Sweet Potatoes with Cranberries and Greens
2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1/2 pound)
1/4 cup yellow onion, minced
3/4 cup vegetable stock, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
1/2 cup apple sauce, unsweetend
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
2/3 cup cranberries, halved
3 large leaves kale (or spinach), cut in thin strips
salt, to taste
1. Steam sweet potatoes until soft. Peel and cut into large dice. Put onion in a medium non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, cover, and sweat for 3 minutes, until onion just begins to brown and stick.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of the stock and stir to distribute color. Simmer until liquid evaporates and repeat process twice more. Add garlic, ginger, and another tablespoon stock, reduce to low heat and cook for 2 more minutes.
3. Mix spices into apple sauce and stir into onions in the skillet. Add sweet potatoes, cranberries, and 1/4 cup of the stock, and cover and simmer 5 or 6 minutes, until berries are tender.
4. Add kale and remaining stock, cover and cook until greens are tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir, season with salt, and serve. '
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I had a feeling I wouldn't be a huge fan of this dish - I don't often like sweet dishes, unless it's for dessert, but I decided to give it a try anyway. I had never used fresh cranberries before, so I was a little afraid to add a lot of them....
It was ok, but just as I suspected, a bit too sweet for my tastes....but my husband loved it! We kept calling it the christmas dish, because that's what it tasted like - christmas. I did like the combination of the sweet potatoes and kale, just maybe with different spices.
I made this last night with some seitan sausages and brown rice. I stuck to the recipe exactly except that I used a RED onion (that's all they had at the farmer's market) and a whole bunch of sweet potato greens instead of 3 leaves of kale.
It was really delicious, but probably too many steps for me for daily cooking. Would be a great special occasion or holiday side dish. I guess if I didn't measure out the spices and just eyeballed it, this would be an easier recipe.... It really did bring together the flavors of autumn! ;)b
WOW! I can't tell you how delicious this is! Very unusual combination of flavors that go together beautifully. I made a few slight changes, but otherwise I think this recipe is great: I slightly upped the amount of spices, used spinach instead of kale (but I'm sure kale would taste just as good or even better), and used a little less applesauce than called for (although next time I might use the amount called for -- I really loved the taste of the applesauce in there!). Thanks for such a great recipe!
this was ok...definetly was refreshing during dinner...but i agree that there could be less applesauce.
i guess i just prefer savory dished though