I've been saying for years that I wanted to start my blog but I have dedicated that 2016 to the year that I am actually going start posting to my blog....regularly (you can all keep me accountable).  So tonight this recipe is brought you by to Sur La Table. This recipe was sent to me yesterday by the lovely people at Sur and after reading it I knew I needed to make it.  So tonight after work I made a quick trip to Trader Joes and picked up what I needed.  I made a frew minor tweeks to the original recipe (don't worry I didn't change it too much).  This soup is great for a cool night.  Its super filling but somewhat heatlthy so I didn't feel guilty eating it (except for the amazing egg bread I had with it).  I hope you all enjoy!  Its going to make great leftovers, can we say lunch for the week?


Senegalese Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, cut into small dice
• 3 ribs celery, cut into small dice
• 3 large carrots, peeled cut into small dice
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into medium dice
• 4 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger
• 1 medium jalapeño, seeded and finely diced (or more if you like more spice)
• 1 bunch cilantro stems minced, leaves set aside for garnish
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes with juice
• ⅔ cup creamy (all natural, no sugar added) peanut butter
• 1 (12-oz) can coconut milk
• 7 oz baby spinach, roughly chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In a Dutch oven heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions, celery and carrots and sauté until onions are translucent. Add the sweet potatoes, garlic, ginger, jalapeños and cilantro stems and sauté until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in vegetable broth and chopped tomatoes and simmer until sweet potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.

Turn soup down to low and use and immersion blender to blend till mostly creamy but leave some chunks.  Add peanut butter and coconut milk, stir until thoroughly combined and peanut butter has melted. Add chopped spinach and cook for about 1 minute to wilt spinach. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

To serve: Divide soup between 4 soup bowls and garnish with cilantro leaves.

ENJOY!!!!

Chicken Chowder (recipe from Whole30)

½ tap salt
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp cayenne
1 rotisserie chicken, de-boned (white and dark meat) and diced
1 quart chicken broth
2 medium sweet potato (1 inch cube)
1 head broccoli, 1 in pieces stems included
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, finely diced
1 14.5 oz can coconut cream
Cilantro, minced
Lime, cut into wedges
½ small red onion diced

Add broth, salt, cumin, smoked paprika, and cayenne to a pot and bring to a boil, add diced sweet potatoes. Cook over high heat until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the broccoli, garlic, jalapeno, and coconut cream to the broth.  Reduce heat to medium high and boil for 15 minutes (or until broccoli is tender). Remove the pot from the heat.
Transfer the broth and vegetables from the pot to a food processor and blend until smooth.  Return blended broth and veggies to pot and add the chicken, sweet potatoes and cilantro. Return the pot to medium high heat, stir well and cook 5 minutes to reheat the chicken and sweet potatoes.

Garnish the chowder with fresh lime and finely diced onion.

Cardamon Yogurt and Mango Granola (Gluten/Grain Free)

Cardamom Yogurt

 Inspired  by a sample I had at Expo West from Straus Creamery.

2 cups (16oz) 2% Greek Yogurt

2 Tablespoons Milk (of your choice)

3 Tablespoons Honey

Dash of ground Cardamom

Dash of ground Cinnamon

Dash of ground nutmeg

Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl with a wisk.

Divide in to two bowls and top with diced pears, {local bee pollen} and Mango Granola.

* The amount of Milk, Cardamom, and honey can be adjusted to your liking depending your preference for constancy, taste and sweetness. 

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Mango Granola (Gluten/Grain Free)

Original recipe for this is from The Roasted Root, I swapped out the dried cranberries they used for the dried mango because mango goes with Cardamom so well and I knew I was going to be eating this with the Cardamom yogurt.

2 cups raw walnuts

2 cups raw cashews

1 cup raw pepitas

1 cup shredded (unsweetened) coconut

1 cup chopped dried mango

1 egg white

2 tablespoons water

3 tablespoons coconut oil

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon kosher salt

How To:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper (fold paper under if needed so nothing hangs over the pan). 
3.  Put the walnuts, cashews and pepitas in a food processor and pulse until the nuts are chopped into smaller pieces. 
4.  In mixing bowl wish the egg whites and water together until slightly foamy.
5.  Add the coconut oil, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and salt to the egg white mixture.
6. Add the chopped nuts , chopped mango, and shredded coconut to the mixing bowl, toss until everything is coated.
7. Spread the granola on your prepared sheet pan. 
8.  Bake for 30 minutes (stirring halfway through) until golden brown and crispy.  Since ovens vary you will want to keep an eye on the roasting process so you don't burn the nuts and you may need to make longer to achieve the golden crispy goal.
9. Remove the pan from the oven when done and let cook completely .  Break up the granola into clusters and enjoy.  Store any leftovers in an airtight container. 

First Post...

Coming up with what your first post is hard. 

Everyone go to my Instagram (@jennfromscratch) and comment on this post and let me know what recipe you would like me to start with.  Don't worry I will eventually post most (especially my recent posts) of the recipes that go with the posts.  I just need help knowing where to start.

I can't wait to start but I need your HELP!

Jenna