Sweet Potato Queso and No Excuses for the Swampy Solstice

Excuses. We live by them, alas. God forbid we die by them. Why don’t we eat healthy? I love this new cookbook by Megan Gilmore No Excuses Detox which exists to debunk the heavy hitters, like, I don’t have enough time, or it’s too expensive, or I am too hungry and can’t control my cravings. What I love about this book is the simplicity of the recipes, which are speedy and mostly vegetarian. I also love the attention to cost with the estimated cents per serving. My CSA puts a box full of vegetables together for $20 each week, and then I get the fun of finding new ways to love carrots and sweet potatoes and kale and tomatoes and peppers. Here are a few of my recent favorites.

I recall once ordering queso at a vegan restaurant before I knew that it was a vegan restaurant. There should be a rule enforcing vegan advertising. I recall that the “queso” was horrible. And behold, total redemption of vegan queso.

Sweet Potato Queso, What?

Adapted from No Excuses

1 cup sweet potato, mashed

½ cup water

1 ½ tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

¼ cup nutritional yeast (what an awesome ingredient)

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cup pico de gallo (below)

Combine everything but the pico in a mixer and blend until smooth. Then put in a saucepan and heat and add pico. Then add chips.

 

Pico de Gallo

Adapted from No Excuses Detox

1 pound tomatoes, diced

½ cup red onion, diced

½ cup diced green bell pepper

1 jalapeno chile, diced

4 cloves garlic

1 TB lime juice

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp fine sea salt

Combine all together. Duh.

 

Then try these:

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Adapted from No Excuses

½ cup flour

1 cup sugar

¼ cup coconut oil

6 eggs

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

Pinch of sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 ½ cups carrots, shredded

Set oven at 350. Whisk all the dry ingredients. Add the wet. Then the carrot shreds. Bake for about 20 minutes until the fork thing happens.

To make frosting, just whip like ½ cup of heavy whipping cream in a chilled mixing bowl, and add 1 tsp sugar.

Stay safe in tropical storm Cindy, New Orleans. It”s a a swampy solstice. Thanks Chain of Fools, it was a lovely night to social ride.