Bacon Wrapped Sweet Potato Fries with Chipotle Lime Dip

Ingredients

• 2 sweet potatoes, cut into thick matchsticks*
• 1 package bacon, don’t use thick cut
• 1/2 c mayo, using avocado oil
• 1-2 chipotles in adobo sauce
• 1 lime, juiced

Method

Get your oven to 425°F. Soak the sweet potato matchsticks in a bowl of cold water for up to 6 hours. This removes a lot of the starch from the potato. When you remove the potatoes, you can visibly see white starch granules at the bottom of the bowl. Drain the water from the potatoes and pat dry.

Slice each piece of bacon in half, lengthwise. Wrap 1 strip of bacon around 1 matchstick sweet potato. Lay on a baking sheet. Repeat until all the bacon is gone. If you have left over sweet potatoes, toss ‘em on the pan too, they’ll cook beautifully in all the rendered bacon fat.

For the Dip

In a food processor, pulse up the chipotle(s) and lime juice into the mayo.

Bake the fries for about 25 minutes on one side. You’re looking for browned bacon. Use some tongs to flip the fries over and bake for another 10-12 minutes, until browned.

Squeeze some lime juice on the fries. Serve hot and with the dip.

Cuban Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

• 1 pork tenderloin, about 1 1/2 lbs.
• 1/2 lb. thinly sliced deli ham
• 1/4 lb. swiss cheese, optional
• 1/2 c. dill pickles, sliced into long strips
• 4 T yellow mustard
• 2 T honey
• S&P

Method

Get your oven to 450ºF. To prepare your pork, watch this video:

Please notice right around the 1:40 mark of the video he shows the front side of the pork. Here you can see, on the left side of the pork, what is called the “silver skin” …it should be removed with your knife. Don’t worry about all the fat, that will cook away, but DO DO DO remove the silver skin. Salt and pepper both sides of the pork.

Mix together the honey and mustard in a small bowl.

This is the easy part, in whatever fashion you’d like, layer the ham, cheese and honey mustard into the pork loin.  When you’ve gotten about half way through, add the pickle slices (going long ways). Make sure to put the pickles long ways so when you slice the meat, you get a little bit in every bite. I suggest putting the pickles in half way through the stuffing process because otherwise it’s likely to cause the pork loin to be over stuffed and not roll up properly. Once you’re finished, roll the pork up. Using about 4 pieces of butcher’s twine, tie the pork together–don’t worry about the ends.

Sear the pork loin over medium high heat (in an oven safe pan) in a bit of fat, until you see a nice brown crust on both sides.  Stick the pan in the oven and cook until the center of the pork loin measures 140ºF– about 25 minutes. Let it rest for around 10 minutes, then slice and serve. You may want to make another batch of honey mustard to serve as a dipping sauce.

Imagine eating a chili dog with slaw, onions and yellow mustard. Now imagine taking off the bun and eating it in a bowl with a fork and you’ve got the idea behind this recipe. Another way to look at it, we’ve taken off the sour cream, avocado and cheese from chili and added hot dog toppings.

Ingredients

Chili Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground meat* (I used ground chicken, but anything would work)
• 1 package hot dogs, chopped (I used sugar-free beef franks from U.S. Wellness Meats)
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes, juice drained, chopped small
• 1 c tomato sauce
• 2 chipolte peppers in adobe sauce, chopped finely
• 1 t garlic powder
• 1 t cumin powder

Slaw Ingredients

• 1 red cabbage, sliced thinly (The cabbage should quite small–weighing about 1 lb., you won’t need more than that)
• 1/2 c mayo
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 3 T pickled jalapenos, finely chopped**
• 5 T pickled jalapeno juice**
• 1 T yellow mustard

Method

In a medium sauce pan, cook the ground meat all the way through and then add the cut up hot dogs. Throw the rest of the ingredients in the pot and let it simmer while you make the slaw.

For the slaw, get out a large bowl and add all the ingredients, except the cabbage, and whisk to combine. Add the cabbage to the slaw base and mix to combine.

To serve, place the chili on the bottom of the bowl, then add some slaw and top with whatever hot dog fixings you like. Yellow mustard is an absolute must!

*If you’re pinching pennies, you can definitely leave out the ground meat and just use hot dogs. Chop the hot dogs rather small so they go further.

**Don’t be afraid of the pickled jalapenos or the juice. It’s not nearly as spicy as fresh jalapeno…but as always, add a little at a time and taste as you go–because you can’t take it away after you’ve added it.

Reuben in a Bowl

Ingredients for Quick ‘Kraut

• 1 small head green cabbage
• 1 1/2 c beef stock
• 2 T apple cider vinegar
• 1 t salt

Ingredients for Thousand Island Dressing

• 8 sweet pickle chips, chopped (dill would work too, just use whatever you’ve got)
• 1 t tomato paste
• 1 T capers, chopped
• 3 heaping T mayo
• S & P

Method

Rinse the brisket off and pat dry with paper towels. Place on a roasting pan and roast in a 300°F oven for about 4 hours. Once it’s cooled, slice thinly.

For the kraut, slice the cabbage as thinly as possible. You could use a mandoline or the slice attachment on your food processor. Throw the cabbage, beef stock, vinegar and salt into a saute pan. Let the cabbage wilt and the stock reduce, about 20 minutes.

For the sauce, mix all the ingredients together. Use some of the pickle and caper juice to thin the sauce out a bit.