Thanksgiving '08 Sweet Potatoes

Before I forget - here is this year's attempt at the elusive -perfect- mashed sweet potatoes. But I think I might be getting closer.
Happy Thanksgiving!

INGREDIENTS:

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

PREPARATION:

Put sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 20-25 minutes until tender. Drain sweet potatoes; add heavy cream, ginger, maple syrup, sea salt, and nutmeg. Mash until smooth.

Spoon the sweet potato mixture into a baking dish, bake uncovered at 350-degrees until warm, roughly 30 - 40 minutes.

Serves 6.

Spring Minestrone

Isn't life amazing? I have these moments, every now and then, when I find something that fills up my heart and I am so grateful, overjoyed that this new discovery - be it a song, a poem, an artist, (a soup) - is going to be with me forever.

So it is with Spring Minestrone.

I checked out Heidi Swanson's book, Super Natural Cooking, from the library and this recipe is my first try. She also has a website (with beautifully photographed edibles) that I am just dying to explore - 1o1 Cookbooks.

Love. ♥

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup medium-grain brown basmati rice, rinsed
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup sugar snap or snow peas, trimmed and cut in half diagonally
• 8 spears asparagus, trimmed and diagonally sliced into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup green peas, fresh or frozen
• Fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, then add the shallots and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes until soft. Add the rice and cook, stirring for 1 minute, then add the stock and bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat, and simmer until the rice is just tender, 35 to 45 minutes.

Add the sugar snap peas, asparagus, and green peas, and season with a few healthy pinches of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Simmer for another 2 or 3 minutes and serve immediately; this way the vegetables stay crisp and bright.

Serves 4

Recipe notes:
I had no asparagus or peas in stock so I used about 2 c. of snow peas. There is a recipe for vegetable stock in the book but I used a bouillon cube instead (much less work) and no basmati either - Uncle Ben's long grain brown.