Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos with Chipotle Crema

Posted by: Maggie

These tacos are super healthy, super delicious, and super cheap. They're also super full of flavor, and I made a super mess of my kitchen sink when I ate four of them while standing over it. Super duper. 

I'm at a super duper loss for words for words today. I have had a terrible cold since last Monday, and I think the amount of Nyquil I've consumed over the past eight days has turned my brain into mush. I have stared at this screen for about 20 minutes trying to think of what to talk about to accompany these tacos and am coming up empty.

Oh wait, here's a kind of funny story. When I bought the ingredients for these tacos on Monday (beans and cabbage...) the coupon that printed out at the register was for Beano. That simply cannot be a coincidence given the ingredients I was purchasing.

Have I ruined your appetite by discussing gas medicine? I hope not.

These tacos have four fillings that you'll need to make - the potatoes, the beans, the cabbage, and the sauce.  If it seems like a strange combination, just trust me and try it. I promise you'll love it.

For the potatoes:

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt, to taste
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Juice of 1 lime

For the cabbage:

2 cups shredded purple cabbage (I used my food processor to finely shred it)
1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
Juice of 2 limes
Kosher salt, to taste
Red pepper flakes, to taste

For the beans:

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
Juice of 1 lime

For the sauce:

6 ounces non-fat Greek yogurt
3-5 tablespoons pureed chipotles in adobo (I pureed them myself in my food processor)
Kosher salt, cumin, and cayenne to taste

For serving: 

12 small corn tortillas

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and line a baking sheet with foil. In a medium bowl, toss sweet potato chunks, olive oil, lime juice, salt, and red pepper flakes until evenly coated. Spread potatoes in a single layer onto the baking sheet, and roast in pre-heated oven for 40 minutes or until soft, stirring once or twice to ensure even cooking.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the cabbage. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl, and toss to combine. Set aside.

Now it's time to make the sauce. Combine your pureed chipotles, Greek yogurt, and seasonings in a small bowl, and stir well. This sauce has quite a kick to it, so gradually add the chipotle if your heat tolerance is low. Set aside.

To prepare the beans, heat olive oil over medium heat in a small saucepan. Saute the onions until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the cumin and stir until fragrant - about 30 seconds. Lastly, add in the beans and lime juice. Cook for about 5 minutes until beans have softened and the mixture is heated through.

Heat corn tortillas according to package directions (I just nuke mine for about 30 seconds between damp paper towels) and assemble tacos. Enjoy!

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Recipe source: Joy the Baker and the sauce is inspired by Emeril.

Fall Funfetti Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream

Posted by: Annie

I am officially in a very fall festive mood! This past weekend, Scott and I went out for Halloween dressed as Spartan cheerleaders from the 1990s Saturday Night Live skits that featured Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri.  It was actually the first time Scott and I ever dressed up for Halloween together (and this was our FIFTH Halloween as a couple!) 

I stubbornly decided that I was not going to pay an absurd amount for a polyester costume that I could easily make, so not only did Scott and I have our first costumed Halloween, but I made our first Halloween costumes! (And by made I mean carefully ironing on pictures to black sweatshirts without setting the house on fire.) We were very successful cheerleaders and took our roles very seriously, as made apparent by the seventy-one pictures I found on my camera the next day. I will spare you all and only share this gem:

In addition to Halloween, the weather is amazing and fall seems to be officially here. To celebrate this awesome weather and fall season, I made homemade funfetti cupcakes using autumn colored sprinkles and topped them with even more sprinkles and a chocolate buttercream. I am so pumped to make these for every possible holiday that stores sell sprinkles for. (President's Day Funfetti cupcakes anyone?)

What you will need: 

For the cupcakes: 

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract 

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup sprinkles (any color you like) 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cupcake tins with 12 liners. 

In a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, for approximately 3 minutes. Next, mix in eggs and vanilla until combined. 

In a medium bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add half of the dry mixture to your sugar mixture and beat to combine. Beat in milk. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients. Lastly, stir in sprinkles. 

Fill each cupcake tin 2/3 of the way full with batter. Bake 18-20 minutes. Cool completely, and decorate. 

For the frosting:

8 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

6 cups confectioners sugar

2 sticks butter

6 tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat chocolate in microwave at 30-second intervals until melted. Set aside and allow to cool completely. 

In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Using a mixer at low speed, beat well, frequently scraping the sides of the bowl. After one minute, increase the mixer speed to medium and beat an additional two minutes. Mix in the cooled chocolate and continue to beat at medium speed for an additional minute. If the frosting appears dry, add more milk, one teaspoon at a time. 

Makes 4 1/2 cups. 

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Source: How Sweet It Is (cupcakes) and Williams-Sonoma (frosting) 

Mini Halloween Oreo Cheesecakes, and The Awkward Tale of Halloween '96

Posted by: Maggie

I feel like a major buzz-kill by admitting this, but I don't really love Halloween. More accurately, I don't love dressing up for Halloween. I love haunted hayrides, corn mazes, pumpkin carving, and cute kids in costumes just fine. I don't love that 99% of costumes available in stores for grown ladies like myself are either trampy or matronly, with practically no middle ground.

The last time I really dressed up for Halloween was in 7th grade. Incidentally, it was also the last year I ever went trick-or-treating, but more on that in a minute. My mom had an old gypsy costume that I borrowed, and I piled on the makeup, crazy gold coin earrings, loads of dangly bracelets, and a headscarf. I was past the age of dressing up for school at that point, mainly due to my desire to invisibly walk the halls of Ocean Township Intermediate School without being taunted by the girls who had already figured out mascara, flat irons, and padded bras. Meanwhile, I still looked like the bastard love child of Art Garfunkel and Jan Brady. I'm ok now. May God bless Lancome Definicils, the Chi, and late teenage growth spurts.

Anyway, I got home from school that afternoon, and prepared to go trick-or-treating with one of my equally awkward friends. I have no recollection of what she dressed as for Halloween, but I do remember that she affected a British accent for the whole evening, not breaking character once, even though I'm fairly certain it had nothing to do with her costume. Birds of an awkward feather...

We traipsed through the neighborhood collecting candy, and finally arrived at one of the last houses on our route, which just so happened to be the home of my unrequited middle-school crush. He was blonde, all of his clothes came from Structure, and he was a bit of a troublemaker. Be still, my 12-year old heart. We walked up the pathway, rang the doorbell, and there stood my crush holding a bowl of candy and looking annoyed. I will always remember the eleven words he said to us next: "Aren't you girls a little old to be trick-or-treating?" His response didn't seem to faze my friend, but as I defeatedly walked home that evening, my heartbroken 12-year old self vowed never to trick-or-treat again.

When I went off to college, I tried to get in the Halloween spirit, once by dressing up in angel wings, a halo, and normal clothes, and once by wearing a helmet and carrying a sword. Although, in retrospect I think I may have stolen the sword from someone else's costume.

Those pictures were taken in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and I haven't dressed up since - not even in a half-assed construction worker with a sword kind of way. 

Things are changing this Halloween. Who remembers Salute Your Shorts? If you were born in the early to mid-80s like Jeff and myself, and live in the United States, there is a strong chance it was one of your favorite childhood shows. Jeff is going as camp counselor Kevin "Ug" Lee, and I will be going as camper Z.Z. Ziff. My costume consists of a Camp Anawanna tee shirt, a whistle, peace sign/earth earrings (Z.Z. was a hippie, remember?) and a syrup bottle for administering awful waffles (link NSFW thanks to some perverted and inaccurate descriptions of an awful waffle, but it's the only site I can find with a definition. Sorry.) Fun, nostalgic, not trampy, and inexpensive? That is the kind of Halloween costume I can get on board with.

I may be wary of the dressing up side of Halloween, but I can easily get on board with the desserts. I found the recipe for these Halloween cheesecakes over on Gingerbread Bagels. Lindsey's Halloween spirit is infectious, and it's enough to even warm up a Halloween Grinch like myself to the holiday! These are super good, and since they're miniature and portion-controlled it means you'll have more room for Halloween candy!

Here's what you'll need:

15 Halloween Oreos, whole
6 Halloween Oreos, pulverized in the food processor
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup full-fat sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Orange gel food coloring

Preheat oven to 275 degrees, and line 2 muffin tins with 15 foil liners. Place one whole Oreo in each liner.

Place cream cheese in a large bowl, and beat on medium speed until smooth. Add in the sugar and beat throughly to combine. Add in vanilla extract and eggs, and beat until combined. Finally, gently mix in the sour cream.

Add in orange gel food coloring until the batter is your desired shade. Stir in Oreo crumbs.

Divide batter evenly among the muffin tins. You can fill these almost to the top since they don't really rise. Bake for 22 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Chill overnight if you can wait that long!

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Source: Gingerbread Bagels