recipe – Peach Pear Plum Cafe

Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad

Posted on September 17, 2018September 17, 2018 by peachpearplumcafe

Yes this recipe is tasty even though it is a vegetarian recipe. Most people assume that if it’s all natural, organic and vegetarian that it probably doesn’t taste that good. Well, this will have you questioning that belief. The mixture of sweetness from the cinnamon flavored sweet potatoes and raisins verses the tangyness from the mustard flavored dressing and onion will send your taste buds into a frenzy. Now I can’t say that its vegan mainly because there is honey in the dressing, but boy is it close. I hope you enjoy these flavors as much as I do.

Serving Size: 4 to 6

Ingredients:

Salad

2 Large Sweet Potatoes peeled and cubed
3 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
2 to 3 cups cooked Quinoa
6 cups Spinach and Arugula salad mix
1 Red Onion thinly sliced
1 cup of Walnuts or Pecans
1 cup of Raisins or Craisins

Salad Dressing

2 to 3 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
3 to 4 tbsp Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black pepper
1/4 cup Honey
1 to 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 clove Garlic finely chopped or 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Wash and peel/skin sweet potatoes. Cut them into small cubes and place in medium size bowl. Add the olive oil and salt and pepper. Make sure sweet potato cubes are coated well with olive oil, salt and pepper before spreading onto the baking sheet.
Bake sweet potatoes for 45 to 50 minutes in the oven.
While sweet potatoes bake, whisk together Salad Dressing Ingredients to your liking. Cover and set it in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Boil the quinoa in a medium sauce pan with 4 quarts water for 10 minuntes.
Drain the water from the quinoa and let it cool in a medium bowl.
Wash and dry spinach and arugula and place in large bowl.
Peel a red onion and thinly slice before adding it to the leafy greens.
Sprinkle in preferred nuts and raisins.
Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and sprinkle them with cinnamon. Let them cool before mixing them with the cooked quinoa.
Add a small amount of the dressing to the sweet potato and quinoa mix and stir until well blended.
Add the remainder of the dressing to the salad portion and mix well. Serve in bowls and top with sweet potato and quinoa mix.

Enjoy a sweet and tangy vegetarian mix while indulging in great conversations with loved ones. Tasty and healthy, such a win, win!

Thanks for the inspiration SkinnyMs blog. You came up with a great recipe that I tweaked just a bit :). It’s one for the recipe book. And it’s such a great one to save for the fall season!

Katie

PeachPearPlum

Potato and Lentil Soup

Posted on August 20, 2018 by peachpearplumcafe

I’ve been working on my future cafe menu, and I am doing my best to meet the needs of a wide range of people and their ‘diets.’ Many of my past students with special needs had and still have food allergies or sensitives to certain foods. Reactions range from rashes to behavior challenges, so it’s important to me to make sure to have homemade options on the menu that are dairy free, no meat, etc. I have purchased multiple vegan baking books, recipe magazines, etc. I tend to utilize many of these outlets but some how still tweak recipes to make them more my cup of tea.

This soup is purely vegetarian. It’s made with fresh veggies and herbs and spices. Don’t worry, I’ve included a few short cuts to help you during the process.

Ingredients: (serves 8 to 10)

1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1 small bag of Yukon gold potatoes chopped
1 bag of lentils
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves of diced garlic
6 oz can of tomato paste
8 oz of chopped kale
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
8 cups veggie broth
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp coriander

Directions:

Using a Crock-pot or large stove pot pour in the olive oil, garlic and diced yellow onion. Let it heat up and cook for a little while until barely sauteed.
Pour in the broth and tomato paste. Stir until well blended.
Add in the celery, carrots, potatoes and lentils (make sure all veggies are washed and cleaned before adding to the soup).
Sprinkle in the salt and pepper, paprika, coriander and ground cumin (to taste) and stir (let it come to a boil if using the stove top).
Add in the chopped kale and then cover.
If you are using a crock-pot, cook on high for 6 to 8 hours. If you are using the stove top, cook at medium high heat (low boil) for 3 to 5 hours (may need to go down to medium low heat once boiling).
Make sure to stir occasionally and taste. You may want to add more seasoning depending on your taste buds.

Hope you enjoy this soup as much as I do. It’s pleasing to the nose and the body. Hoping to bring you more enjoyable dishes that benefit your health and is simple to make.

– Katie

Pumpkin Pecan Muffins

Posted on October 14, 2017October 14, 2017 by peachpearplumcafe

Fall is here and these muffins welcome the season with wonderful pumpkin and pecan flavors! A simple yet flavorful muffin to satisfy your taste buds. I mixed the pumpkin flavors from my pumpkin pie scones recipe with the awesome pecan topping from my sweet potato casserole dish. These are oh so delicious and so satisfying with each bite.

Ingredients

Dry

2 ½ cups flour

2 cups sugar

½ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin spice

Wet

3 eggs

1 and 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pecan Mixture

1 cup flour

8 tbsp butter melted

3/4 cup pecans chopped

1 cup brown sugar

Directions

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees
Prep a regular muffin tin (24 count) with foil cups or butter the muffin tin. Or use 2 mini muffin tins 24 count each (for a total of 48).
Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Use a whisk to make sure it is mixed well.
Whisk together the wet ingredients.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients until well blended.
To make the pecan mixture, melt the butter in a small pot on the stove. Sprinkle in flour, brown sugar and chopped pecans. Mix well, until flour is not longer visible.
Carefully fold in 3/4 of the pecan mixture until evenly blended.
Using two regular spoons, scoop and scrape muffin ingredients into the muffin tins evenly.
Sprinkle the rest of the pecan mixture over the tops of each muffin.
Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes if using regular muffin tin. Bake for 12 to 18 minutes if using mini muffin tins.
When muffins are ready (when the toothpick or knife comes out clean from center of a muffin) remove from oven and let cool.
Plate them and enjoy!

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy them!

Katie

Turkey Cranberry Pinwheels

Posted on October 8, 2017 by peachpearplumcafe

As we enter into October I have started to long for fall foods. And not just your traditional pumpkin flavors but those amazing Thanksgiving flavors of turkey and cranberry. It is such a lovely combo that I just had to make these delicious pinwheels. Trust me you’ll love them!

Ingredients

6 oz whipped cream cheese

½ cup of avocado cilantro dressing

2 lbs of Turkey meat

1 container of sprouts or spinach

10 large flour tortillas, spinach tortillas or flat bread

1 cup of dried cranberries

ClingWrap

Directions

Mix together the whipped cream cheese and dressing until well blended.

Made with yogurt
Layout the tortilla and spread the cream cheese dressing leaving ½ inch clear from the edge.
Sprinkle the dried cranberries evenly across the cream cheese dressing.
Lay the sliced turkey meat across the tortilla leaving a one inch area open (this is so the turkey isn’t wasted and sticks out the end when wrapping). You can do one layer or more.
Spread your choice of sprouts or spinach over the sliced meat.
Carefully roll your tortilla tightly starting at the opposite end of the one inch opened area.
Wrap the rolled tortilla tightly in cling wrap and place in the frig for about one hour before slicing and serving.

A nice, healthy snack or lunch item to satisfy the taste buds.

Add your favorite dressing to the cream cheese to make it your own. I’ll be trying honey mustard dressing next.

You can also leave it as a wrap and enjoy. I highly recommend adding pecans or walnuts to give it some crunch and extra flavor. Thanks for reading and that it was everything you were hoping for! 🙂 You can check out my sweet potato casserole dish that would pair well with this recipe.

Katie

Mama’s Sweet Potato Casserole

Posted on September 26, 2017 by peachpearplumcafe

There is nothing like moms cooking. This dish is a Thanksgiving family tradition. My mom always brought the sweet potato casserole to our large family gathering among other dishes. This sweet and crunchy recipe pairs well with turkey or ham and of course some cranberry sauce. With the small addition of marshmallows on top, I’d say its perfection.

Ingredients

Sweet Potato Mix

3 to 4 cups of sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed

1 cup sugar

8 tbsp butter (room temp)

½ cup evaporated milk

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

Topping

4 tbsp butter melted

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup flour

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Rinse/wash sweet potatoes before placing in a large pot on the stove. Bring sweet potatoes to a boil and turn to medium/low heat. Leave them to cook for at least an hour (until your fork and easily penetrate the sweet potato. (I use 4 to 5 medium sized sweet potatoes)
Drain the hot water. Using a cutting board, place each sweet potato on it to peel. Use the fork to hold the sweet potato still while you slice and peel each sweet potato. Place sweet potatoes in large mixing bowl.
Add in the butter and sugar. Using a masher, mash the sweet potatoes until ingredients is well blended.
Add in the evaporated milk, nutmeg and cinnamon and mix again.
Spray your baking dish (9x13in) with butter. Add in the sweet potato mix. Smooth it out and place to the side.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To make the topping, melt butter in a small pot on the stove. Once melted, add in the pecans, brown sugar and flour. Mix well with a small spoon.
Sprinkle the topping onto the sweet potatoes.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
When time is up, take the casserole out of the oven and sprinkle marshmallows on top.
Change the oven settings to broil and place casserole back in the oven for 5 minutes (watch carefully so that you don’t burn the marshmallows).
Remove when completed and let cool before serving.