Trio of Healthy Heaven: Sweet Potato, Quinoa, and Haricots Verts (And a bonus Moroccan Chicken recipe!)

I've been cooking dinners for a neighbor, Eleonore, for a couple of years now . If you can believe it, she has even more diet restrictions than my husband who is trying to cure an ulcer and lower his cholesterol. But she has proved to me that having a fickle diet doesn't have to mean bland food, well, not all the time anyway. This is my favorite Eleonore-inspired dish that I make frequently when I need a quick healthy meal that doesn't sacrifice portion or flavor. Once you have a bite of the warm and comforting sweet potato with the textured and nutty quinoa you will understand where I'm coming from. It's healthy heaven! And the crisp, salty haricots are just the refresher you need before you go back in for another bite of mushy goodness.



About haricots verts: Haricots are green beans' snobby French cousin. They look pretty much like green bean but cost sometimes seven times as much! But don't back away from the bean just yet. Haricots, called French Beans in some groceries, are worth the price if you can get your hands on them. They are more tender and juicy than green beans and have a much more complex flavor. They are so good that I can sit and eat a handful of them like they're french fries! However, if your grocery doesn't have them or you think I'm ridiculous for suggesting that you spend so much on green beans you can always get the less expensive variety or substitute your favorite cooked vegetable.

Sweet Potato, Haricots Verts, and Quinoa
Inspired by Eleonore

Ingredients: (for two people)

1/2 lb haricot verts
2/3 C uncooked quinoa
1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes or yams

For the sweet potato (start this first):
Preheat your toaster oven, preferred, or regular oven to 375 (this is my wonderful toaster oven - I've been through three and this heats quickest and cooks most evenly). Peel potato and cut into a 1" dice. Coat a small baking sheet with olive oil and toss the potatoes around on it. Sprinkle with salt. Set a timer for about 10-20 minutes but keep an eye on the potatoes. They are done when they are completely soft and slightly brown. Turn the tray half way through for even cooking.

For the Quinoa:
Preheat oven to 350. If you are doing the sweet potato and quinoa in the oven together then compromise and set it to around 365.
Measure out the quinoa and rinse it well using a fine mesh sieve.
Measure 1 cup of water and put it in a small saucepan or in the microwave over high heat to boil it.
Meanwhile, toast the quinoa in a medium pot over medium-low heat stirring constantly. You'll know it's toasted when you smell the nuttiness, which usually happens just around the same time as when the quinoa becomes completely dry and just starts to stick to the bottom of the pan.
Pour the boiling water over the quinoa, making sure it is all covered and none is sticking to the sides of the pot. Add a dash of salt and quickly cover.
Put it in the oven for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the pot from the oven and let it stand for 5 minutes. Fluff lightly with a fork and serve.

For the Haricots:
Put a medium pot of water over high heat until it boils. Meanwhile, wash the haricots and trim the end that has the stem on it. When the water boils, add a handful of salt and the haricots. Cook until fork tender, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve.


Variations:

• Use kasha instead of quinoa - if you are a kasha fan this is also a very pleasing combination
• Substitute any other vegetable you have on hand for the haricots, but keep it green if you like the vibrant colors of this dish.

• Substitute chicken: When I started making this dish for myself, PJ was not yet fond of sweet potato so I made a variation for him using chicken. It is not the same type of heaven, but this chicken with Moroccan spices goes really nicely with the quinoa and it's an excellent chicken dish in it's own right, too! The recipe can be halved easily. Here is the recipe for the chicken:

Morroccan Chicken
Inspired by The Kosher Palette, Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy



Ingredients (serves 4):
1/2 C olive oil
1/4 C chopped scallions (white part only)
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbs minced garlic
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 can chickpeas
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

*Note: This recipe has a lot of spices which can be pricey if you don't have a stocked spice cabinet already. The chicken will still taste great if you choose to leave out one or two, or three...

Preheat oven to 400. In a small bowl, combine scallions, parsley, cilantro, garlic, paprika, cumin, salt, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Whisk or mix with a fork until smooth. Add the chicken breasts and chickpeas and let marinate for 30 minutes (dish can be made up until this point the day before and left to marinate in the refrigerator overnight). Put chicken with all of the marinade into a pyrex baking dish and bake for 40 minutes to an hour. Check the inside of the biggest piece with a knife to make sure chicken is cooked through.