Sweet Potato Tacos with Apple Radish Slaw

I have only experienced the feeling of utter distress and hopelessness and despair and soul-sucking anguish a few times in my life. And most of them have happened while on the subway. This morning for example, my work friend texted me just as I was leaving that there were delays on the 1, so I walked over to the A with high hopes of having a stress free ride along down to West 4th, laughing to myself along the way that I avoided a potential tragedy. lol.

It was a disaster!!!!!!!

Just picture this: A fully packed A train slowly inches toward the platform, where an aggressive mob of people is standing their ground ready to rush the loaded train, pushing you out of the way but you still fight back, and then all types of body parts and backpacks and things are pushing against you. And then, heavy hot breathing from the guy next to you. From 125th to 59th I had something like 7 arms surrounding my head to hold the pole in front of me.

Sigh. But I survived! As I always do. And then got bagels from Bagels on the Square for our work meeting, and they were freshly warm right out of the oven, so they didn't need to be toasted, and I slathered it with cream cheese and it was amazing and Fifth Harmony Worth It. I'm thinking these crazy commutes have to burn some calories, right? : D

In other news, today is primary voting in New York! I'm registered to vote here in NYC, and it feels oddly strange to not be voting in my home state of Texas. I am planning on going tonight after my rowing class in Chelsea. Have you voted yet? : )

These tacos are among four or five different taco recipes in the new Love & Lemons Cookbook. I discovered their blog about a year or two ago and just love the bright photography and easy, vegetable-based recipes. For these sweet potato tacos, I added a fried egg because I just think most things taste better with fried eggs, especially tacos. I used large flour tortillas (they were almost burrito size) and charred them on our burner. It was delicious and took hardly no time at all!

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Sweet Potato Tacos with Apple Radish Slaw 

slightly adapted from the Love & Lemons Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, cubed
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/4 tsp. paprika
• 6-8 small tortillas (or 3-4 large ones, as pictured), warmed
• 1 avocado, sliced
• lime wedges for serving
• salt and pepper to salt
• 1 fried egg per taco (optional)

Apple Radish Slaw:

• 1 Gala apple, diced small
• 8-10 small radishes, diced small
• 4 scallions, chopped small
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 tsp. olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper

Directions: To make the apple radish slaw, combine all ingredients in a bowl, and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper as desired.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with either parchment paper or some olive oil. In a medium sized bowl, combine sweet potatoes with olive oil, chili powder, paprika, and a few pinches of salt and pepper. Toss to coat, and lay out on baking sheet. Roast until the edges are golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

Fill each tortilla with a large spoonful of sweet potatoes, some sliced avocado, the apple radish slaw and top with a fried egg. Garnish with a squeeze of lime juice.

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Surprise Eggs in a Biscuit

This has been the most mildest of winters in all three of my Northeast winters since moving here. *Knock on wood* but I can't help think it may stay pretty mild the rest of the season. The snow has mostly melted away from the big blizzard a couple of weeks ago, (at least in Manhattan anyway, I hear Queens has been neglected from the snow shoveling trucks. Poor Queens!). Usually at this point it's snowed 3-4 times. It's been mostly sunny, with some cold wilds, but I've been able to continue my long lunch break strolls, which keeps me happy.

This past week has been extremely eventful and full of highs and I can't help but think it's because it's the beginning of a new month, and February is usually nicer to me than January. January, with its "diets", lull after the holidays, cold snowfall, and crowded gyms. Go away and don't come back. Since so much has happened this week, I thought I'd list it out in bullet points, like I do:

• a Juice Press opened literally right underneath my work building recently, which is fantastic, but everything is $10. I may go broke now for sure.
• while at the gym, I literally was working out next to Candace Cameron Bure and a Victoria's Secret model (Dana Taylor or something?). I know this for a fact because I stopped working out (because it was embarrassing next to these two beauties) and went up to the front desk and asked them. They confirmed my suspicions and said they come everyday!
• I also saw the couple from HGTV's Flip or Flop in our lobby at work. I stared at the back of the wife's head on the elevator up until we made awkward eye contact. It's been a week of celeb sightings! : D
• Remember that time I made an ugly sweater complete with tinsel and hot glued ornaments for the company holiday party? I won, but in the category of best non-ugly sweater!! (??)
• on Sunday I practiced making bagels from scratch in preparation for one day possibly not having access to New York bagels. they turned out really good! recipe tk soon...?
• and finally, thank you guys so much for voting for me and for this. You can read the full feature and interview here!

I saw these surprise biscuits on Pinterest awhile ago and had been itching to make them. You can make your hard boiled eggs to your preference but I prefer mine slightly runny. There is an eggcellent guide on how to cook perfect hard and soft boiled eggs on The Kitchen here. Because these biscuits contain an entire egg, they are extremely filling (especially when paired with bacon, coffee and orange juice...). I suggest splitting them in half, because half might be plenty for your appetite. And if it's not, well then you have a whole entire other half to eat!

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Surprise Eggs in a Biscuit (makes 4-5 large biscuits)

inspired by Vodka and Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tbl. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. ground basil
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 1/2 sticks cold butter (3/4 cup), plus 1 tbl. for smearing on top
• 4-5 hard boiled eggs, peeled

Directions: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Prepare a large baking sheet and spray with non stick spray or line with parchment paper.

Cut cold butter into small cubes and set in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, garlic powder, basil. Add cold butter to the mixture and cut butter with two knives into the dry mixture (or use a pastry cutter if you have one!). When mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, add in shredded cheese until combined. Make a well in the center of the biscuit mixture and pour the milk in the center. Pull together with a fork until combined, but don't over-mix.

Grabbing a small handful of dough, flatten to make a circle directly on the baking sheet. Place a hard boiled egg on top. Grab another small handful of dough, and cup around the top of the egg and around. Seal the two pieces of biscuit dough together with fingers. It should look like a small mound of dough.

Repeat until you either run out of dough or run out of eggs! I had a little bit of dough left over so I just made small drop biscuits without the eggs.

Bake in preheated oven until tops are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Brush with a little more butter once removed from the oven, to make more golden. Let cool for 5 minutes, then slice in half to reveal the surprise egg!

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Caramelized Onion, Bell Pepper, Kale and Quinoa Frittata

Mornings might just be my favorite part of the day. Growing up in the Texas hill country, I lived on 15 acres of land less than one mile from my high school. In the morning our rooster would crow nonstop and the chickens would hopefully lay an egg or two and the donkey's would snort a hello. Morning dew always coated my moms many plants, and the smell of my dad making very strong coffee and fried eggs with bacon wafted up into my upstairs bedroom. I would drive my brother and sister to school in Dean (my green Nissan pickup) and could never make it to school on time to save my life. 

I read a lot as a kid and teen, and would dream of far away places and traveling and living in a big city. When we first moved to New York, I was excited for the adventure and for exploring a completely new part of the country. I was thrilled to live a new lifestyle, and meet new people. When I conjured up ideas of life in New York, I'm not sure what I pictured, because a lot of things are a lot better or a lot crazier than I ever imagined (for the most part). It's like living in a jungle gym or a concrete jungle, where there are so many new things to explore all the time!!!

When I wake up in New York, sometimes I hear the elevator going up and down in our very old apartment building. Sometimes our neighbor below is already playing his thumping bass music. Or sometimes, there's just the gentle whir of the fan, which we use as white noise. Kyle is already long gone, but when I shuffle into the kitchen I smell his leftover coffee and see his breakfast dishes in the sink. When I walk outside, the energy is instantaneous, with lots of people already out and about going their separate ways. I swipe my metro card, read a book on the subway, or push and shove my way between trains, depending on the craziness of the day. When I step out, I smell the bagel carts and coffee, hear the sound of cars honking, and feel a cold (and probably polluted) breeze in my face.

I love the anonymity, the rush, the adrenaline of stepping out of the subway and instantly being thrown into the chaos of Manhattan. But I also love the quiet corners of the west village, with the cobblestone streets and vine covered brownstones. It's such a different experience from how I grew up, and I do sometimes miss Texas life too. Is it normal to feel equally torn between two places at the same time? Okay, it's probably more like 79/21 with NY having the upper hand.

Frittatas were not ever made in my house growing up, but I love the idea of how simple they are to throw together and bake in the oven. The unique twist to this was adding cooked quinoa to the egg mixture. It sounds weird but it adds a really nice texture. Eggs rule!

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Caramelized Onion, Bell Pepper, Kale and Quinoa Frittata

Ingredients:

• ½ cup cooked quinoa
• ½ bell pepper, diced
• 1 tomato, chopped
• Half yellow onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Large handful of kale
• 7-8 medium eggs, beaten
• ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbl. olive oil

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9-inch pie dish or baking pan. In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat, and add onion slices. Cook slowly and stir occasionally, until brown, about 15 minutes. Add bell pepper, garlic, and tomato to pan, and sauté until tender.

Add kale, cooked quinoa, bell pepper, tomato, garlic, and onion. Mix together while hot to wilt kale slightly. Add eggs, and stir in cheese. Mix until everything is distributed evenly. Bake in preheated oven 40 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes.

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