Organic Tomato Basil Sauce)


Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

If using polenta for your pizza crust, mash it, roll it and generally strong arm it onto a baking sheet in the shape of a pizza.  Partially bake at 400 for about 5 minutes.

Once oven is heated to 400, toss sweet potato chips in a bit of olive oil and evenly arrange on another baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes until chips start to crisp up.

In a skillet, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium high heat.  Add in lamb and season with garlic powder.  Break apart into ground bits and cook until lamb is browned and fully cooked, about 5-8 minutes.  Remove from skillet and transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to help absorb any excess grease.

In the same skillet add in onion and kale, and add in additional olive oil if needed.  Season with salt & pepper and cook until kale is wilted and onion has begun to caramelize.

Spread a thin layer of marinara onto your pizza crust, then top with lamb, kale, onions and sweet potato.  Add a bit of mozzarella, Parmesan or even goat cheese, if you desire, and then place back into a 400 degree oven for about 5-10 minutes.

Sweet Day In The Morning, It's Sweet Potato Season!

So, unfortunately, my brain hates freedom tonight and no amount of Advil or Tylenol is touching it.  I am actually blogging in sunglasses at the moment.  Classy.  Thus, for now at least, this week's posts will be rather short and sweet.  In the Spoiler e-mail we linked you to our favorite, simple preparation for Sauteed Swiss Chard, which doesn't exactly scream Labor Day picnic food, but thankfully with this week's bounty of fruit you'll be able to throw together a wonderful fruit salad, fruit crisp, or even go all-American with some apple pie (or tart it up a bit!).  But I've got two preparations for those sweet potatoes for you.  One (an oldie but a goodie from our Crop Share vault) that will be a healthy, yet filling game day recipe now that football season is upon us (I might as well draw ire where I can...Go Colts!) and then another to take you from the gridiron to the grill and have you set for this weekend's picnic circuit.  Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!  Now where's a nice, dark and quiet room for me to hide?

Veggie & Chicken Sausage Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Scallions via Martha Stewart

Veggie & Chicken Sausage Stuffed Potatoes

During my time in Ireland I became obsessed with stuffed potatoes.  No, not just the broccoli & cheese or "loaded" baked potatoes we have here, these were stuffed potatoes on a whole other level.  The Irish call them jacket potatoes, and think huge puffy winter jacket kind of jacket, because they are stuffed to the gills and then some with all sorts of yumminess.  Basically what we'd normally reserve for an elaborate salad bar, they will shove into a fresh baked potato.  So when I stumbled upon this recipe in the fall, it was love at first sight.  A stuffed potato that would make the biggest jacket potato blush!  Being chock full of veggies, this will be a great recipe to come back to through all seasons, and the perfect way to use the zucchini we're giving you this week.  I've even made it with baked sweet potatoes, so if you still have some leftover from last week, stuff them up!

Veggie & Chicken Sausage Stuffed Potatoes

Ingredients:

4 baking potatoes or sweet potatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus 1 tsp, divided use
4 links of apple chicken sausage, sliced into 1/4 rounds
1/2 sweet onion, sliced thin
1 cup crimini or baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 zucchini, sliced thin
1 yellow squash, sliced thin
1 14oz can diced tomatoes, some juice drained off but not all
1/2 tsp dried dill or 1 Tbsp fresh chopped dill
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Rub potatoes with olive oil, stab a few times with a fork to allow for ventilation when baking, and place in middle rack of oven to bake for 50-60 minutes.  While potatoes bake, prepare all the sausage and veggies.

In a large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add chicken sausage and onions, gently tossing and cook until the sausage begins to brown.  Then add the mushrooms and garlic, and allow for mushrooms to begin to brown.  Add in red pepper, zucchini and yellow squash, and cook for about 2 minutes.  Then add in the tomatoes with a little bit of the juice from the can, the dill and your seasoning.  Cook for an additional 2 minutes and then remove from heat while you wait for the potatoes to finish baking.

Once potatoes are done, carefully remove them from the oven (wooo hot potato!!) and allow them to cool slightly.  Then slice lengthwise down the potato and fluff the the inside with a fork to loosen everything from the skin.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and season with a dash of salt & pepper.  Then generously top with the sausage and veggies.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream if you so desire.


Recipe adapted from The Cozy Apron (http://thecozyapron.com/reminiscing-a-little-over-vegetable-stuffed-potatoes/)

Thinking Green and Hoping for Spring!

Maybe it's a reflection of the wishful thinking on our part as we hope for Spring to finally be sprung upon us in NoVA, but we've got lots of green coming your way in this week's Crop Share!  You'll find broccoli, leaf lettuce, and granny smith apples, along with sweet potatoes (JOY!), baby portabellas, and honey tangerines, to help brighten up your Easter or Passover table. So let's all cross our fingers, toes and if you practice yoga, cross as many body parts as you can, in hopes that the start of a new month will bring us a true start to Spring!

Speaking of new things, I wanted to introduce myself to you all as your new, resident foodie for the Crop Share Recipe Blog.  I'm Tara, and some of you may have already "met" me in the Fall through some of my guest posts (yes, the Irish girl with all the potato recipes).  So please, please, please, don't be shy, use that comments button below and let us know how the recipes work for you, if there's certain types of recipes you'd like to see featured, or even wax poetic about your love for asparagus!  Additionally, we're dying to know what's cooking in your kitchen, so feel free to send us any guest recipe posts or photos of your delicious creations at cropshare@nallsproduce.com, so we can feature you!

So to get you started for the holiday weekend, here is one of my all-time favorite sweet potato recipes that will make a perfect side dish for your Easter table, and with the substitution of matzo meal or almond flour, it's also easily made kosher for Passover...

Sweet Potato Maple Streusel 

Ingredients:

3 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes

1 cup water

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 tsp kosher salt

3/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 cup all-purpose flour (or alternative flour of your choice)

1/2 cup maple sugar (if you can't find maple sugar, substitute any large granulated sugar, or add some drops of maple extract to your sugar and mix well)

1/3 cup brown sugar

3/4 tsp cinnamon

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Butter a 9x13" baking dish.  Peel sweet potatoes, reserving 1 inch pieces of ends for use in the streusel topping.  Coarsely grate these reserved pieces until you have 1/2 cup of gratings; set aside for later use.  Cut the rest of the sweet potatoes into 1/3 inch thick rounds, and arrange them in overlapping rows in your baking dish.

In a small saucepan, bring water, maple syrup, butter and cider vinegar to a light boil, stir in your salt & pepper, and pour mixture over sweet potatoes.  Cover the dish tightly with foil.  These can be made up to 6 hours in advance and refrigerated  just make sure you let them warm up to room temperature for about an hour before baking.  When ready, bake covered at 375 for about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare your streusel topping.  Mix your flour, sugars and cinnamon in a bowl.  Add the melted 6 Tbsp of butter and using your fingers, rub it in until the mixture begins to form clumps.  Mix in your reserved 1/2 cup of grated sweet potato, until it looks like you might be making some sort of deranged, delicious cookie.

When sweet potatoes have baked for 40 minutes, remove from oven, increase your oven temperature to 400 degrees, and top sweet potatoes with the streusel mixture.  Return to oven and bake uncovered at 400 for an additional 35 minutes until streusel is golden and crisp (okay, just like a cookie).  Prepare for sweet potato bliss!

(Adapted from Epicurious: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Garnet-Yams-with-Blis-Maple-Syrup-and-Maple-Sugar-Streusel-350428)

Jack-O-Lantern Sweet Potato Fries

Just because it's almost Halloween, doesn't mean only having sugary treats! These little guys take less than 30 minutes to make and you can get the whole family involved in making them.

Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne

Directions:
1. Peel the skin from both sweet potatoes and slice the tips off.
2. Use a sharp knife to cut a small "V" shape in the center of the sweet potato.
3. Slice the sweet potato in 1/8" thin slices. Use a small sharp knife to "carve" jack-o-lantern faces into each sweet potato.
4. Mix the spices and melted coconut oil in a bowl and brush on both sides of your jack-o-lanterns
4. Place the sweet potato fries on a cookie sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 20-22 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.

(Source: http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/10/26/jack-o-lantern-sweet-potato-fries/)

Smoky Sweet Potato Dip

Football season has begun and although that may not mean having a football party every Sunday, you're going to want some chips and dip to watch the game. This healthier dip will is perfect for just that. You won't feel as guilty when you sit down with it and realize that you're scraping at the bottom of the bowl by half-time.

Ingredients:
1 medium sweet potato
1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon salsa
1/4 cup (2 ounces) shredded Pepper Jack or Reduced Fat Pepper Jack cheese

To view the rest of this recipe, please visit: http://www.theprofessionalpalate.com/blog/football-friday-season-kick-off-with-smoky-sweet-potato-dip.html

Baked Sweet Potato Donuts

I tend to like my sweet potatoes more on the savory side, but this recipe just looks too good to pass up! Yes, they're donuts, but at least you're incorporating a vegetable and you're not frying them. That's worth something right? 

Ingredients:
2 cups of sweet potatoes, peeled and boiled until tender, then thoroughly drained
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp double acting baking powder
sugar coating:
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup water






To view the rest of this recipe, please visit: http://singaporeshiok.blogspot.sg/2012/07/baked-kueh-keria-sweet-potato-doughnuts.html#.UEAe8Gj-ClI

Sweet Potato Fries With Lime Dipping Sauce

Sweet potato fries are a great snack on their own. They make a great side for turkey burgers or just about any sandwich. There is no greater feeling then pulling these out of the oven perfectly crisp!

Ingredients:
1 lb. unpeeled sweet potatoes (about 2 small)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt, plus more for seasoning

Lime Dipping Sauce
1/3 cup mayonaise
1/2 tsp finely grated lime zest
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp minced garlic
pinch of kosher salt

Spiced Salt (optional)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander 
1/4 tsp paprika



To view the rest of this recipe, please visit: http://www.projectfoodie.com/cookbook-recipes/recipe/sweet-potato-mini-fries-with-limey-dipping-sauce-and-spiced-salt.html

Twice Baked Chipotle Sweet Potatoes

This is one of our crop share favorites! Enjoy!

4 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed well
canola oil
2 oz grated smoked mozzarella cheese
1 TBSP chipotle in adobo puree (see NOTE below) may use less depending on your love of heat
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1/4 cup heavy cream, half & half or milk
salt and pepper
1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
smoked paprika
green onions or chives

To view the rest of the recipe, please visit:  http://www.othersideoffifty.com/2010/05/twice-baked-chipotle-sweet-potatoes.html