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Here are two recipes for your Father’s Day Celebration. Lime Sweet Potatoes with Rosemary Thyme Chicken.
Lime Sweet Potatoes Recipe:
Clean and wash the sweet potatoes. I like to use a potato brush accompanied by a vegetable wash. My “potato brush” is a dish brush with a cute flower handle that I use only for things like scrubbing root vegetables.
Once dry, cut the sweet potatoes into wedges or spears no more than 1/2 inch thick, but they can be as long as you like – it really depends on the size of the produce you end up with on any particular day. This time I used two large sweet potatoes, but in the past they have been much smaller, and so I ended up with smaller pieces.
Pour some olive oil into a small plate, you can use 1 tablespoon to begin with, and dip your wedges. Basically you will need as much olive oil as necessary to coat the entire surface of all the wedges evenly. Spread the sweet potatoes out on a foil covered cookie sheet spaced so that they do not touch one another. Squeeze lime juice over them liberally. Next, sprinkle them with crushed chili- as much or as little as you prefer. For this particular recipe I used Williams Sonoma crushed Aleppo Chili. If you have non spicy eaters, like children, you can substitute out the chili for a hint of paprika.
Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until you can easily press a fork into the thickest piece. If you have smaller wedges and you are concerned about burning, set the clock to 30 minutes and cook at 375 degrees. Then continue cooking at additional 5 minute timed intervals. You want them to start getting a little crispy and this is when you take them out of the oven.
The next step is really the trick to making this recipe work. Grill the wedges a few minutes on each side or until there are distinct grill marks. I have a grill surface on my stove but you can use an actual barbecue or a grill pan.
Now they are done and ready to eat. It is a very easy recipe and guaranteed to impress guests of all ages. And you can eat them with your fingers!
Rosemary Thyme Chicken Recipe:
Ingredients:
Chicken breast
Fresh Rosemary
Fresh Thyme
2 tbsp White ground pepper
2 tbsp Ground garlic powder
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lemon
Loving to eat healthy meant learning to cook and be creative. Never one to be particularly confident preparing chicken led to experimentation. Having an herb garden has certainly helped in the creativity department. Picking my own fresh herbs is a treat. Even when I lived in a small apartment there were herb plants on my balcony and in my kitchen window.
Next time you are shopping for fresh herbs I recommend taking a quick peek at any potted herbs, do a price comparison, and see if buying a plant makes more sense than buying it cut and packaged. This is especially true when shopping at a store such as Trader Joe’s. At times I have purchased a plant, used it, and then planted it in my garden.
Start off with a handful of fresh rosemary and fresh thyme. Interestingly I have two different kinds of each growing in the yard so I use them all together. Wash and dry them well. I like using a vegetable wash on my fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables. It is shocking to see how dirty the water becomes. Pull the leaves away from the stems by holding one end and running your fingers down the stem. Most of the rosemary and oregano will come right off. Do this over a cutting board. Chop up the herbs as much as possible, then place them on a small dish. Pour 1/4 cup olive oil over the fresh chopped herbs and let it rest for a few minutes.
In the second dish mix the ground pepper and garlic powder. You can always use black pepper instead of white pepper.First, take your chicken breast using tongs and cover both sides with the fresh herb and olive oil mixture. Then, dredge the chicken in the dry mixture making sure that the entire surface is covered in fresh and dried herbs. The last step is to cut and squeeze one lemon into the pyrex dish you are using to bake the chicken. Put the lemon halves in too. Bake at 350 degrees covered for 45 minutes. Then uncover and bake for another 10-15 minutes.
Portion: Usually I buy boneless skinless organic chicken that comes 3 in a pack.
I’ll be posting a creative use for the leftovers along with a new healthy original broccoli recipe on the way next week.
Happy Father’s Day!
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