Sweet Potato Fritters

Fritters are delicious bundles of fried happiness. These fritters are made from sweet potatoes, so you can even pretend they're healthy!

• 1 large cooked, peeled, mashed sweet potato (about 1 pound) Bake in the oven for about an hour or heat in the microwave for 8-10 minutes until soft. After it is soft, the peel should come off pretty easily- just and try not to burn your fingers!
  

• 3 tablespoons canola oil (or what is needed to fry your fritters)
  
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 15-oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• egg replacer for one egg (I used Ener-G)
• 1/4 cup water
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
   
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 6 minutes
3. Add beans, 1 teaspoon paprika and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 2 minutes. Separate into two portions. Cover and set aside.
4. Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, the remaining teaspoon paprika and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Add the mashed sweet potato and combine.
5. Add egg replacer and water to half the bean/onion mixture. Add this to the cornmeal mixture and stir until just combined.
6. Heat the oil in a pan. Form the mixture into 8 circularish fritters- about 1/4 cup of the mixture each. Fry each fritter in the oil for about 2 minutes on each side until browned.
   
7. Place the fritters on a baking sheet and bake about 8-10 minutes until firm. Serve with the remaining onion/bean mixture and a nice salad.

Makes about 8 Fritters

Calories 314

Calories from Fat 58
Total Fat 6.5g
Saturated Fat 0.6g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 20mg
Total Carbohydrates 51.6g
Dietary Fiber 10.4g
Sugars 3.3g

Cucumber Onion Dill Salad

Apparently I am on a salad kick. I blame the heat. Who wants to eat hearty, heavy food when it's hot? Leave those until the sun goes down! In the mean time, here is a simple salad to get you through your day.

• 2 cucumbers sliced into thin circles- I've always partially peeled these- meaning I partially remove the peel in lengthwise strips using a vegetable peeler leaving a little skin between each strip. I have no idea why I do this other than it's what my mom did. If anyone knows the reason behind this, I'd love to hear it!
• 1 red onion cut in half and then into thin slices. Separate the layers of the strips so you are left with thin half moon shapes
• 6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried dill or 1/4 cup fresh chopped dill
• salt and pepper to taste
  

1. Add the vinegar, sugar, dill, salt, and pepper in a bowl (with a lid) and mix until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Mix in cucumber and onions.
3. Put the lid on the bowl and shake, shake, shake! You can eat this right away, but I find it's better if you let it sit for a couple hours before eating.

4 Servings Amount Per Serving

Calories 54

Calories from Fat 2
Total Fat 0.2g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 6mg
Total Carbohydrates 12.4g
Dietary Fiber 0.9g
Sugars 8.9g
Protein 1.1g

Perfect Picnic Potato Salad

Today is hot. It is the first day it has felt like summer. The A/C is on and Buster is sprawled out on the wood floor. It's a perfect time for salads- and I don't mean healthy, greens based salad. I'm talking rich, gooey, tangy potato salad. This salad is great for barbeques, picnics, etc. If you can get it out the door without eating it all, that is.

• 5 lbs potatoes (I've used several different varieties of potatoes in this recipe and I like red potatoes the best)
  
• 3-5 stalks of celery cut into slices
  
• 1/2 cup Vegenaise or other vegan mayo- I like Vegenaise the best
  
• 1/4 cup yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon Paprika
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
  
• 1/4 -1/2 cup dill pickle relish
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces. Boil these in water for 20 minutes or so- until they are tender enough that a fork easily goes into them but not so tender that they fall apart.
2. Drain the potatoes and cool- I am impatient and end up putting them in the freezer to help them cool faster- you want them to be room temperature or colder (but not frozen)
3. Put potatoes in a bowl (I use the bowl I'm going to serve them in so there aren't more dishes to clean). Add all the ingredients and mix it all up. This is definitely the kind of recipe you should make how you like it- all of the ingredients can be tweaked until you get the combination that takes you to food heaven. You can also add things like Bac-o's Bacon Flavor Bits (yes- they are vegan), onions, and anything else you think would be good.
   

10 Servings Amount Per Serving

Calories 243

Calories from Fat 70
Total Fat 7.8g
Saturated Fat 0.9g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 198mg
Total Carbohydrates 39.3g
Dietary Fiber 6.0g
Sugars 4.5g
Protein 4.2g

Lentil Soup

There is something comforting about parsley in soup. It's sort of earthy and homey and just plain delicious. I recently planted my very first vegetable garden- and one of the things I planted was parsley. This hearty, filling, healthy soup is made using this parsley- the very first product from my garden. Hopefully everything I make with ingredients from my garden is this good!

• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
  
• 1 cup dried lentils (soak in cool water for a couple hours before using)
• 1 smallish white onion, diced
  
• 4-5 carrots, diced
• 4-5 stalks of celery, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (like I said- I love parsley- you can use less if you want)
• 4 cups veggie broth (I used 2 Not Ckick'n cubes because it's my favorite)
• Salt and lots of fresh ground pepper to taste
  

1. Saute the onions, garlic, celery and carrots in the olive oil until soft (about 5 minutes)
2. Add the parsley and saute until you can smell the parsley
3. Mix in the lentils, broth, salt and pepper
4. Let this all simmer for about 45 minutes until the lentils are soft. Done!

4 servings: Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving
Calories 240
Calories from Fat 37
Total Fat 4.2g
Saturated Fat 0.6g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 64mg
Total Carbohydrates 38.0g
Dietary Fiber 17.2g
Sugars 5.0g
Protein 13.6g

This recipe brought to you by the Freelance Whales album "Weathervanes"