Baked Sweet Potato with Philadelphia, Dates & Coriander

Quite frankly this is a meal all on it’s own and I have been known to enjoy it more than once for lunch and is another fabulous recipe I inherited from my sister-in-law Karin.  I am also hooked on serving these for guests and they accompany everything from a braai to a roast dinner, well I think so.  If I bake the sweet potato in the oven, I brush them with olive oil before baking but when I do them in the microwave I don’t bother.  There are no real quantities as you can stuff in as much or as little of the cheese, dates and coriander as you like.

Ingredients

Sweet potatoes
Philadelphia cream cheese cut into chunks
Dates cut into pieces
Coriander chopped

Method

1. Baked the sweet potatoes in the oven set at 180°C until soft alternatively cook them in the microwave.
2. Slice the sweet potato lengthwise and place all the other ingredients in the opening.

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Karin’s Quinoa Salad

My lovely sister-in-law Karin introduced me to the super grain quinoa.  I know, I am far behind in trying new things.  I was also put off by how expensive it is.

Quinoa in a nutshell – it is high in protein, is a good source of dietary fibre and phosphorus and is high in magnesium, iron and calcium, so is good for vegans and those who are lactose intolerant and is also gluten-free and is easy to digest.

On it’s own quinoa tastes pretty much like nothing but has a wonderful texture and put with other lovely ingredients makes a fabulous salad.  Karin adapted a couscous recipe from her favourite recipe book, The Cake the Buddha Ate. I highly recommend you make this for a lovely hot summer’s day salad.

Ingredients

3 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup flaked almonds toasted
1 cup fresh coriander chopped chopped
1 cup tinned chickpeas – oops I forgot to put these in
1 cup red and yellow capsicum peppers chopped – I only had yellow
¼ cup dates chopped
¼ cup figs chopped
½ red onion chopped

Dressing

100ml olive oil
50ml apple cider vinegar
¼ tsp cinnamon powder
1 small garlic clover crushed
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Combine all the salad ingredients in a bowl.
2. Mix the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad and mix through.

Modified Must Make Muffins

Remember the Must Make Muffins, well they have just got a whole lot nicer.  I omitted the sugar altogether and have added a cup of grated carrot and a cup of grated sweet potato.  The mixture still needs to stand in the fridge overnight and is seriously worth the wait and because of the added ingredients, you will easily get another 12 muffins from the mixture.  I bake six to twelve at a time and with the mixture waiting in the fridge, I can have fresh hot muffins from the oven every morning for breakfast.  Fantastic!

Ingredients

1½ cups brown bread flour
1 cup bran
1 cup oats
3tsp bicarbonate of soda
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp ginger
1tsp nutmeg
1tsp salt
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped dates
2 cups grated apple
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup finely grated sweet potato
1 banana mashed ± ⅓ cup
2 eggs
4 tsp vanilla essence
¼ cup oil
2 cups milk

Method

1. Combine all of the ingredients, cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
3. Stir the ingredients and spoon into prepared muffin tins lined with paper cases.
4. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Remember to submit your Christmas Menu by 30 October to stand a chance of winning a copy of my Cook Book.