Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Foil Baked Tilapia and Veggies

I need to get more adept at coining names for recipes! Help!!
How are you guys? The rains are here with a vengeance. That, coupled with the sack of potatoes lying in my pantry have got me leaning towards comfort food. Not wanting to add more comfort to my hips though, so it's sweet potatoes to the rescue.
The first time i heard that sweet potatoes were lower calorie than irish potatoes, i could have fainted. It sounded so impossible cos you know, sweet potatoes are, em...em...SWEET!
Mashed sweet potatoes with a very simple gravy made with our stock of the curry. And tilapia baked in foil! Wow! Decadence!!!
Ingredients
2 Tilapia cutlets
5 sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons, olive oil
3 tablespoons, softened butter

1 Knorr double stock cube
3 carrots, chop these how you like
1 1/2 cups, green beans
2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey (optional, i used it because my sweet potatoes weren't so sweet)
2 teaspoons, garlic powder
1 1/4 teaspoons, salt
1 medium onion, sliced in rounds
3 tablespoons chili sauce
8 squares of foil
Method
1. Boil the tilapia for 1 minute. You can skip this step if you want. I wanted less fish liquid with my vegetables. Put the potatoes in water in a pot to boil. Do not add salt. Boil till very soft.
2. In a small bowl, toss the onions, carrots, and green beans with the garlic powder, chili sauce, and olive oil.
3. Lay out 2 squares of foil for each fish base. Pour half of the vegetables on the foil. Put the fish on the vegetables. Cover with the remaining half.
4. Place the other 2 pieces of foil on top and seal the package. In essence, you are using 4 pieces of foil for each fish.
5. Place the packets on a baking tray. Prick the packets with a fork. Bake at 350f for 20 minutes.
6. Leave aside. Make a gravy by heating the chicken and potato stock (use only chicken stock if you like). Add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to a cup of stock. Stir over medium heat till thickened
7. Mash the potatoes, I used a wooden spoon.
8. Add the butter and maple syrup, continue mashing till you get the consistency you like. I prefer my mashed potatoes with some chunks.
Serve immediately with the fish and vegetables. Pour the gravy over everything!.
Enjoy
If I can, you can,
Deema

Chicken and Potato Curry

Hi! Hi!! Hi!!!. It's been a crazy week for me. I think this week has been the busiest of my life. No complaints there, though. I'm very grateful to God.
My dh didn't think i was busy enough though -else, how do you explain the fact that he brought home a SACK of potatoes (sweet and irish)?- so he deemed it fit to
add to my workload.

Anyway, what goes around comes around. All his dinners are going to be potato based till that sack is empty. Lol! I can tell you that he's enjoying it though. I've been experimenting and he actually looks forward to the next potato dinner. Go figure!
You guys know I can't leave you out. I'm going to share all the recipes, so get ready for a storm of potatoes. Potato haters, this is the time to look away!

Ingredients

1 kg, irish potatoes
500g chicken (don't remove the skin before cooking)
1 medium red onion
1/2 teaspoon, Turmeric
1/2 teaspoon, Garam Masala
1/2 teaspoon, dried basil
2 teaspoons, ground ginger
2 cups, pumpkin leaves (ugu), chopped
2 teaspoons, curry powder
4 atarodo (habanero), blended with 3 tablespoons of water
1 Knorr double stock cube
2 teaspoons, salt

Method
1. In a pot on high heat, put the chicken pieces, add salt, pepper, chopped onion and stock cube. Pour in 7 cups of water. Boil till chicken is tender. Remove chicken pieces from the pot, debone and set aside.
2. Peel and dice the potatoes, add them to the chicken stock, add the spices. Cover and boil till potatoes are as soft as you like.
3. When the potatoes are done, remove the excess stock and freeze for later. You can leave as much or as little stock you want (more will make the curry thinner, less will make it thicker).
4. Add the deboned chicken and pumpkin leaves. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 minute. Serve and enjoy!

Remember to save the stock, it'll come in handy in our next dish.

If I can, you can,  

Deema

Cashew Chicken

Sometimes unusual combinations make the most sense. The elements in this dish work together to create a perfect symphony (yeah, right! symphony??? lol). Ok, i'm going a bit overboard, but you'll see what i mean when you make it. The crunchiness of the cashews work well here. And it's a very quick meal to make. Please enjoy it, we did!

Ingredients
¾ cup roasted cashews
1 medium sized chicken, deboned and deskinned (you can use boneless chicken breasts)
½ teaspoon salt
3 atarodo (habanero peppers)
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons cornstarch
6 medium garlic cloves, chopped
1 bunch of spring onions, white and green parts separated, chopped
4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 cup water

Directions
1. Place chicken pieces in large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and toss to coat evenly, refrigerate for 10 minutes.
2. Remove chicken from fridge, coat with cornstarch and refrigerate again for 10 minutes.
3. In a wok or large non-stick pan on high heat, pour the olive oil and leave until very hot. Add the chicken to the wok and stir-fry until it becomes opaque but not cooked through, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the garlic, ginger, atarodo and white parts of the spring onions.  Stir for 1 minute. Turn heat down to medium and add the bell peppers, stir for about 30 seconds.
5. Add the hoisin sauce, soy sauce and water; cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 1 minute. Salt to taste. Remove from the heat. Stir in the green part of the spring onions and the cashews.
Serve immediately.

If i can, you can,
Deema

Coconut Shrimp Curry for Safe06

Hiiii. I'm modifying this blog to include other recipes now, not just desserts. My motivation for this is from some of my silent visitors who are not really into dessert. These people want to try new and exciting recipes, and you know i'll do ANYTHING to make you guys happy. This first non-dessert recipe is for Safe06, who is a member of a forum i'm a part of.

Remember Beetle (of the banana bred?), yup, this is the same forum.

P.S: you can make this sauce as hot or as mild as you like. just reduce/increase the stated amounts of pepper, ginger, and garlic.

Ingredients

For the shrimp marinade:
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 kg shrimp, peeled and deveined

For the sauce:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons blended habanero pepper (atarodo)
2 tablespoons grated ginger
2 medium carrots, cut in rounds
1 tablespoon salt
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons curry powder
3 large tomatoes, blended with 4 tablespoons of water
1 can coconut milk
Hot cooked macaroni or rice for serving

 Directions 

Toss the shrimp with the salt, pepper, and cayenne in a bowl. Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.Meanwhile, in a medium-sized pot, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat until hot. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the pepper, ginger, salt, garlic, coriander and curry powder.
 Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring often, for about 5-7 minutes. Add the tomatoes and carrots to the pot and cook, stirring for about 1 minute. Increase the heat to medium-high and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring often. Add the coconut milk, stirring to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil and add the shrimp and juices from the marinade. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the shrimp are curled, lightly pink and cooked through, about 2-4 minutes. Serve over hot, cooked rice, or macaroni. I served mine on a bed of shredded cabbage, as well.
 If i can, you can,
 Deema

Peanut Butter Whole Wheat Oatmeal Cookies

This title is quite a mouthful, eh? Well, I'm not changing it. These cookies deserve the long name. What are you doing right now? Please stop whatever it is, go to your kitchen and make these cookies.

You ought to know these cookies are wonderful, for the very reason that I'm actually posting TWICE today. I couldn't wait to share these.

Imagine Hob Nobs smeared with peanut butter? These are even better! I know that I'm NEVER buying cookies again! If I want chocolate chips, i'll throw them in here. Yum!

These cookies are made with ingredients you probably already have. I know I've said before that I abhor margarine, but these cookies have changed my mind.

Bake these, when they're done, take pictures, and then wonder where the missing cookies went. When you realise that they're in your belly, shrug, and be happy they're lower fat, lower sugar, and full of fibre.

Adapted from Hillbilly Housewife.

Ingredients

1/2 cup, margarine
1/2 cup, peanut butter
1/2 cup, brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon, salt
1/2 teaspoon, baking soda
1 1/4 cups, oats (rolled-old fashioned or quick, NOT instant)
3/4 cup, whole wheat flour

Method

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, mix margarine and peanut butter. Add brown sugar and egg and cream till fluffy. Mix in the remaining ingredients.
Scoop out the cookie dough into balls on a parchment covered baking sheet. Flatten with a fork dipped in sugar (I used Splenda). Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Tada! Enjoy.

If I can, you can,

Deema