Roasted Sweet Pototoes, Carrots and Turnips

The recipe that I use the most in my kitchen is not a recipe at all. It's more of a formula: chop vegetables, toss with oil and herbs and roast until tender and slightly caramelized. A wide variety of vegetables can be thrown into the mix: winter squashes and potatoes, carrots and onions, turnips and garlic. The herbs vary as well: rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, basil. The mixture depends on my mood, the contents of my pantry, and the accompanying dishes. Roasting is easy, always satisfying, and always at my fingertips for a last-minute dish.

This particular combination is a real winner. The addition of some tiny hakurei turnips to my planned dish of carrots and sweet potatoes provided variety in color and texture, as well as adding a little  zing. The carrots remained firm and lightly sweet through the roasting process, while the sweet potatoes became soft and dissolved into an almost candy-like sweetness. Throw them all together and you have seriously good eats - something appropriate for a Thanksgiving table as well as a Monday night dinner.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Carrots and Turnips

1 1/2 lb sweet potato, cut into 1" chunks (you don't need to peel them - the best nutrition will come off with the skin - but my sweet potato looked a little mangy, so I did this time)
1 lb carrot, cut into 1" chunks
1/2 lb turnip, cut into 1" chunks (I used several small ones, but a large turnip or rutabaga would be fine as well)
1 tsp dried thyme (fresh would be better - I didn't feel like stumbling around my herb garden with a flashlight to find some!)
1/2 tsp dried winter savory
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Combine the sweet potatoes, carrots and turnips in a large bowl. Sprinkle with herbs, salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil, and mix to combine (I prefer to toss the mixture with my hands). Transfer to a foil-lined baking sheet.

Roast for 30-40 minutes, depending on your oven (my batch took 35), stirring once or twice to keep the vegetables from sticking to the foil. Serve hot!

Farm Fridays: Maple Roasted Fingerling Sweet Potatoes

If you're living in the Northeast, you've probably heard that we're going to take a pounding from Hurricane Sandy (aka Frankenstorm) early next week. Some of the tracks project a direct hit to Central Jersey.  I visited the farm this morning and the grocery store this afternoon - the fridge is stocked and we're ready to hunker down and weather this thing (hopefully without losing power).

Fortunately, we got a nice load of storage vegetables from the farm today, so whatever happens, I know I'll have some unspoiled food to work with. And I could honestly eat sweet potatoes every day without getting sick of them. In fact, I couldn't wait to have these - as soon as I'd unpacked my farm basket, I scrubbed some and roasted them for lunch.

Roasting is my favorite way to prepare most vegetables. Just toss them in oil and seasonings and throw them in the oven. Very little mess or fuss is involved. In this case, I decided to add a little maple syrup to liven things up a bit. This makes an easy, delicious side dish appropriate for anything from a Friday lunch to Thanksgiving dinner. I have five more pounds of sweet potatoes sitting in the basement, so I'm sure I'll be doing this again soon!

Maple Roasted Fingerling Sweet Potatoes

1 lb fingerling sweet potatoes, sliced into 1/2" rounds (really, any kind of diced sweet potato will do, but I had these cute long ones on hand)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Slice up your sweet potatoes and place them in a baking dish (or foil-lined baking pan - glass will clean up more easily than metal so foil is unnecessary). Drizzle with oil and syrup, season with salt and pepper, and toss well to combine.

Roast 30-35 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Stuffed Curry Sweet Potato

I totally wish I had one of these right now. This delicious sweet potato was made and consumed over a week ago. I sneakily stocked up on stuff to blog about, knowing I had many long hours of train travel to fill. So I sit here, rocking to the rhythms of the last car of the train somewhere between Buffalo and Rochester (actually, we seem to be passing near Attica - I'll be on the lookout for escaped convicts), mentally drooling over this healthy, flavorful lunch as I try to write about it.

Actually, my lunch today wasn't half bad. I got a pretzels and hummus snack pack on the train and followed it up with some vegetable crudites I got to take home from the conference yesterday (it pays to get to know the local grad students). But there is no question that I would rather have had this potato.

When this recipe showed up on Naturally Ella, I spent some time drooling over it, but for one reason or another months passed before I actually tried it. Warm, mashed sweet potato blends with dense chickpeas and a pile of curry powder for a healthy, tasty and well-balanced entree. It's a great go-to recipe to keep in your repertoire - the most time-consuming part is baking the potato. The first time I made it, I forgot how long that can take. Just make sure you plan ahead and you'll be fine.

I think I'm going to have to make one of these for dinner tomorrow. Or maybe lunch - dinner's too far away!

Stuffed Curry Sweet Potato
Very slightly adapted from Naturally Ella.

1 medium sweet potato
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 c frozen peas, thawed slightly
1/2 c chickpeas
2 tbsp vegetable stock
1 tbsp curry powder

Preheat oven to 400°F. Poke some holes in the sweet potato and place it on a baking tray. Bake 45-50 minutes, until softened. Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly.

Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add in onion, pepper and garlic and saute a few minutes until translucent. Add in chickpeas and frozen peas and cook until heated through. Set aside.

Lower the oven temperature to 375°F. 

Slice the sweet potato in half and scoop out the insides, leaving 1/4" or so around the edge (I like to use a melon baller for this). Mash the removed sweet potato well, then add curry powder and stock. Set aside about a third of this mixture, and combine the rest with the chickpea mixture. Stuff the sweet potato shells with it, then cover (as best you can) with the reserved sweet potato mixture. Place back on the baking tray and return to the oven for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!

Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup

My kitchen smelled like comfort this morning - the beautiful, homey smell of buttered carrots. It reminded me of holidays when I was younger - the scent of warm, simmering goodness wafting upstairs, luring me down from my bedroom. I'm not sure what about the scent made me so nostalgic, really - I can't remember my mom ever making anything like this soup (probably because her picky, stubborn children would have refused to eat it).

I will eat it now, though, and gladly! I originally pulled out this recipe to use up some of the six pounds of carrots I got at my last CSA pickup of the season. Jeff and I thought it was delicious - the sweetness of the carrots and sweet potatoes complement one another beautifully, and the spices are a lovely accent. It's a delicious creamy soup for a chilly day. Hopefully it will be just as lovely a beginning to tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner!

Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup
From Cooking Light's Way to Cook Vegetarian.

3 tbsp butter, divided

1 c onion, chopped

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 lb carrot, chopped

3 c vegetable stock

3 1/2 c water

1/4 c half-and-half

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Heat a Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Melt 1 tbsp of butter. Add the onion to the pan and cook 4-5 minutes, until softened and tender.

Add the nutmeg and cinnamon and cook another minute, stirring. Move the onions to one side of the pan and add 2 tbsp butter to the other. Increase the heat to medium-high to melt the butter and let it brown slightly. Add the sweet potatoes, carrots, stock and water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer about 35 minutes, until vegetables are soft.

Ladle one-third of the soup mixture into a blender. With the center piece of the lid ajar so as to release some steam, and covering the lid with a dish towel to prevent splashing, puree the soup until smooth. Pour into another vessel, then repeat with the remaining two thirds.

When all the soup is pureed, season with salt and pepper (since I use salt-free homemade stock, I need to add a lot more salt than the recipe calls for). Add half-and-half and stir until well-combined. Serve hot!

Sweet Potato French Toast

The end of daylight savings time has some nice perks. Because Jeff and I have been waking up at the crack of dawn (he may contest this, but I certainly wake up when he does, even if I refuse to get up some days), we have time to do fun things in the morning, like experiment with French toast!

I bought a loaf of soft sweet potato bread from Whole Foods yesterday. When I was exploring the refrigerator this morning, contemplating breakfast, it struck me that this would make a brilliant French toast. I was not disappointed.

Other than the idea, I take no credit for this recipe at all. I simply stood by and watched Jeff do his thing. The distribution of labor in our kitchen is a bit idiosyncratic. I am responsible for masterminding the menu, procuring foodstuffs and making sure perishable items get used in a timely manner. I take care of the prepping and chopping, most of the side dishes and all of the baking. Jeff is responsible for handling and preparing meats as well as all breakfast foods. (While I think myself equal to throwing down a batch of pancakes or waffles if I had to, there are some breakfast things, like any style of eggs, at which I am hopeless. Jeff's breakfast mastery is not likely to be challenged any time soon.) So this morning, once I had suggested my brilliant plan, I stepped back onto the sidelines and let Jeff take action. This is what he did:

Sweet Potato French Toast

A la Jeff.

2 eggs

2 tbsp butter

4 slices sweet potato bread
2 tsp cinnamon sugar

extra butter and maple syrup, to taste!





Preheat a griddle over medium-low heat. Add 2 tbsp butter (you can use a knife to spread it around where you plan on placing your bread). In a shallow dish, crack the eggs and beat lightly with a fork. One at a time, dip each slice of bread into the egg, turning to coat well.

Place the slice carefully on the griddle, sprinkle with about 1/2 tsp cinnamon sugar, and repeat with the other three slices. Cook 4-5 minutes, until the egg begins to turn golden brown.

Flip each slice and cook another minute or two until the other side is caramelized (our griddle was too hot at this point, so the sugar burned on several of the slices - it might be a good idea to turn the griddle down for the second side). Serve topped with extra butter and maple syrup for a delicious fall treat!

Sweet Potato Fries with Cranberry Ketchup

Every month when my cooking magazines arrive, I devour them quickly, tearing out and cataloguing all the recipes that appeal to me. Then those recipes go into a folder, not to be looked at for several months. No matter how good a recipe looks, it seems like I'm always a few months behind. My menus are dictated more by the produce I have available than the recipes that show up. When my October magazines arrived, I was still in high summer, trying to use up my tomatoes and basil. I was not ready to think about winter squash and sweet potatoes, delicious though they are.This month, however, worked out better. When my November Cooking Light arrived a few days ago, my cupboard was bare. I was ready for sweet potato fries with cranberry ketchup. And cranberries have just come into season in New Jersey.

I went to the farmers market this morning and was delighted to see the bins of fresh cranberries, along with the other fall goodness pictured above (so many of my favorite vegetables are in season right now!). New Jersey is a big cranberry-producing state (Ocean Spray is actually headquartered about ten miles south of here in Bordentown - though I hear they'll be moving by next year). I'd been planning to take advantage of this cranberry bounty for some time, but I knew my timing had to be good. Last year I saw cranberries at the farmers market and stored that info in the back of my mind for Thanksgiving, when I would need them. But when Thanksgiving weekend rolled around, there were no cranberries to be had! The harvest had ended early. This year, I was assured this morning, they will still be around by then. But that doesn't stop me from enjoying some now!
 
This cranberry ketchup is easy to make and absolutely delicious. The tart sweetness of the cranberries holds up well against the zing of the vinegar and the heat of the red pepper flakes. While cranberries and sweet potatoes seems like a Thanksgiving-y combination, this recipe manages to evoke fall flavors without a holiday connotation. I'm sure it would be as good as a side dish for a family dinner as it was as my Tuesday lunch!
 

Sweet Potato Fries

1 1/2 to 2 lbs sweet potatoes, sliced into wedges
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and toss to coat.

Spread the wedges on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip the wedges, and return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes. Serve nice and hot!

Cranberry Ketchup

From Cooking Light November 2011.

1 2/3 c fresh cranberries

1/2 c dark brown sugar

1 large shallot, chopped

1/4 c cider vinegar

1/4 c water

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat (you will start to hear the cranberries burst as they heat up). Cook 10 minutes, until thick, stirring every few minutes.

During those 10 minutes, the mixture will go from foamy and popping to deep red and gelatinous.

After the 10 minutes are through, once the mixture has gelled, remove from the heat and let rest for 10 more minutes.

Once the mixture has cooled a bit, transfer to a food processor (I used my small one) and process until smooth. Enjoy with sweet potato fries!

Grilled Vegetable Salad

I'm back! I survived three weeks in London without cooking facilities (the prepared foods section of the local supermarket was my salvation) and am now back and raring to go in my own kitchen. The problem is that I'm still all discombobulated from being out of town and dealing with some family issues, so lately our meals have been patched together from whatever is on hand. Fortunately, it being mid-August, there's plenty on hand!

This recipe is a good way to tap into that bounty. I think grilled vegetables are hard to beat any day, but top them with this dressing and they become something else. And I love the flexibility of this recipe - just use whatever vegetables you have on hand. The dressing will meld them all together into a coherent dish.

I know, the picture doesn't look very impressive. I was starving and in a hurry (also, we didn't watch the grill closely enough so several items were overcooked). But trust me, this is worth a try. Maybe yours will come out looking prettier - either way, it tastes fantastic!

Grilled Vegetable Salad
 My recipe card says I got this from Proud Italian Cook, but I can't find the original recipe on her site. Either way, I've changed it up a bit.

sweet potato, cut into 1/2" thick rounds (this time we used one very large, fat one - the middle one in the above picture)

corn on the cob, husked (we used two ears)

peppers, sliced into 1/2" rings(I used two bell peppers and half a cubanelle)

green onions, trimmed to a reasonable length for your grill

zucchini, sliced into 1/4" thick slabs

(*you could also use plenty of other veggies: I've done asparagus and green beans, and I'm tempted to throw some red onion rings in next time)

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic

1 large stalk fresh oregano (I used Greek oregano)

14 tsp dried parsley (fresh is good, too, but I didn't feel like another trek out into the garden)

juice from half a lemon

salt and pepper

Fire up your grill! 

Toss your veggies with a little olive oil, salt and pepper (be gentle or your peppers will break like mine did - and you will probably need to rub the corn with oil separately, unless you have an enormous bowl). Spread the veggies on the grill and cook, turning once (they will each need different amounts of time, depending on their size and shape - just keep a better eye on them than we did!).

Meanwhile, prepare the dressing. Toss the garlic and herbs into a small food processor and mince. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend. (I prepared this by taste, so these measurements are approximate - I think the vinegar and mustard should be the strongest flavors, but do what tastes best to you).

Remove your vegetables from the grill. Cut the corn kernels off of the cob. Toss the vegetables together with the dressing in a large bowl and serve. (The recipe also suggests garnishing with fresh chives, but I forgot in my hurry to start eating!)

Sweet Potato and Nut Salad

I made this yesterday primarily to use up some produce that I'd had around for too long. I remembered the recipe as a good one, but in the "good, solid option" sense, not the "I'll eat the whole bowl now, please" sense.

Apparently I was wrong. I was definitely inclined to skip the rest of dinner and chow down on this alone. But I'm still not sure why. There is nothing spectacular about this salad - in fact, the dressing still needs some tweaking - and yet the combination is just right. There is warm and cold, soft and crunchy, sweet and tangy. I think of sweet potato as heavy, but the celery seems to lighten it up. The vinegar in the dressing adds just the right touch. And it takes under 15 minutes to prepare (and I tend to prep really slowly). What's not to love?

Sweet Potato and Nut Salad
Adapted from my Simply Quick and Easy cookbook.

1 lb sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
4 1/2 oz celery root, grated
2 green onions, chopped
1 3/4 oz pecans, chopped (when I read the recipe this time, I read this as 1 3/4 cups, which I felt was too much, so I just poured in what seemed to me a more reasonable amount . . . probably close to the original 1 3/4 oz)
2 tsp fresh thyme (my thyme doesn't look so good right now, so I used a pinch of the dried stuff)
2 tbsp vegetable oil*
1 1/2 tsp light brown sugar*
1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar* (the recipe calls for garlic wine vinegar, but I can't find it at the store)

* The amounts for the dressing are all estimates, as I still haven't gotten all my proportions right. The original recipe called for 4 tbsp oil, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tbsp vinegar, but I thought this was way too heavy on the oil. I was unable to remove any oil when I realized this, but I did increase the other ingredients to about what you see here. I think it would be best with this amount of oil, but since I haven't tried it this way, I'd recommend tasting it and using your own judgement.

Cook sweet potatoes in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes, until tender (mine took 7). Drain and set aside to cool.

Stir celery root, celery, scallions and pecans together in a medium bowl. When the sweet potatoes are cool, add them too.

In a small bowl, whisk together thyme, oil, sugar and vinegar until well combined. Pour over salad and serve.

The Best Thing I Ever Cooked: Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

I won't beat around the bush - this recipe is a lot of work. Three hours and fifteen minutes from prep to table. Granted, I did not complete each step in the most efficient manner. I was actually out of milk, and I reached the step that involved it well before Jeff got home from the grocery store, so there was a certain period of inactivity in there. I imagine (if you're not waiting on ingredients) the sauce could be made while the vegetables are roasting. This would reduce the total time considerably.

By the time it was ready, I wasn't even hungry. My legs hurt from standing in the kitchen for so long. My arm ached from whisking the sauce for twelve straight minutes. My kitchen was a disastrous clutter of dirty pots and scattered cutlery.

One bite of that lasagna, and it was all worthwhile. All my tiredness melted away (well . . . it was at least forgotten momentarily). Holy creamy deliciousness, Batman! I had never had a béchamel sauce before. Apparently I had not lived. I still have no idea how milk, flour and butter can create such a taste sensation. I could pour that into a bowl and eat it like soup (until an adult came by and stopped me). Combine that with the roasted vegetables (which I love in any preparation) and it is, as Guy Fieri would say, money. The light sweetness of the squash and sweet potatoes was an excellent compliment to the sauce, and not so overpowering as to render it dessert-like in any way. The red peppers added a nice flavor contrast. The leeks were mild enough to add flavor but not overwhelm the other elements. Upon reflection, I can't say I noticed the cheese very much. But I can't say that I cared, either.

When something is this delicious, who cares how long it takes to make? I plan on doing this recipe again and again and again. Just not on days that I work.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

From the Southern Living Farmers Market Cookbook.

1 medium butternut squash (about 2 lbs)

1 small sweet potato, cut into 1/2" cubes

3 tbsp olive oil, divided

3 c sliced leeks (about 4)

1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips

4 c milk

4 garlic cloves, halved

3 tbsp butter

1/4 c flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

9 dried precooked lasagna noodles

1 c Asiago cheese, shredded

1 c whipping cream

1 c Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 450°. Microwave squash on high for 2 minutes. (This step scared me - the squash is not pierced or anything. I was afraid I'd have an explosion on my hands. Fortunately, two minutes isn't very long, so the squash, and my microwave, survived intact.) Cut squash in half lengthwise. Scrape out and discard seeds. Peel squash and cut into 1/2" cubes. Put 3 c cubed squash in a large bowl and set aside remaining squash for another day (I had a huge 3 lb 6 oz squash, and 3 c was just about half of it). Add cubed sweet potato and 2 tbsp oil to the bowl and toss. Spread onto a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine leeks, bell pepper and 1 tbsp oil in the same bowl and toss. Add to partially-roasted squash mixture, stirring gently. Bake for 20 minutes or until tender, stirring halfway. When the vegetables are finished roasting, return them to the bowl.

While the roasting is going on, combine milk and garlic in a large saucepan and bring just to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. (You do need to watch this carefully - milk goes from simmering to boiling over quite quickly, so I'd advise not leaving the room.) Discard garlic (and any icky milk-skin that might form - you don't want that in the finished product). Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth and cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in warm milk. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, 12-13 minutes or until slightly thickened (mine was very thickened by this point). Remove from heat and stir in salt and pepper. Add to the roasted vegetable mixture, stirring gently.

Spoon 1/3 of vegetable mixture in to a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish. (Try not to sneak too many tastes.) Top with 3 lasagna noodles. Spread half the remaining mixture over the noodles and sprinkle half the Asiago cheese on top. Repeat with next 3 noodles, remaining vegetable mixture and remaining cheese. Break the remaining 3 noodles in half and lay on top of the casserole (this step seemed really weird to me until I realized it breaks it into easy-to-serve portions).

Decrease oven temperature to 350°. Beat cream at a high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form (this goes faster if you put the bowl and beaters into the freezer for 10 minutes beforehand). Spread whipped cream over noodles and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. (Since my dish was filled to the brim, I also put it on a rimmed baking sheet, in case of spills. This ended up being an excellent idea.) Uncover and bake 13 minutes more or until golden and bubbly (mine took closer to 18 minutes to get golden-brown on top). Let stand 15 minutes before serving (if you can bear it!).

The directions say it yields 8 servings, but it seemed like 6 to me. But we did eat this as our entree. I assume if you had other things along with it, you might want a smaller portion.

Stir-Fried Beef, Broccoli and Yams

What's the difference between a yam and a sweet potato? Is this just a regional thing, or are they really two types of potato? I tend to use the names interchangeably . . . I hope that's ok.

I love Chinese food. (The fake, American version, I mean.) There's something about fried meat in a sticky, sweet sauce that drives my taste buds wild. I used to eat it a lot. The prepared food section at Wegmans has some good stuff. I was also a huge fan of the Trader Joe's frozen meals (spicy orange chicken, anyone?), which I had assumed was the closest I would ever get to making Chinese take-out myself at home.

I was wrong. And it's a good thing I was wrong. I was at the University of Toronto this past summer, and spent a fair bit of time walking through Chinatown to get to other places. I passed a number of Chinese groceries. They are disgusting. (Ok, most of them are disgusting - one of the girls I lived with directed me to one that was satisfactory.) Most of the ones I passed smelled like rotting garbage. I steered clear of even buying vegetables there. I would never have considered buying the meat. A few of the butcher shops had whole chickens hanging by the neck in the windows. That freaked me out. I would never buy that.

Now, I understand this is a cultural thing. I live a fairly sheltered life and am easily grossed out. While I am trying to learn more about where my meat comes from and how the animals are treated, I still prefer a healthy distance between the cute farm animals and the finished product. I can't handle a rack of ribs or a whole raw chicken because I am too keenly reminded of what they used to be. But walking around Toronto's Chinatown led me to realize that, while I would not buy these things as groceries, I don't seem to have a problem eating them once they're fried up and tossed in sauce. The chicken in the window that I shy away from is destined for my Kung Pao!

So it's a good thing we've learned to make some great Chinese dishes at home, where I have control over the ingredients I use. This stir-fried beef, broccoli and yams is probably the best we've tried to date. The cornstarch gets the juices from the beef to thicken into a great sauce. And the yams (or sweet potatoes - whatever) provide a really nice twist on the traditional beef with broccoli, introducing a great new contrast in color, texture and flavor. And it's not very hard to make.

Try it. I hope you're as impressed as we were.

Oh, and here's a shot of some of the awesome stuff we got at the farmer's market this week. Those turnips are destined for something tasty . . .

Stir-Fried Beef, Broccoli and Yams

From Bon Appétit magazine, sometime last year.

1/4 c water

3 tbsp light brown sugar

3 tbsp oyster sauce

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 lb flank steak, cut in half lengthwise, then into 1/4" slices 

1 1/2 tbsp corn starch  (yeah, that's a lot, but it's what gets the sauce to thicken)

2 1/2 tbsp sesame oil, divided

4 c broccoli florets (about 8 oz)

1 yam (about 8 oz), peeled, cut in half lengthwise, then into 1/3" slices (if you do this, you get pretty little half-moons of yam. Since I used a few very tiny yams, I chose to just slice them into rounds)

2 tsp chopped fresh ginger (fresh ginger adds a beautiful kick to the finished product)

Stir the water, sugar, oyster sauce and red pepper in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves. Set the sauce aside. Place the beef in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add cornstarch and toss to coat well. (Since we used about 1/3 more beef than the recipe called for, we should have used more cornstarch. Our sauce didn't turn out quite as thick as the last few times we'd made this recipe.)

Heat 1 1/2 tbsp oil in large skilled on high. Add beef. Stir fry for about 3 minutes, until no longer pink. Transfer to a clean bowl. In the same skillet, heat 1 tbsp of oil (we decided to use a bit less this time around because there was a fair bit of oil left in the skillet). Add the broccoli, yams and ginger. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, tossing to coat. Add the sauce. Cover, reduce heat to medium-high, and cook for about 5 more minutes, until the vegetables are just tender. (Test one of the larger pieces of yam to be sure.) Return the beef to the skillet. Toss for about another minute until the sauce coats the beef. Serve over rice.