West Indian Potato Bean Stew for the Instant Pot

I've discovered how much I really love using an Instant Pot. My gosh, so simple! So far I've still only used the pressure cooking function, but I will eventually brave the other options.

West Indian Potato Bean Stew

One onion, diced
One red onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, sliced
4 c. vegetable broth
2 cans white beans, drained
3 red potatoes, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
One sweet potato, cubed
1 t. turmeric
1/4 t. black pepper
1 t. cinnamon
One package frozen corn, thawed
One package frozen green peas, thawed

Once again, I didn't use the saute function, but feel free to saute the onions and garlic in oil until soft. Otherwise, all the ingredients to the pot, cook for 8 minutes. Let pressure release for 5 minutes, then do quick release. Serve over rice if you like. Enjoy!

Chickpea and Potato Curry

My husband doesn't care for Indian food. Too spicy for him. Admittedly, some of it is too spicy for me, too. This dish, however, is very mildly spiced and simply delicious!

Chickpea and Potato Curry

One onion, diced
3 potatoes, diced
2 sweet potatoes, diced
One can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 t. cumin
1/2 t. curry powder
1/4 t. cayenne
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
One can coconut milk
1/4 c. vegetable broth
1/2 c. frozen green peas

Saute the onion in some oil until softened. Add the potatoes, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, spices, coconut milk, and broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are softened. Add the peas and cover, simmer about 5 minutes. Serve. Enjoy!

Shepherd's Pie with Sweet Potato Topping

My husband detests sweet potatoes. I like them. My kids will eat them, but I can't say they are huge fans. Admittedly, when I was younger, I didn't like them, either. They've grown on me as I've gotten older, very likely because of the plant based diet I consume. Since becoming a vegan, I've discovered so many new and different ways to use vegetables I had never done before, just always falling back on the tried and true, the usual, the known. I don't cook that way anymore. I love experimenting!

Shepherd's Pie with Sweet Potato Topping

One onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
6 cloves garlic, diced
1 t. cumin
1 t. turmeric
1 t. crushed red pepper
2 c. lentils
8 c. vegetable broth
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 t. cinnamon
12 handfuls of fresh spinach leaves
Zest and juice of 2 lemons

Saute the onion, carrots, and celery using water or a little oil. Add the garlic and saute until everything is soft. Add the spices, lentils, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer about 45 minutes. Add spinach and lemon and cook until the spinach wilts.
While the lentils are cooking, add the potatoes and cinnamon to a large pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer while the lentils cook. When done, drain and mash.
In a large casserole dish, add the lentils mixture. Top with the mashed sweet potatoes, spreading over the entire mixture. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Serve. Enjoy!

A couple of notes. Let the dish sit for 10 minutes OUT  of the oven. It makes a difference. Also, I bought this awesome dicer from a thrift store and used it to cut the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. It cuts in uniform cubes and is just a lot of fun to use! Another thing I did was I discovered a potato ricer hidden in my cabinets. I suspect my dad gave it to me some time ago, but I had forgotten about it. It is super cool to use. You add the cooked potatoes and smash. The potatoes come out the numerous holes. I did it right over the casserole dish, and then just moved them around to cover. I'll try to take pictures of these items on a later post.

For the record, my husband still refused to eat it. But the kids and I liked it!

National Potato Day

Today is National Potato Day. We eat a lot of potatoes in my house, just because they are so versatile and pretty darned delicious. People are surprised I will eat a baked potato all by itself with only a little salt and pepper, as if that is sacrilegious! LOL! But sometimes I eat them with butter, too, so, it's cool. My youngest son is truly the potato aficionado, though. He is always trying new ways with potatoes, with often amazing results.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

One 5 lbs. bag of potatoes of your choice
5 T. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1/2 c. non dairy milk
10 peeled garlic cloves

In a Dutch oven, cover the potatoes and garlic with water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until soft. Drain. In a large bowl, add the cooked potatoes and garlic, and add the olive oil, salt and pepper. With a hand mixer or potato masher, start mashing the potatoes while slowly adding the milk. Serve. Enjoy!

For fun, I will often add a single sweet potato to the mix. Feel free to try that!

Baked Sweet and Savory Mashed Potatoes

My family is not crazy about sweet potatoes. While I can't say they are my favorite food, I do like them. Somewhat. This is one of those ways I like them, and in this case, my family really did, too.

Baked Sweet and Savory Mashed Potatoes

3 lbs. potatoes, cut into chunks
One 29 oz. can sweet potatoes in syrup, drained and mashed
One container vegan cream cheese
One container vegan sour cream
2/3 c. vegetable broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegan bacon bits

Boil the potatoes in water until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain. Return the potatoes to the pot, and add the sweet potatoes and cream cheese. Mash until smooth. Stir in the sour cream, broth, salt and pepper and bacon bits. Place this in a casserole dish and bake, uncovered, at 350 for 20 minutes. Serve. Enjoy!

Potato and Kale Soup

La Fheile Bride sona daoibh! Happy St. Brigid's Day!

Part of my ancestry is Irish. Probably explains why I like potatoes so much. Growing up, my mom tells me that they referred to white potatoes as Irish potatoes, to differentiate them from sweet potatoes. Her ancestors did not emigrate during the potato famine, but came to a new country prior, so we never had that association of potatoes and starving.

So it seems fitting that on this day of celebrating Brigid, I should serve something with potatoes.

Potato and Kale Soup

One onion, chopped
Olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
Potatoes (I tend to use about nine of them, washed but unpeeled), cut into chunks
One sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
6 c. water
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
One bunch of kale, washed, stems removed, and leaves chopped

Saute onions in the olive oil until softened. Add garlic and potatoes and stir to coat with the oil. Add water and bring to a boil. Let simmer about 20 minutes, until potatoes are soft. Add seasonings, and the kale and heat through. Soup will thicken as it cools.

I have seen so many varieties of this soup, and given different names like Tuscan or Persian, depending on what is added or subtracted. I added Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage to mine, cut up into bite sized pieces. In the past I've added diced tomatoes. You could also try the Field Roast Mexican Chipotle for a spicier soup.

No matter what, this soup is yummy! Enjoy!

Need some ideas on how to celebrate Imbolc? Check this out!

Loaded Chili

If you live in Texas, you know there seems to be a great deal of debate as to whether or not chili should contain beans. If you are vegan, this is a no brainer. OF COURSE it contains beans! LOL!

Loaded Chili

Olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
One onion, chopped
One jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized cubes
2 c. broccoli florets, cut into bite sized pieces
3 T. chili powder
1 T. cumin
1 T. oregano
1 t. paprika
1/2 t. each salt and pepper
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 c. frozen corn
2 28 oz cans diced tomatoes
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

In a Dutch oven over medium heat, saute garlic, onion and jalapeno in the olive oil, until softened. Add the sweet potato, broccoli and spices and stir until everything is well coated with the spices. Add remaining ingredients, stir well, and let simmer about 30 minutes. When the sweet potatoes are fork soft it is ready to eat.

Good and spicy and delicious! While you might wonder at the addition of things like sweet potatoes and broccoli to chili, trust me, you'll like it.