Roasted Sweet Potato & White Bean Dip

2 cups peeled, diced sweet potatoes
2 large whole garlic cloves, peeled
2 tbsp olive oil, dived
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
3 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp each cumin and sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne

In a small bowl combine sweet potatoes, garlic and 1 tbsp olive oil. Mix well. Transfer mixture to a small baking pan. Roast uncovered at 425F for about 20 minutes until are tender. Stir occasionally. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Add roasted potatoes, garlic, 1 tbsp oil and all remaining ingrediants to a food processor. Pulse on and off until mixture is smooth. Add water if needed. Chill at least 3 hours before serving to let flavours delveop. Serve with cucumber (if you like that sort of thing), red peppers, rice crackers or pita wedges.

Serving: 1/4 Cup   106 calories

Recipe from The LooneySpoons Collection via Leader Post (Feb 2, 2013)

Thai Mango Salad

• 1/2 cup (125 mL) coarsely chopped peanuts
• 2 firm mangoes, (about 2 lbs/1 kg)
• 1 sweet red pepper
• 2 carrots, coarsely grated
• 4 cups (1 L) torn mixed greens.php">greens
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) thinly sliced green onions
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) coarsely chopped fresh mint
• Dressing:
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) vegetable oil
• 1 tsp (5 mL) grated lime rind
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) lime juice
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) fish sauce or soy sauce
• 2 tsp (10 mL) granulated sugar
• 1 tsp (5 mL) minced hot pepper
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) each salt and pepper

Preparation

In skillet, toast peanuts over medium heat until fragrant and dark golden, about 8 minutes. Set aside.

Peel, pit and thinly slice mangoes lengthwise. Seed, core and thinly slice red pepper. Set aside.

Dressing: In large bowl, whisk together oil, lime rind and juice, fish sauce, sugar, hot pepper, salt and pepper. Add mangoes, red pepper, carrots, mixed greens, green onions and mint; toss to coat. Serve sprinkled with peanuts

recipe from Canadian Living

Holiday Sugar Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg over; stir to blend well. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead gently 1 minute. Shape dough into 1/2-inch-thick rectangle. Cut into 4 equal pieces; wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 3 hours and up to 1 day. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter large baking sheet. Working with 1 dough piece at a time, roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness, lifting and turning dough often and dusting surface very lightly with flour to prevent sticking. Using floured 3- to 4-inch cutters, cut out cookies. Pull away excess dough from around cookies. Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheet, spacing 1 inch apart (cookies will not spread). If using cookies as hanging ornaments, push 1 end of drinking straw through dough near top of each cookie; lift straw, then remove small dough round from straw. Gently reroll dough scraps; cut out more cookies. Transfer to same sheet.

Bake cookies until light brown, about 11 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on sheet. Transfer cookies to rack; cool.

Repeat with remaining dough pieces, baking 1 sheet of cookies at a time. Cool baking sheet completely and butter sheet lightly between batches

Recipe from epicurious

Christmas Morning Butterscotch Buns

Mix dry ingredients

2 cups flour

2 tbls white sugar

4 tsp baking power

1 tsp salt

Cut in 1/4 cup butter or margerine

Make a well in centre. 

Pour in 1 cup milk

Stir to make soft dough

Filling

1/3 cup butter or margerine

3/4 cup brown sugar

(I also add a little butterscotch pudding powder)

Roll out dough & spread with filling. 

Roll up into a cylinder & cut into buns.

Place in buttered 8 x 8 pan. 

Bake @ 425 for 15-20 minutes.

[eat & think about Christmas morning & how much we love you]

Moroccan Chicken with Apricots and Almonds

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tbsp powdered ginger
• 1/2 tbsp turmeric
• 6 chicken thighs, bone-in, and skin-on
• 2 medium onions, chopped into 1/2″ (1cm) cubes
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 small bushel of parsley, tied into a bouquet
• 1 small bushel of cilantro, tied into a bouquet (optional)
• 2 cups of water
• 2 cups dried apricots
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 sticks of cinnamon
• handful of blanched and sliced almonds
• 2 cups of couscous

1. In a 4 quart (4l) dutch oven or other heavy cooking pot, heat vegetable oil until hot (but not smoking).  Add spices to oil, and fry them up until they are fully mixed in with the oil and start to release their aromas.  Frying spices is an Indian cooking technique, that I’ve adapted to this dish.  It unlocks their flavor and releases their full potential, IMO
2. Add the chicken thighs to the oil and spice mixture, and brown on both sides.  Remove from heat and set aside for reintroduction back to the dutch over a bit later
3. Add diced onions to the same dutch oven you just fried the chicken thighs in, and soften the onions for 5-10 minutes
4. Add garlic and saute for an additional 2-3 minutes.  Be careful!  Garlic burns quickly.
5. Place chicken thighs back into dutch oven, and add parsley (and optionally, cilantro) bouquet
6. Cover with Chicken stock until the liquid level is almost covering the chicken thighs, but not entirely.  This Moroccan Chicken dish results in a thick stew, and NOT a soup, so don’t add too much liquid
7. Bring the dutch oven up to a near boil, and turn down to low to cook for 55-60 minutes
8. Meanwhile, add water, apricots, honey, and cinnamon to a small sauce pan, and bring to a boil.  Reduce down until the liquid is about 1/3 of the original water volume, and apricots are soft and tender
9. At about 40 minutes of cooking the dutch oven on low, add the contents of the small pot with apricots to the dutch oven, and mix well.  Let this simmer of another 15-20 minutes, and remove off heat
10. Place almonds on a baking sheet under the broiler, and toast for 1-2 minutes, occasionally tossing the almonds to mix them

Plate the Moroccan chicken over a bed of couscous, and sprinkle with toasted almonds.  Garnish with additional parsley (and/or cilantro).  Make sure everyone has plenty of apricots on their plate too - they are amazing when prepared this way

This was delicious! Make sure to cover the pot about 1/2 way through so that the juice doesn't reduce too much!

Recipe from Cooking in HD

Avocado Chimichurri Bruschetta

2 ripe avocado
¼ cup parsley, chopped
¼ cup cilantro
½ shallot, finely diced
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp honey
olive oil
salt and pepper
thickly sliced Italian bread
1 garlic clove, peeled and cut in half.

Cut the avocados in half, remove pits and cut into cubes. Combine avocados, parsley, cilantro, shallots, vinegar, honey, olive oil. Season mixture with salt and pepper. Brush olive oil on slices of bread and grill on each side until toasted. Rub cut side of garlic on grilled bread and serve immediately.

Hot Corn Dip

2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups corn kernels
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup yellow onion, chopped
¼  cup red bell pepper, chopped
¼ cup chopped green onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
2 tsp garlic, chopped
¼ cup mayonnaise
½ cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
¼ tsp cayenne
½ cup sharp cheese, grated
Melt  1 tbsp of butter in a pan. Add the corn and season with salt and pepper and sauté until the corn started to turn golden brown, about 5 mins. Remove from pan and set aside. Melt the remaining butter in the same pan. Add the onion and pepper, sauté until softened about 2 min. Mix the corn, onions, peppers, mayonnaise, cheese and cayenne in a bowl. Pour the mixture into a baking pan and top with cheddar cheese. Cook till bubbling, about 10-20 minutes.