Mexican Loaded Sweet Potato Fries

The other day I came across a post called Habit Shift: Meal Prep, where author Erin Boyle offers tips on developing the habit of prepping for meals in advance. For example, try scrubbing and chopping sweet potatoes in the morning or the night before instead of right before dinner. Which made me think, it’s all about habit shifting, isn’t it? The journey for Alex and I over the past 8 years of cooking together has been one of shifting habits: completely changing our minds about the way we eat to focus on fresh, home-cooked meals instead of frozen or packaged ones. And it hasn’t been that hard, it’s just been a change. It’s reaching for a handful of nuts and dried cherries for a snack instead of potato chips. Or chopping up veggies for a stir fry or curry instead of dumping flavor packets into a skillet and stirring. It’s not painful, it’s just a different way of thinking.

We certainly still don’t have it all figured out, but we’re getting closer. For us, prepping most meals on the weekends suits us, and we’ve found a few easy meals that work on weeknights.  It’s not glamorous or perfect, but it works. And each time we cook, we learn more about what works. In this phase of life, roasting whole sweet potatoes for 1 hour before dinner doesn’t work, but cutting potatoes into fries in advance and roasting for 25 minutes might.

If you’ve been with us from the beginning, you’ll know we have a slight obsession with sweet potatoes, as well as with Mexican flavors. Combined, the two compliment each other perfectly. And what better than sweet potato fries? While fries may sound indulgent, these are actually quite nourishing: basically roasted sweet potatoes with black beans, salsa, and a lime “crema” made out of tahini. Sweet potato fries don’t end up quite as crispy as russet potatoes, but the sweet, gooey potatoes against the zesty topping is fantastically satisfying.

How about you — what habits have you shifted to cook more at home? Or what habits would you like to shift?

A few of our favorite sweet potato recipes: 

• Roasted Two-Potato Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
• Lentil and Goat Cheese Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
• Loaded Sweet Potato Skins with Pinto Beans
• Roasted Nourish Bowl
• Loaded Sweet Potato Rounds (a fan favorite!)
• Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas (another fan favorite!)

*For a dairy-free or vegan option, omit the feta cheese.

Mexican Loaded Sweet Potato Fries

 

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by: a Couple Cooks

Serves: 4

What You Need

• 3 pounds sweet potatoes
• ¼ cup olive oil, divided
• 1½ teaspoons garlic powder
• 1¾ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 limes
• 2 ½ tablespoons tahini
• 1 tablespoon Mexican hot sauce (Cholula)
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 15-ounce can black beans
• 1 cup salsa
• ½ cup feta crumbles (optional, omit for dairy-free or vegan)
• Fresh cilantro, for garnish

What To Do

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. Wash the sweet potatoes, leaving on the skin. Slice off the ends of each potato, then slice the potato in half lengthwise. Place the potato half cut side down and cut off a ¼-inch slice, then lay the slice on its side and cut it into several long strips. Repeat until all potatoes have been cut into fries. (See this video for inspiration, though our method is slightly different.) The pieces can be uneven, but aim for as uniform of thickness as possible.
3. Place the fries in a large bowl; drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil, then add 1½ teaspoons garlic powder, 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, 1 tablespoon chili powder, and 2½ tablespoons cornstarch. Mix thoroughly to combine. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread the fries on the paper, placing them as far apart as possible.
4. Bake 15 minutes on one side, then flip the fries and bake 10 to 20 additional minutes until the fries are dry and slightly browned; watch them carefully as the cooking time can depend on the thickness and the heat of your oven. (If the majority of the fries seem soft, continue to cook.)
5. Meanwhile, make the cumin lime "crema": finely mince 1 garlic clove and juice 2 limes. In a small bowl, stir together garlic and ¼ cup lime juice with 2 ½ tablespoons tahini, 1 tablespoon Mexican hot sauce (Cholula), 1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon cumin, and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt.
6. Drain and rinse the black beans and sprinkle with a few pinches kosher salt.
7. When the fries are done, cool for about 5 minutes, then serve immediately. Some fries may be slightly soft, but the outside of the majority of the fries will be crispy. (Note: Fries are best right out of the oven; they become softer as they sit.) To serve, top the fries with black beans, cumin lime "crema", salsa, feta crumbles and cilantro leaves.

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This post is sponsored by North Carolina Sweet Potatoes; all opinions expressed are our own. As you know, there’s not much we love more than the humble sweet potato. Thank you for supporting the partners that keep A Couple Cooks in action!

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If your health goals are only skin deep, will you ever be happy?

Lesson Study? There’s an App for That

3 Tips to Alleviate Pain from Dental Braces

It can be a challenge going through the discomforts of orthodontic treatments. To provide assistance, here are 3 tips on how to alleviate pain from dental braces: Oral Anesthetic Orajel and Anbesol are a few pain relievers that can be applied directly to your teeth and gums. Use a cotton swab or your finger to […]

The post 3 Tips to Alleviate Pain from Dental Braces appeared first on Lakewood Orthodontics.

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Tart Cherry Granola Smoothie Bowls

Tart cherry smoothie bowls with cherry almond granola | Dairy-free, gluten-free, refined-sugar free

Looks like it’s breakfast week on A Couple Cooks! In addition to these chai waffles, we’ve created these delicious tart cherry smoothie bowls as part of our work with cherries for the Cherry Marketing Institute. We used frozen Montmorency tart cherries as the basis for a smoothie, lightly sweetened with maple syrup and a bright squeeze of lemon juice, and topped it with dried cherry almond granola. It’s one of our favorites yet. It’s also incredibly versatile, as it’s vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, refined-sugar free, gluten-free — basically, almost anyone can eat it!

For the full recipe, head over to our Smoothie in a Bowl post on ChooseCherries.com.

We’re working with the Cherry Marketing Institute to create a few recipes with tart cherries. A bit of info on them if you are interested: Montmorency tart cherries are mainly grown on small family orchards in the US and Canada (yeah!), and are available year round dried, frozen, and as juice in grocery stores and online. We love them for their taste, but they’re also rich in nutrients, with health benefits ranging from inflammation and exercise recovery to sleep. They’re a great snack since they can fulfill that sweet craving — you can eat them plain right out of the container (our favorite!) or pair with nuts or seeds, which makes for a fantastic combo of fiber and protein. Check out more details about Montmorency tart cherries and their nutritional benefits here.

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The Secret Tool for Boosting My Workout (That I’m Embarrassed to Tell You About)

There’s some stigma attached to certain “health” items, and at times us men don’t want to admit that the ladies are onto something.

One such item that I recently came across is what can only be described as “shape wear for men.” I have to admit that I immediately dismissed the idea as ridiculous. Fortunately, thanks to my browser’s cookies, I was bombarded by ads for weeks until I decided to look into it more and see if there was any truth to the fad.

Now the ladies out there reading this may be laughing because – let’s face it, women have been modifying their midsections for centuries. From corsets, to awkward pregnancy support garments, to post-partum belly wrapping: the ladies are not unfamiliar with the idea of wrapping things around their waist for beauty and fashion.

The interesting thing is that more men are also getting familiar with waist clinchers and compression belts. The belts may not deliver on all the promises made by some of their suppliers and manufacturers. However, fact remains that compression belts can be used to speed healing and reduce back ache. They’re also helping some men, like me, concentrate on their core with proper form while working out – which translates into real results.

I finally decided to try one out. I purchased an inexpensive compression trainer from an online retailer. Though they took about a week to deliver, the progress I’ve been seeing with everything they mentioned is more than making up for it. It was totally worth the wait and really helping me re-build my core.

I wear it to the gym under my workout clothes and it helps me remember to bend, lift, and squat in better form. I honestly believe it’s contributing to my noticeable results in a fairly short amount of time. Coincidence? I think not!

I won’t make any claims that it’s helped me lose inches or reduce fat, and it does make me sweat buckets during workouts. But, if you don’t buy into the hype of the outrageous “too good to be true” claims and recognize that it’s just a tool like any other – you’ll do well. We both know that no size or type of compression belt for men is going to work miracles for you bro – only proper diet and exercise can do that.

That being said, the belt I bought helps me recover faster from workouts and ease up my back pain on days when I over did it the day before. It’s also discrete enough that no one could possibly know that I have it on.

Not that I’m anxious to show it off – I don’t think I could take the taunts, whispers, and stares. I might get flashbacks to 7th grade gym class!

Bear in mind is that you really have to measure yourself right because the sizing is different from regular clothes. I learned this one the hard way and had to be sent another size. I recommend taking an extra 10 minutes to work with a customer service rep while ordering to make sure you are getting the right one.

Also, when you get it and try it on it will feel just a bit snug (which is incidentally the point of a “compression belt”) but it will still be comfortable and get the job done.

We may think it’s girly, but the truth is that my abs are already looking flatter and more defined than before and it’s helping me train and build my core. I’m a convert for sure – now I just have to wait for the rest of you to catch up so we can all discuss how to best utilize this new tool. IN the meantime, you won’t see me changing into my street clothes out in the open – I’ll be hiding my waist trainer from the rest of you.

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How Can Parents Help Advance Ideas About Education?

The following excerpt is from the book “Freedom to Learn” by Will Richardson. 

Tradition and Nostalgia 

Without question, the biggest barrier to rethinking schooling in response to the changing worldscape is our own experience in schools. It’s what we know, and as educators or parents, the familiar feels safe to us and for our kids. Intellectually, we may be able to make sense of the argument laid out in this book, that the world has changed, that being a learner is more important than being learned, and that for our kids to have the best chance of success in the world, they have to be able to flourish in freedom. In DIY U (as in “Do It Yourself University”), author Anya Kamenetz (2010) explores the many new potential paths to becoming educated in the abundantly connected world and interviews a number of parents who expressed just those sentiments but were unable to “sanction” any different type of school experience for their kids. Read the comments on any article about progressive ideas in education in the New York Times or elsewhere, and you get the sense that most are still in the business of doubling down on doing better on traditional outcomes rather than rethinking the whole concept.

To be brutally honest, I’ve struggled with this myself. In fact, looking back on it, given the chance to do it over with my own children, I’m pretty sure I would have done it much differently when it came to their schooling. Don’t get me wrong—my kids weren’t seriously harmed by school, and their teachers, for the most part, were good, caring people who were doing their best given the pressures of policy and parents and tradition. But it could have been so very much better than it was when it came to giving them an environment that honored their own learning and developed them as curious, creative, passionate learners in the world. I’ll admit, on some level, to feeling a great deal of sadness about that. I’ve been asked on numerous occasions why we didn’t pull our kids out of school or find more progressive schooling alternatives for them. I’ve been called a hypocrite, in fact. And I totally understand why.

It’s no excuse, but my enlightenment around these issues came very late in my life. By the time I fully understood learning in both the traditional and modern sense, my kids were too entrenched in their social circles and activities to consider pulling them out. Instead, we’ve tried to “co-school” them, encourage them to pursue their passions and learning outside school, and limit the deleterious effects of standardization and control as much as possible. This has not been easy.

So how do educators move to help teachers and parents and community members to a place where they have modern convictions about schooling and the courage to advocate for them? In a word, we work to educate them. If we are convinced that learning environments that give students more agency and freedom over their own learning are what our students need and we are committed to bringing those environments into our schools, then we have to make that case to all members of the school community. I’ve seen superintendents do this by engaging in book studies with parent groups, sharing curated readings with them through newsletters and websites, and actively engaging community members in discussions about the future and our efforts to ready our kids for it.

Will Richardson is a parent, former educator and author of “Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere.” This excerpt is from his latest book, “Freedom to Learn.”

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