Sweet Potato Mango Salad

“If beef is your idea of real food for real people, you’d better live real close to a good hospital.”

— Neal Barnard, M.D.

Lately, life hasn't been permiting me time to cook up dinner. Sometimes, I forget my lunch and have to buy a teeny $4 Umpqua Oats bowl from the cafe at work (#theonlyveganoption #superbummer). More often than not, when I have to choose, I'll prioritize walking Bailey versus making a proper dinner. And occasionally, I'll get back from vacation and be precluded from squeezing in the time to make it to the store for actual dinner preparations...aka food. It's only been two weeks since we got back...a very busy two weeks.

All of these things lead me this dish. It might sound really odd, mango and sweet potatoes together in an Italian potato salad type of fashion but I'm going to need you to trust me. Your trust will be rewarded greatly. 

We have mangoes and sweet potatoes at home. That's pretty much it. No creamer, no bread, no vegan milk, no veggies, and only one (really rough looking) banana. I know, right? It's been a hectic few weeks. My stress level can be determined by how much food is in the house and how many hours I've been able to wear my nightgown. If I claimed to be living off anything other than hummus, dried figs, and vegan chocolate chips I'd be lying. It's not awful. Figs and chocolate are amazing together, seriously, you need to try it.

Things have been so dire that I spent the latter half of yesterday slinking around the clinic, seemingly casual (but actually frantic), investigating the break room tables for "please eat me" forsakens like bags of oldish bread or boxes of muffins. Half-opened candy someone didn't want in the house, shunned fruits (usually oranges, people hate oranges apparently), or a posse of pillaged chip bags from some prior festivities I wasn't privy to. I won't tell you I'm proud.

Unfortunately, my food-seeking adventures often end in a few dry spoonfuls of nutritional yeast that I have in my desk drawer. It's not ideal, but it works in a pinch. Come on, you've done it...we've all done it, right? I'll die of starvation before I spend $2.25 on a green (or conversely rotting) banana from the cafe. 

Thank goodness when I finally got home I was able to stuff my face with dried figs and chocolate chips, then start making this fantastic salad. I ate a good portion straight from the serving bowl with that big wooden spoon before I was able to shoot some photos. Cavewoman style...don't judge...

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Sweet Potato Mango Salad

by Katie @ Produce on Parade August-4-2014

A delicious spin on regular potato salad. This sweet potato mango salad is studded with dried berries and dressed with lime juice and olive oil.

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes, diced
• 1 large mango, diced
• ½ medium brown or red onion, sliced thinly
• 2 Tbsp. dried blueberries
• 2 Tbsp. goji berries (or other dried berries)
• small handful of fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 ½ Tbsp. olive oil
• ½ Tbsp. agave nectar or maple syrup
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• ¼ tsp. ground black pepper

Instructions

Place the diced sweet potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and reduce to a simmer. Boil for about 5-8 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender taking care to not overcook them. Drain and place in a large serving bowl. Add the mango, onion, berries and parsley to the cooked potatoes. Toss gently to combine.In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour over the potato and mango mixture. Toss gently to coat. Serve warm, room temperature, or chilled.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 15 mins Yield: 4

German Word of The Day

Doctor --> Arzt (artst)

Good Deed of The Day

Read this article by Kim A. Williams, MD about how he changed to a vegan diet in 2003 to battle his rising cholesterol. Trust him, he's a doctor. Actually, he's been elected to be the next president of the American College of Cardiology. So, you really should trust him. 

Green Chocolate Berry Smoothie

I pretty much always have a green smoothie for breakfast.

Do I also make Todd have one? Yes. But he doesn't mind how bossy I am, because my green smoothies are delicious. And they are good for you. And they are delicious (the part Todd cares about).

These green smoothies are especially dear to my heart because they can  be packed full o' spinach and no one would ever know...besides the colour...kind of a giveaway. I always add flax because it's a great way to get some omega-3's in, I also usually try to add spices for some antioxidant power, a little splash of vanilla, and a small sprinkle of pink Himalayan sea salt. A breakfast including a couple servings of fruits and leafy greens is always a good way to start the day.

I also use homemade almond milk. How snotty can you get, am I right? This milk is so not at all like store-bought almond milk. It is delicious, and creamy, and fresh (unlike cartoned almond milk). And I swear it's not hard at all, though it does take a minimal amount of planning. Later this week I promise to show how to make your own almond milk and why you should, and my lessons learned along the way. Here it is in all it's milky, mason jar glory. Bob stares at me like this when I make it.

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So here it is. You can modify this smoothie to what you have on hand, of course.

Green Chocolate Berry Smoothie

Adapted from Detoxinista

Serves 2

• 1 1/2 cups almond milk
• 2 large handfuls of fresh spinach
• 1 frozen banana
• 1/4 cup dried blueberries
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 ripe avocado (I froze mine)
• 1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 Tbsp. whole flax seeds
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• splash of vanilla
• sprinkle of pink Himalayan sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. of loose-leaf green/black/white tea (yes, I put tea in my smoothies)
• about 6 drops of liquid stevia or 1 tsp. of erythritol

Start by adding the milk first and then throw everyone else into the pot blender and get to blendin'! Pour into adorable mason jar travel cups with steel straws that your husband made and sip away in delight (okay, the former isn't really required but definitely the latter).

Why don't I add other little goodies like spirulina or maca powder? Well for one, spirulina isn't actually good for you. *gasp* I know, I had just bought a little baggie of it! You too can learn about spirulina, and why it's maybe not the best. And as far as exotic ingredients go...Alaska doesn't offer much in terms of that stuff. Sometimes I am able to get some fun things from Amazon.com, however...but you won't find super hard to find ingredients in my recipes mainly for this reason.

And for those that are wondering why on Earth I put loose leaf tea in my smoothies...well, you can't taste it for one and tea does all sorts of wonders for your health. Do you know why matcha ( the finely-ground green tea leaves) are so good for one's health? Because the entire leaf is consumed! Any science anyone could ever want to know about tea can be found here. And in case you wanted to know why an artificial sweetener junkie like myself pretty much only uses erythritol now, follow the links.