In the Kitchen: Zucchini Boats + Mashed Sweet Potato

Close-up of my take on Zucchini Boats, made with garlic, grape tomatoes, mozzarella, parmesan and basil (for garnish).

So, things you've missed since I last posted: I'm cooking a lot more, and enjoying cooking a lot more; I'm on a weird veggie kick, since I'm trying to minimize meat in my diet; and I got a Pinterest, which has given me a lot of creative recipe ideas. Put these trends together and what do you get? ZUCCHINI BOATS!

Photo Credit: Proud Italian Cook

Here's the original recipe from Proud Italian Cook and above is a pretty picture from that page. I excluded bread crumbs, because I was lacking, but they probably would have added a nice little crunch to the texture. Also, make sure to make deep grooves in the zucchini beforehand, or else the tomatoes will sit on top, like mine did. Besides these little things, this was such an easy dish to make and the copious amount of garlic I used made the entire apartment continue to smell yummy for days afterwards. The grape tomatoes were packed with flavor and tasted so good after being roasted. And the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses lent the whole thing a bit of richness and texture, and provided the much needed unhealthy segment of the dish.

Photo Credit: Beau Gustafson, Mindi Shapiro Levine (Styling)

That same night Ben also made mashed sweet potatoes. I've been obsessing over sweet potatoes lately. Not only are they immensely delicious, but their high concentrations in several nutrients (dietary fiber, maganese, potassium, and Vitamins A, B6 and C) prompts some to call this a superfood. Anyways, Ben is a master at making this and it's so simple: boil the potatoes until soft, mash' em up, then mix in butter, milk, tiny bit of brown sugar, salt/pepper. ("And a lot of love," Ben is telling me, half–tongue-in-cheek, as usual). Anyways, it makes for a delicious, simple and filling dish –– highly recommended!

Lovely Sweet Potatoes, boiling away.

To end this post, I want to share a video that takes a bit of explanation. My latest obsession with sweet potatoes just happened to coincide with my recent discovery of this hilarious youtube comedian/absurdist/dj/German-immigrant/early-morning-investigator-of-American-idioms/ridiculous-guy, Flula Borg. (Here's my fangirl blog post about Flula on Briana + Her Fascinations). It just so happens that Flula helped bring my two obsessions together: I give you Flula's "Sweet Potato Casserole". Warning: this song is very catchy and may involuntary enter your brain at inopportune times.