Sweet Jesus, fall is here at last!  Nothing says fall to me like sweet potatoes.  They take me right to the Thanksgiving dinner table, even in the middle of April.  My normal sweet potato routine is to bake them and add some butter and brown sugar.  Simple and delicious, no problems here! This potato was so remarkably complex.  Never have I had a sweet potato with chickpeas and pomegranate seeds, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I didn't hate it.  It was just a lot of ingredients to the point of overkill.  Sweet potatoes have such a strong flavor, and so does tahini, so all the other flavors seemed to get lost in the shuffle.  This potato was tasty, but I had trouble tasting the sun dried tomatoes or the lemon.  Was it necessary to even bother with those?  I don't know the answer.

Honestly, I have to say I prefer my simple butter and brown sugar sweet potato to this creation, however I am really glad I tried it.  It reminds me of how when I go to the cheesecake factory and always get the dutch apple caramel streusel cheesecake.  Every time.  It isn't like we go to the cheesecake factory all the time, so when we go, I am not going to waste a cheesecake opportunity on a risk.  But a time or two, it happened.  They were out of my #1 favorite cheesecake and I had to pick something else.  And you know what?  My favorite has never been ousted from the top spot.  Dutch apple caramel streusel will always be my number one.  But I still ate and very much enjoyed the other cheesecakes.  Sometimes it is for the best that we are forced to try new things. :)

I will give props to this potato, it was SUPER filling.  This would make a really good vegetarian lunch that will keep you satiated for a good while.  Might be worth a try?

You will need:

4 sweet potatoes (each about 3/4 - 1 pound)

2 TBSP olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1/4 cup tahini

1/4 cup hot water

1 TSP lemon zest

2 TBSP fresh lemon juice

1 TSP honey

1/8 TSP ground cinnamon

1 can of drained and rinsed chickpeas (15.5-oz can)

2 TBSP sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, sliced

3 TBSP minced fresh parsley leaves

2 TBSP toasted pine nuts

2 TBSP pomegranate seeds

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

I will share the recipe way and the fast way.  I used the fast way.  Recipe way:  preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and use a baking rack over the paper.  Scrub  your potatoes well, pierce all over with a fork.  Coat the surface of the potatoes with a thin layer of olive oil.  Place potatoes on the baking rack, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until potatoes can be easily pierced with a knife.  Remove from oven and set aside.

Natalie's fast way, because she works hard all day and doesn't want to spend hours in the kitchen making dinner: scrub your potatoes well.  Pierce several holes in the skin with a fork.  Lightly dampen a paper towel for each potato.  One at a time, wrap your potato in the damp paper towel.  It doesn't need to be extremely tight, but not loose either.  Microwave for 4 minutes.  Flip potato upside down and microwave another 3 minutes (or less depending on how cooked your potato feels midway through).  Boom, baked potato in minutes.  I microwave them one at a time because when I put more than one in they seem to heat unevenly and I have one that is very under done and one exploding from the heat.  I don't even oil them when I do this, so maybe it will save us a few calories.

For the topping, whisk together the 2 tbsp olive oil, tahini, hot water, lemon juice, lemon zest, honey and cinnamon.  Once those are combined, toss with the chickpeas, sun dried tomatoes, parsley, pine nuts, and pomegranate seeds.  Taste for seasoning.

Now to assemble, slice your potatoes lengthwise halfway through and press the ends to 'open' the inside.  Drizzle with some olive oil and add salt and pepper.  Pile in the chickpea mixture and top with some extra pine nuts, pomegranate seeds and/or parsley.  Dig in!

Moroccan Carrot Salad

As weird as it seems, we do eat salad from time to time.  (lol!) This salad was probably the most interesting salad I have ever eaten.  Maybe if I knew about this salad in my youth, my vision wouldn't be so terrible?  

Aaron thought this salad was alright, but I really enjoyed the bright flavors.  I have always been an advocate for carrots.  They hardly seem like vegetables sometimes!  This citrusy fresh salad was perfectly timed with the exit of summer weather, as if one final hurrah before sweater weather.  But seriously, we don't get sweater weather in Houston until January- but I like to pretend.  

You will need:
1 large lemon, washed well, sliced into rounds, then the rounds quartered
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for cooking the lemons
1 1/2 TSP ground cumin
1/4 TSP ground cinnamon
1/4 TSP ground ginger
2 pinches cayenne
1/2 TSP orange zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
8 medium carrots, peeled and grated
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 TBSP toasted pine nuts

Salads hardly warrant instructions, but this one does a little.  Start with your sliced up lemon pieces in a cold pan.  Pour oil into the pan so that the bottom is covered.  On low heat, you will cook until the rinds of the lemon are soft and begin to brown.  This takes about 20 minutes.

For the dressing, you will mix the cumin, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, orange juice and zest, salt and pepper all together.  Whisk in the 1/4 cup oil to incorporate with the liquid.  Taste for seasonings and adjust if any flavor is lacking according to your preference.

Toss the carrots, pine nuts, and parsley together with the dressing, mixing well to coat everything.  With a slotted spoon, remove your lemon pieces from the oil and add to the salad.  Some of the oil from the lemons that is infused with lemony flavor can also be drizzled over the top for added flavor.  Taste for seasonings and serve, while savoring that last little bit of summer.

Baba's Ghanoush (Baba Ghanoush)

I remember the first time I had baba ghanoush.  It was on a sampler plate at this tiny hole in the wall Greek restaurant in Denton, TX.  I thought I was pretty cool and culturally aware for having tried hummus in the year 2000, before it was as widespread as it is today.  I was exploring the depths of my newly found vegetarianism, and it was taking me on a cross continent taste tour.  I looked at the different globs of brown goop on the plate, grabbed a pita triangle and hesitantly dipped it in the mush.  I took a bite and I was transformed.  It was the culinary equivalent of Cinderella's tattered dress turning into the beautiful ball gown.  My tastebuds were never the same after that magical mushy bite.  The warm pita, the tart lemon with the olive-oily nutty eggplant.  I knew I could be a vegetarian for life and never feel deprived.  Well I was wrong about all that, but baba ghanoush is still one of my most favorite things to eat.  Can you find a better way to eat a vegetable??  I don't think so.  

You will need:

2 large eggplants

juice of 1 lemon

2/3 cup tahini

1/2 cup fresh minced parsley

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Since I am rocking the electric stove, I used the stovetop method as described.  Prick the eggplants all over with a fork.  In a 450 degree oven, roast the eggplants on a large baking sheet for 20 minutes, until soft.  After the 20 minutes, I turned the broiler on the really char the outer skin, but that was me going rogue.

*Alternately, if you are using a gas stove, plop those eggplants on the open flame (one per burner) and with tongs, turn every 5 minutes until the outside is charred.  

Now that your eggplant is cooked, you want to set aside and cool for a few minutes.  These guys will be HOT.  

Once they are cool enough to touch, remove the stem and the ends, and carefully peel the charred skin off.  Mince the flesh of the eggplant into small chunks.  You can use a food processor but Aarti and I prefer a chunkier ghanoush.  It will get gummy if you over blend it.  

In a bowl whisk together your eggplant chunks, lemon, tahini, parsley, salt and pepper.  Taste and adjust the seasonings if you need.  Dig in!  (best served with warmed pita triangles)

Aloo Gobi

In my household, I really try to make balanced dinners.  What usually ends up happening on nights we don't have frozen pizza or cereal for dinner (we are going to make stellar parents one day..) we end up with the meat+starch+vegetable formula.  Vegetables are either frozen or out of a can, and if I remember, maybe a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  It is so boring, I am bored just telling you about it.  Every day of my life I have intentions to eat more vegetables, and be healthy and strong, and the frozen broccoli ain't cutting it.  Needless to say, when I looked this dish over I just knew it would be a hit, and the most interesting vegetable to ever adorn a plate in the Hinkley household.

It takes minimal effort beyond microwaving the steam-in-a-bag peas to whip up this colorful and tasty cauliflower and potato dish.  It almost looks like popcorn too, so that might be a good way to fool the little ones into eating vegetables!

You will need:

2 TBSP sunflower oil

1/2 TSP cumin seeds

2 cloves crushed garlic

1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin

1 Serrano chili - slightly punctured with a knife for less spicy, cut from stem to tip (but not split in two pieces) for most spicy

1/2 in piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 large Yukon gold or red skinned potato, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

1 TSP ground coriander

1/2 TSP ground turmeric

1 head cauliflower (about 2 1/2 pounds) trimmed into bite sized florets

1 small tomato, diced

1/4 cup water

Kosher salt

1/2 lime

Handful of chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Fresh ground black pepper

In a large saute pan, heat the oil on medium high heat until almost smoking.  Add the cumin seeds to the oil (they should immediately sizzle) and crushed garlic.  In a few seconds the garlic should be golden brown on one side.  

Flip over the garlic, then add in the onions, Serrano, and ginger.  Stir everything together.  You are wanting to cook everything until the onions are soft and golden brown, about 5 minutes.  If they appear to be browning and becoming crispy too fast, lower the heat.  

Next toss in the potato, coriander, and turmeric.  Stir and try to get the potatoes well coated in the spice blend.  Cook for 3-4 minutes to seal in those flavors.  Repeat for the cauliflower.  Add to pan, toss to coat and allow to cook for a few minutes in the spices.

Now add the tomato, water, and a teaspoon of Kosher salt.  Cover your pan, and reduce the heat to low.  Cook for around 25-30 minutes until both potato and cauliflower are cooked through.  Add the squeeze of lime juice and the chopped cilantro to finish the dish off.  Taste for seasoning and add more salt/lime/pepper if need be for your personal tastes.  Enjoy!