This was inspired by a dish we had during a recent trip to Charlotte, NC. When we look for new places to eat we typically use Urban Spoon and read reviews–that’s how we found this place. I have to say, we were pretty disappointed. It was one of those places where the menu read better than the food actually was. One example: mussels steamed in beer with herbs and what-not. Thought it sounded interesting, it wasn’t, pretty gross, actually. We did have one thing, though not very good, we thought we could improve upon–bacon wrapped tater tots. So here you have it, our version:

*You want a thick cut (not thin!) and keep the skin on. Here’s a rough how-to:

Okay, I’m going to start right out by saying these suckers have the same carbohydrate load as a regular corn chip set of nachos. We just had a hankering for a cheat night, but really didn’t want to ingest corn, wheat or other cereal grains. We are so embarrassingly barbaric with these, we lay down oven mitts on our coffee table, place the hot pan on top and sit on the floor and scarf them down with a fork. Let me also say, the salsa recipe is ‘da bomb dot com’, it’s cheaper to make this than to go out and buy a jar.

Have you ever tasted this super special, amazingly yummy sandwich called The Cuban? It’s a toasted sandwich with honey mustard, pickles, ham, pork loin and swiss. We have been to Miami and tried to source the best Cuban sandwich we could find…and we have also frequented Publix supermarket for its Cuban sub as a meal in a hurry–when we thought whole wheat bread and juice were healthy. Well….here is our version, sans bread and tons of sugar. We wanted to call this “Pork Three Way” since we’ve got a pork tenderloin stuffed with ham and seared in bacon fat…but we’ll just stick with Cuban to be P.C. We served this with sweet potatoes we had previously roasted, scooped out the insides and put in the freezer. Just add some cinnamon and orange zest and nuke in the microwave to re-heat.

This dish was inspired by one of my all-time favorite dishes at a little hole in the wall in Charleston, South Carolina. It’s the potato gnocchi with goat cheese, balsamic cream sauce sauce at Five Loaves Cafe on Canon Street. I’m not usually one to order something I’ve had before, as I truly love to experiment and taste new flavor combos. Butttt–this dish is just so good to me, I order it over and over and over and over….Gotta say, this is a pretty darn good riff.

Ingredients

• 3 T bacon fat or butter, melted
• 3 lb. sweet potatoes, cubed
• 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 c raisins
• 3 oz. goat cheese
• 2 T rosemary, minced

Method

Preheat your oven to 425ºF.

Place the cubed sweet potatoes on a baking sheet. Pour on your fat and toss around to coat the sweet potatoes very well. Place in the oven and let them get slightly crispy and cooked through–depending on how small you cube, should take about 30 minutes.

While the potatoes are roasting–put the vinegar and raisins in a saute pan and place on the stove over medium heat. Cook until the balsamic vinegar has reduced and plumped the raisins. Keep your eye on it, if you let it go too far, the vinegar will reduce to nothing and scorch your pan. This should take about 10 minutes.

When the sweet potatoes are out of the oven, place them in your serving dish, along with the raisins, any vinegar that’s left in the pan, crumbled goat cheese, rosemary and some salt. Toss around to coat.

This dish can be served at room temperature or hot. Hot is best. I had it in the fridge and then heated it in the microwave with no problems.

You’ll never want a chili cheese dog in a bun ever again after you’ve had a sweet potoato “bun” . The combo of sweet, salty and spicy is my absolute fav-o-rite. We had enough leftover to heat-and-eat for lunch and let me tell ya, it was even better than the night before. If you’re in a hurry, forgo the sweet potato “bun” and you’ve got yourself a quick frank & beans style dinner. BUT!!!! The sweet potatoes do double duty in this recipe. I scoop out the insides, like you would a twice baked potato, and use them for a sweet potato protein shake. Recipe to come! The chili part of the recipe is designed to be quick and dirty, packing a ton of flavor without a long simmer time or big chunks of tomatoes…I hate that. And by the way, before you even try, let me warn you, these are knife-n-fork kind of dogs, wouldn’t recommend using your hands–unless you wrap yourself in paper towels.

Ingredients

• 3 sweet potatoes, sliced in 1/2 length wise
• fat, you choose
• 6 hot dogs (We used Sugar Free Dogs from US Wellness Meats, you could also use sausage)
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 15 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes, liquid drained, chopped finely
• 2 Chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T chili powder
• 1/2 t cocoa powder (optional)
• S&P
• 3 oz. raw sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Method

Get your oven to 450°F. Coat your sweet potato halves in a couple tablespoons of your fat choice. Stick on a baking sheet and roast in the oven until the skins have slightly charred and the insides are soft, about 30 minutes.

While the sweet potatoes are roasting, start the chili.

Add a few tablespoons of fat to a saute pan. Let it get nice and hot, and then add the onions and garlic, saute until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the chopped chipotle peppers, tomatoes, chili powder, cocoa powder and S&P. Using your hands, crumble the beef into the pan, making sure to break up any big crumbles with a spatula or whatever. Let the beef cook through and simmer the chili until everything else is done.

Once the potatoes are done, remove them from the baking sheet and place the hot dogs on the same baking sheet. Throw them into the oven and let them blister and get hot, about 7 minutes.

While that’s happening, grate your cheese and scoop out the insides of your sweet potatoes. Save the inside mush for an awesome post workout protein shake.

To assemble, place the sweet potato skin on a plate. Place a hot dog on top, spoon on a bit of chili and top with some grated cheese.

In the South, this dish is very popular. Except, it never tastes like anything. So, we’ve added some carmelized leeks to kick up the flavor. We’ve also removed the red potatoes and replaced them with sweet potatoes, and removed the sausage and replaced them with mushrooms.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. shrimp, peeled & deveined
• 2 sweet potatoes, chopped and skins on
• 8 oz. mushrooms
• 2 leeks, sliced & washed really well
• 2 T olive oil or butter or coconut oil
• 2 t + 2 T Old Bay

Method

Fill a large pot with water. Add the sweet potatoes and boil until they’re tender all the way through. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, add the leeks, 2t Old Bay and 2 glugs of oil into a saute pan. Cook on medium heat until the leeks have browned, about 12 minutes.

Once the sweet potatoes are almost done cooking, add the mushrooms to the water and let them cook for about 5 minutes. Next, add the shrimp. Don’t overcook the shrimp! Once they’ve turned pink, they’re done.

Place a strainer in your sink and pour out the water and the sweet potatoes, shrooms and shrimp. Shake the strainer really well to remove as much water as you can. Then return the goodies to the pot.

Add the browned leeks and 1T Old Bay to the pot and toss around to coat.

You can’t be  fat-phobic with this recipe. But since you follow this website, you’re probably not. WooHoo! Chorizo releases a lot of drippings. It’s imperative to leave these in the pan so the sweet potatoes will cook up really quickly. I made this meal in one pan–something that’s very important when you’re thinking about clean up.

Tangy, sweet and salty. This recipe hits all my taste buds. Brandon probably tires of this, as I make it ALL THE TIME. Yum!

Ingredients

• 1 pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat
• 3 T rosemary, minced
• 3 T EACH prepared horseradish, mayo & Dijon mustard
• 1 t black pepper
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 2 tart apples, diced
• 3 T coconut oil, melted
• 1 orange, zested & juiced
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t nutmeg

Method

In a small bowl, combine the rosemary, mayo, mustard & horsy– mix until combined. Put 1/2 the sauce in a plastic storage bag and add the pork. Marinate in the fridge until ready to cook. Grill or bake the pork until it’s internal temp is a bit below 165F. Don’t overcook or it will for sure be dry as a bone. Let the loin rest for a couple minutes, then slice and top with the reserved mustard sauce.

For the Sweets & Apples

In a bowl combine all ingredients and mix well. Transfer to a baking sheet (make sure to add all the juices) and roast until the juices have turned syrupy and the potatoes have cooked through, about 20-30 minutes at 400F.

{The smaller you dice the sweet potatoes and apples, the faster they’ll cook through.}

{Make sure, while baking the sweets & apples, to toss everything around a few times to distribute the syrupy juices.}