Spiralized Sweet Potatoes

Last week my family, who was in town, made a simple dinner at my aunt's one night. She wanted to do sweet potato and yam spears in the oven and I've been wanting to try to spiralize them so I stole a sweet potato and started experimenting. I had bought a spiralizer back in September before I moved but the only thing I've made so far with is is spiralized zucchini in place of spaghetti noodles, which I do quite often actually. I also experimented with a carrot once, but since the carrot is such a hard veggie, it was a little difficult. My spiralizer is the Paderno that I found on Amazon but I'm sure you can find them elsewhere too, or you can use a veggie peeler.

I had to watch a video online to figure out what blade I needed to use and once I figured that out, it was super easy. I added a 21-spice blend my aunt had bought from Costco. It doesn't have salt in it and I loved the flavor-guess I'll be making a trip out to Costco soon! This was just an experiment but it actually turned out really flavorful. They spiralizer made the sweet potatoes into shoe strings and with the spice blend, it turned out really yummy. I bought some yams at the store yesterday so I'll be trying those soon to see if they turn out as good as the sweet potato.

Spiralized Sweet Potatoes (3-5 servings)

1 1/2 sweet potatoes
1-2 tbsp olive oil, more as needed
21-spice blend, or whatever seasoning you have on hand

Use the number 3 blade, which is the smallest hole-blade to spiralize the sweet potatoes.

Heat oil in large skillet on the stove over med-high. Once the oil is hot, add the spiralized sweet potatoes. Using tongs, toss the sweet potatoes until sweet potatoes start turning brown and crisping up. Add the seasonings as you cook the sweet potatoes. Enjoy!




Spiralizer






Spiralized...






Enjoy!...

4-Berry Pie with Lattice Topped Pie Crust

I can't remember where I found this recipe but I made it several years ago for Christmas at my aunt's house when she lived in Arizona. I had never made a pie before then and I love berries so I came up with this recipe from somewhere and it was really good!

My family came down for Thanksgiving this year and I decided to make this again, hoping it was as good as I remembered it and it definitely was! Lots of flavor from the berries and the cinnamon on the pie crust set it off. I think I added too many berries because the filling over-filled a little bit onto the oven floor-oops! I made it the day before to let the flavors really meld-yum! Originally this pie was only a 3-berry pie calling for blackberries but I'm not a huge fan of blackberries. I did add a small container of blackberries but then I also added a container of strawberries, which is probably why it over-filled but it worked out.

4-Berry Pie with Lattice Topped Pie Crust (6-8 servings):

1/2 c fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 c fresh or frozen blackberries
1/2 c fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 c fresh or frozen sliced strawberries
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 c sugar
4 tbsp quick-cooking tapioca
2 unbaked pastry shells (9 inches)
Cinnamon, for sprinkling

In large bowl, sprinkle berries with lemon juice. Combine sugar and tapioca. Add to berries; toss gently to coat. Let stand for 15 minutes. Spoon into pastry shell.

For topping, cut strips into pastry shell. Inter-weave onto top of berries to create a lattice-look. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 400 for 45 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is browned. Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!




Berries macerating...






Berries poured into pie bottom...






Sprinkled with cinnamon...






Fresh from the oven...






Enjoy!...