This dip was a slam dunk! Southwestern Spiced Sweet Potato Fries with Chili-Cilantro Sour Cream

Look no further, you have found an AWESOME dip that is a MUST try!  Collar is popped, this wife and Momma gets a ten thumbs up, yeah Baby!  I have been wanting to make this since I came across the recipe and chose to make it as an appetizer for the family to munch on.

Excuse my lack of photography skills!

Just pull out your phone or pencil and old-school shopping list because I’m going to start off with listing the ingredients and you WILL want to make this over the next few days.  It’s OMNIVORE & KID APPROVED and I would imagine a great dip for veggies or shh, chips.  (Oh come on, like you don’t crave them every so often… healthy or not!)

Ok, shopping list… are you ready?  You will need:

• 2 large sweet potatoes, cut in large matchsticks
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chile powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 cup vegan sour cream (I used Tofutti)  (now for the dip)
• 1 -2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 -4 tsp sweet chili sauce (I liked it with more)
• 1 small garlic clove minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 heaping tbsp chopped cilantro

I used the food processor to make the fries uniform in size which obviously helps with the cooking time and obviously, cuts back on prep time.

Southwestern Spiced Sweet Potato Fries

Preheat oven to 425.  Toss potatoes and olive oil in a large bowl.  Combine salt, cumin, chile powder, paprika, pepper and cayenne in a small ball and then add spices to potatoes and toss to coat.  Arrange on baking sheet and back 12-15 minutes, then toss and bake for ten minutes.  (The last ten minutes I put the convection oven on).  Remove and dip away!

Chili-Cilantro Sour Cream

Combine everything but the cilantro in a bowl and whisk together, add cilantro and mix.

Whether you are a party of one or need a dish for a party, this is a great alternative to the  others.  The original recipe may be found at food52.com which is one of my go-to places to find some delish dishes!

Try it!

-M

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Vegan, Simple, Fast and Delish! KID APPROVED Jason Wrobel’s Cilantro Lime Pesto Pasta is a MUST TRY!

“Dinner is ready!!!!!”

Have you ever heard a child SCREAM because his entire meal is green and they decide that, due to color, it will not taste good?  (Let’s not kid ourselves, children aren’t the only ones)

After an absolute dinner FAIL the other night, my guilty conscious went recipe hunting and landed on Jason Wrobel’s recipe for Cilantro Lime Pesto Pasta.  (Jason is a Vegan cook and also has the Cooking Channel’s, “How to Live to 100” a new, humorous but educational show that just aired for the first time Sunday.  Check it out, it’s worth it!)

Dinner was served in record timing due to the fact that the recipe is filed under the category of “easy” so even a non-cook can’t mess it up. (Ahem)  I made my signature “No less than 15 ingredient salad” and you see the end result which I was pretty proud of.  My one son, on the other hand, gave me an expression that I will do my best to imitate…

“Really???  Green pasta?  Oh no… are those…(dun dun dunnnnnn) OLIVES??  Great, another Mom dinner fail”

(Ironic Mommy side note:  Even when we make zucchini pasta, it isn’t as “green” as this dish.  Not that it should matter but if only this kid KNEW what he ate at times!”)

I was hoping that this would at least make up for my last disaster and not only did it, it far EXCEEDED the expectations of everyone.  What a DELICIOUS spin on pesto!  My only addition were some roasted organic cherry tomatoes that I threw in the oven while the pasta cooked to add some more color.  It was like winning the lottery you guys, I had five very happy FULL people and I was redeemed!  “Mmmmm’s” and “ohmygodthisissogood” came from the (full) mouth’s of babes so with that said, I recommend for you to TRY IT!

 

(No animals were injured, hurt (or eaten 🙂  ) during this cell phone photo shoot.  This Jersey girl likes her leopard, what do you want me to say.)

So what do you need?

• olive oil
• pasta (we used a lb instead of 8oz. with the remaining amounts of ingredients)
• 1 cup black olives, pitted and quartered
• 1/2 red pepper, diced
• 1/4 raw pumpkin seeds
• 2 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, preferably cold pressed
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, plus more for garnish
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons nama shoyu or tamari (oops, I did forget this one)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• pinch cayenne pepper
• hemp seeds, for garnish (and this one)

Directions

Make the pasta according to directions.  Original directions called for a tablespoon of olive oil in the boiling water which I chose to skip.  Once al dente, drain and empty into a mixing bowl where you want to add the olives, red bell peppers and pumpkin seeds and mix well.

Easy pesto:  Grab your Vitamixer/blender or food processor and put basil, olive oil, cilantro, pine nuts, lime juice, garlic, nama shoyu, salt, pepper and cayeene and blend.  Combine the pasta with pesto and mix well.  Serve with a sprinkle of hemp seeds, black olives and pine nuts.  I also roasted some cherry tomatoes and added them for more color.

To view the original recipe click here