Side Dishes

Honey Chipotle Glazed Sweet Potatoes

April 6, 2016 by Alyssa

I recently stumbled upon my all-time favorite restaurant dish – El Alma’s Ancho Glazed Sweet Potatoes. This recipe for Honey Chipotle Glazed Sweet Potatoes is my copycat recipe that’s sure to curb any El Alma craving!

El Alma is located on Barton Springs in the heart of downtown Austin but it’s truly a hidden gem amongst all the other Barton Springs attractions.

Besides their Ancho Glazed Sweet Potatoes, there are a few others reasons why I love El Alama.

Their food is fresh, flavorful, authentic and never greasy, cheesy or heavy. It’s apparent that El Alma cooks with only the freshest of ingredients — their salsas are made daily, the ceviche is perfectly balanced and their tacos are simple, pure and delicious. It’s definitely modern Mexican cuisine that you can feel good about eating.

El Alma also has the best rooftop patio in Austin. The view is absolutely gorgeous and spans the entire southern view of downtown Austin’s cityscape. On a warm afternoon, there’s a slight breeze on the patio that makes it enjoyable, relaxing and never too hot. It’s a place where I could sit and sip their Jack Sangria all summer long.

Their side, Ancho Glazed Sweet Potatoes, is also why I love El Alma. It is by far my favorite dish on the menu. I love these potatoes so much in fact, that I order a plate just for myself each visit and absolutely refuse to share. Though, I do warn my dinner guests that if they don’t order a plate of their own, they’ll be profusely envious and greatly regret their own meal choices for the rest of the evening. With that sell, they usually oblige and order up a plate as well!

I love El Alma’s potatoes because (well, the obvious reason is because they’re sweet potatoes, and who doesn’t love sweet potatoes) but also because they have slightly caramelized bits to them that are made sticky-sweet with El Alma’s ancho chile glaze. The glaze is a mix of spice and sweet and when cooked on the potatoes, it becomes almost the same thickness and color as a decadent balsamic glaze.

The potatoes themselves are a bit crunchy on the inside but a perfectly roasted soft on the inside. These sweet potatoes literally bring an umami of flavor to the plate — sweet, salty, spicy, tender, and caramelly delicious!

They are so good that I’ve also gotten a handful of friends obsessed with them which is why I challenged myself to remake a similar dish at home.

I created this recipe based off of the flavors and texture of El Alma’s Ancho Roasted Sweet Potatoes but made a few changes based on the availability of ingredients. Instead of Ancho Chiles, I subbed in Chipotle Chiles in Adobo sauce and used a mix of honey and brown sugar to create the caramel glaze that coats the potatoes once roasted.

Although these potatoes have a bit of sugar in them, they’re baked with only a bit of oil drizzled on before roasting. The glaze is also quick to come together and the overall dirty dishes are minimal.

As delicious as they are, these potatoes do take a little bit of time and tending to during the roasting process in order to get the caramelly-broiled bits just right, but nothing a short happy hour on your patio can’t handle.

<3M and I enjoyed these one night as a simple, healthy side to grilled salmon (chicken for him…) and for us, it was a wonderful, well-balanced meal! I’ve also indulged in these potatoes, re-heated at breakfast, with a side of scrambled eggs for a healthy balance of protein and carbs.

If you can’t make it to El Alma to enjoy the real thing, then I guarantee my Chipotle Honey Glazed Sweet Potatoe recipe will fit the bill when your craving calls!

Honey Chipotle Glazed Sweet Potatoes

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

65 mins

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 whole chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the chipotle chiles)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt, divided
½ cup vegetable broth (or water)
2 tablespoons honey
3 large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350*
Line a large baking sheet with foil and lightly grease with olive oil spray.
To make the glaze, place all ingredients except for the sweet potatoes, ½ teaspoon of salt, honey and olive oil in a blender or food processor and blend for 30-60 seconds.
Once blended, strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer, pressing the garlic bits and chipotle pepper seeds until all liquid is strained through, discarding the remnants of the strainer.
Whisk the honey into the strained liquid and set aside.
Cut your sweet potatoes into wedges a half inch wide and 4-6 inches long, depending on the length of your sweet potatoes.
Place your sweet potato wedges in a large bowl and gently coat with the honey chipotle glaze.
Using tongs spread the sweet potatoes out evenly on the prepared baking sheet.*
Drizzle the sweet potatoes with 2 tablespoons of olive oil then cover the sweet potatoes with another sheet of foil and roast them in the 350* oven for 45 minutes, gently tossing at the 30-minute mark.
After 45 minutes, uncover the potatoes and drizzle or baste with the remaining chipotle glaze.
Increase the oven temperature to 425* and bake the potatoes for an additional 15 minutes, uncovered.
Once the additional 15 minutes are up, turn the oven broiler to high and broil the sweet potatoes on the top rack for 5 minutes, stirring half way through until golden, caramelized bits begin to appear.
Remove immediately from the oven, sprinkle with a half teaspoon of salt and serve.

Notes

Here, you should be careful not to take any extra glaze with you as adding too much liquid to the baking sheet will results in steamed sweet potatoes rather that roasted. The remaining glaze will be used at the end of the cooking period to base the potatoes

Honey Chipotle Glazed Sweet Potatoes - Pinterest

Irish Soda Bread

March 14, 2016 by Alyssa

Irish Soda Brad BakedvIrish Soda Brad BakedFollow my blog with Bloglovin

When a holiday like St. Patrick’s Day rolls around, it’s hard to not get caught up in all the green, gold and shamrock-leprechaun fun. I myself always feel the need to be a bit festive and make something Irish inspired — like corn beef and cabbage while loading up my baked goods with some Guinness, Baily’s or Irish Whiskey.

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Sriracha Honey Broccoli

February 28, 2016 by Alyssa

When I was younger, my Dad always tried to get me to eat brussel sprouts. But I found them highly unappealing. For one, they smelled like feet and he cooked them by boiling them in the microwave then served them with a pat of butter on top and a dash of salt and pepper.

Can you say bland? He had great intentions, trying to get me to eat vegetables but NO vegetable should be boiled, unless it’s potatoes — and your intent to is to mash them with milk, butter, and salt.

I never came around to liking brussel sprouts until the mid-20’s when the world discovered brussel sprouts should be roasted not boiled. It was eye opening for me, I didn’t hate brussel sprouts after all, I simply hadn’t had them prepared properly.

So now, when I hear that people don’t like a certain vegetable, I can’t help but think it’s because they haven’t had it prepared properly. All of these scary, and popularly disliked vegetables, like brussel spourts, mushrooms, broccoli and cauliflower deserve their time in the spotlight, they just need a few friends involved to make them shine.

My intention with Sriracha Honey Broccoli was to convince <3M that he really did like broccoli. Ever since I have known him he has picked broccoli out of everything. It was awesome for me, since I love broccoli, regardless of its form, but it was something I never cooked at home because he ‘hated’ it.

Recently, we’ve had an abundance of broccoli in our CSA delivery, and as much as I like broccoli, I couldn’t keep up with eating 3 heads of it myself each week. Knowing <3M’s taste preferences for spicy food, I set out to create a broccoli recipe that he’d like and convince him of his own love for the cruciferous vegetable.

For this recipe, I use sriracha as my base, add in a bit of salty soy sauce, some honey for sweetness and then roasted everything to give the broccoli a soft but crunchy texture.

It’s absolutely delicious there’s a little bit of salt, sweet, and spice, the perfect combination of flavors without being too spicy. It really is a small amount of heat from the sriracha and the quantity you use can even be decreased if you have a low tolerance for spice. The dish comes together in minutes so it’s great for a week night side. We served this with the Miso Chicken Thighs and it was a perfect, Asian-flavored meal.

Do you have any vegetables you used to hate but now love?
How do you prepare them now?

Sriracha Honey Broccoli

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

35 mins

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

3 heads of broccoli, washed & cut into small florets
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons sriracha
1½ teaspoons lime juice
1 clove garlic, pressed

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450*
Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil and spray it lightly with olive oil. Set aside.
Place you prepped broccoli in a medium size bowl and set aside.
In a small bowl whisk together the coconut oil, soy sauce, honey, sriracha, lime juice, and garlic.
Pour the sauce over the broccoli and toss to coat evenly.
Spread the prepared broccoli on the roasting pan in a single, even layer.
Roast at 450* for 25-30 minutes, tossing the broccoli every 10 minutes so it cooks evenly.
Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Indian Curried Cauliflower

February 17, 2016 by Alyssa

Truth be told, I swiped the base of this recipe from Whole Foods and made it a wholeeee lot better. Mine has an added boost of flavor and seasoning (salt!) which we all know Whole Foods cuisine to lack. Plus the addition of cumin seeds, garam masala, cumin powder and a squeeze of lemon to finish it off with a bit of brightness.

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Panko Crusted Goat Cheese Salad

January 25, 2012 by Alyssa

Usually while dining, the term “cheesy” refers to calorie bomb, most often in the form of a creamy, gooey, or melted. Though delicious, this cheese is usually accompanied with something being fried (MozzSticks), smothered (Enchiladas), or creamy (Alfredo).

Now cheese isn’t bad but there is a good and bad way to eat it.

CheeseStick – Good: Go for lowfat and have it with some almonds or an apple as an afternoon snack. I love Sargento because they even make flavored sticks like Pepper Jack & White Cheddar to switch it up.

Feta- Good: Enjoy it on a salad. The harder the cheese the better it is for you, honestly. Atheno is my personal favorite, even the reduced-fat version is amazing. Sprinkle it on salads and wraps.

Alfredo – Bad: It not only involves cheese but cream as well which is code for fat.

Queso – Bad: Not only is it creamy, gooey, and melted but it comes with a side salty chips. And you no, once you start you can’t stop.

If you really want cheese in your diet – try shredded cheese, a little goes a long ways and make it the reduced-fat or part-skim version. Cabot makes a great 50% fat free cheese in a variety of flavors. Need blue cheese, swiss cheese, Mexican cheese, or an herby cheese? Try Laughing Cow wedges. They’re 35 calories and low in fat. I’ve used them for quesadillas, buffalo wraps, alfredo sauces, and even just plain ol’ cheese & cracker snacks. This company is also the maker of the famous mini Babybel cheese rounds. Those are good in moderation as well – like a cheese stick type snack.

This being said, the king of cheese, at least in my opinion, is Goat Cheese aka Chevre. It’s French. It’s fancy. It’s creamy. It’s decadent. It’s full of flavor. It usually have 70-80 calories per ounce and around 6g of fat. Totally reasonable for cheese. Plus they make all types – spreadable logs, crumbles, and even cream cheese, I have a Fig flavor that’s great on bagel thins.

The below recipe is my ode to Chevre. Healthified of course! Often times while dining out, I’m drawn to a specific goat cheese salad, the encrusted goat cheese medallion salad that I often find on restaurant menus. However, I’ve never ordered it for I know the truth about this salad. This once healthy salad is destroyed in a restaurant kitchen with a dip in the fryer resulting in oil soaked cheese rounds.

So here’s my version at home version that’s quick and healthy.

Encrusted Goat Cheese Salad with Grapefruit Balsamic

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

50 mins

Serves: 2 salads

Ingredients

¼ cup panko bread crumbs
3 tablespoons whole almonds, finely chopped in a food processor
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon dried basil
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons liquid egg whites or 1 egg white
1-4oz log of Chevre cut into 6 rounds
1 grapefruit (3/4 sections with skins removed, ¼ used for juicing)
Spring mix (3-4 cups or desired salad size)
¼ cucumber, diced
a handful of berries of choice, as garnish
additional almonds, coarsely chopped, as garnish
¼ cucumber, diced
handful of berries of choice, as garnish
additional almonds, coarsely chopped, as garnish
3 tablespoons fresh squeezed grapefruit juice (about 1 quarter of the fruit)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 – 2 teaspoons agave nectar or honey

Instructions

In a bowl mix breadcrumbs, almonds, salt, pepper and basil.
In a 2nd bowl, place flour.
In a 3rd bowl place egg whites.
Next, cut four goat cheese rounds. If you have trouble cutting the rounds, warm the knife under hot running water to make the cut a bit easier, then mold and flatten to get your desired round shape.
Take our four goat cheese rounds and dip the rounds in the flour then egg whites, then panko-almond mixture. You might need to press the crumb mixture into the grounds. Set aside.
Next make the balsamic dressing.
Heat balsamic vinegar over low heat on stove. Squeeze in 3 tablespoons of grapefruit juice (roughly a quarter of a grapefruit). Once warmed, stir in agave nectar or honey. Taste for desired sweetness. It should be sweet-tangy. Set aside.
Next, assemble the salads so they’re prepared when medallions are done cooking. Compile spring mix, cucumbers, grapefruit sections, berries, and roughly chopped almonds.
Finally, heavily spray a pan with olive oil (I use Pam Olive Oil). Heat on medium high and place medallions into pan. Cook 2-3 minutes per side until a brown and golden crust forms. Before flipping, spray the uncooked, top side with olive oil (3-4 second spray per round) and gently flip. Allow to cook until also golden and crispy. (You may need to re-spray pan if it looks a tad dry.)
Once medallions are cooked and warmed through center, place on paper towel to soak up excess oil. Let stand 1 minute then place a top salads, drizzle with dressing and serve.

Let me know if you like it/try it. And I’ll try and make a separate link in time for a printable version without pictures…just in case!

Side Dishes

I recently stumbled upon my all-time favorite restaurant dish – El Alma’s Ancho Glazed Sweet Potatoes. This recipe for Honey Chipotle Glazed Sweet Potatoes is my copycat recipe that’s sure to curb any El Alma craving!

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