Monday, April 2, 2012

weekend review: just add vodka

Figure 1. Saturday night's dinner: balsamic chicken with pine nuts, roasted asparagus (simply, in olive oil, salt, and pepper), and Parmesan-topped twice-baked sweet potatoes (see below for filling details).

Figure 2. Before the oven: twice-baked sweet potato filling. These sweet potatoes were AMAZING (yes, worthy of all caps). The filling is a creamy mixture of sauteed onions and kale, Greek yogurt, thyme, Parmesan cheese, and sweet potato.

Figure 3. Saturday morning baking: applesauce granola made with pecans, almonds, sesame seeds, and golden raisins.

Figure 4. A close up of the applesauce granola goodness.

Figure 5. Sunday night's dinner: shrimp vodka pasta served with creamed spinach and mushrooms (mine served on a bed of additional raw spinach). Luckily, I had vodka on hand for this pasta sauce that had me bracing myself not to go back for thirds. And this creamed spinach? I died. Delicious. Absolutely delicious.

23 comments:

  1. Ooh! I have never paired sweet potatoes with cheese, but holy cow that looks fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. these sweet potatoes were remarkable. i also like sweet potatoes with goat cheese on top.

      Delete
  2. That pasta looks killer. Adding vodka? My kinda recipe ;) hahaha. And I just tried golden raisins for the first time this morning! I put some in my overnight oats. They're good!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha the pasta was really fantastic. the first time i've tried making vodka sauce from scratch (i know i love the bottled version). but this was healthier and still super tasty.

      super excited you tried golden raisins. they are great, aren't they? ;)

      Delete
  3. I have been obsessed with baked sweet potatoes lately...I've had them 4 times in about a week. Yours look delish :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks, gabby! i'm with you on the sweet potatoes - such a perfect food and you can add so many different toppings to them!

      Delete
  4. OH MY LORD those twice baked sweet potatoes look like food for the gods! nom nom nom I'm coming over for leftovers ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. they were really fantastic. certainly fit for a god i think!

      Delete
  5. girl your food is always calling my name!! today i made a sweet potato with some shredded local cheese, so good and inspired by you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. we are on the same page. so happy to have inspired your yummy meal!

      Delete
  6. Those sweet potatoes sound so incredible!!! I've never seen twice-bake potatoes with yogurt in them before!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i hadn't either. the yogurt gave them a fantastic creamy twist!

      Delete
  7. Your weekend posts are the best. They're always just so....delicious. My adjectives are failing me right now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. aw, thanks katie. delicious works for me.

      Delete
  8. I really wanna try that balsamic chicken with pine nuts! What a great pairing. Sounds like a delicious weekend :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it was a really easy dish. my boyfriend cooked it on the grill so it had even more flavor.

      Delete
  9. Pine nuts with balsamic...need to try that soon!!! Thanks for the great idea!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. aren't pine nuts the best? and balsamic - i put it on 90% of my salads. so the pairing definitely went well on chicken.

      Delete
  10. That sweet potato filling...oh my. I have no words. Probably because my drooling is getting in the way. Haha!
    It looks like you had a beautiful weekend, filled with lots of delicious food!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha. it is drool worthy, for sure. i'm going to make these again quite soon.

      Delete
  11. I NEED to try both the creamed mushroom suace and sweet potato mash up. Both look incredible I feel compelled to run to the store right now for the makings, seriously. You eat some delicious looking food!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you really do need to. both are worthy of a second appearence in my kitchen, no questions asked.

      Delete
  12. The sweet potato looks fantastic! Twice-baked potatoes are a favorite in our house, but I have never tried doing it with sweet potatoes...I must!

    ReplyDelete