Basil Beef w/Sweet Potatoes

Alrighty...this is actually a misnomer...since I used a ground beef/turkey combo. Anyhoo...this is one of Sean's favorites in a long line of favorites. It's fairly simple to throw together and a complete meal served with (brown) rice. This was also the first time I used sweet potatoes. Normally, I use Japanese eggplants. It's my pseudo-Thai dish and it's supposed to be more on the sweet/savory side than purely savory.

The following is the ground beef(meat) version...you can also do it with thinly sliced beef.

Tan's Basil Beef

Ground beef & turkey (equal portions...roughly 1lb. of each)

Onion, diced

Red Pepper, sliced or diced

Carrots (not pictured), julienned, sliced, or diced

Sweet Potato (or Japanese Eggplant), small cubes

Garlic, smashed and minced

Ginger, minced (1 t.) or smashed large pieces (1 in. piece)

¼ cup Scallions, cut into 3 in. pieces (not pictured)

1 t. Sesame Oil

¾ t. Soy Sauce

1 t. Fish Sauce

3 T. Kecap Manis

⅓-¾ cup Basil, chiffonade

Olive Oil (or lighter oil if preferred)

Salt & Pepper

Microwave sweet potatoes until al dente. You want them nearly cooked through but not so cooked that they become mushy. Set aside.

Heat oil up in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Sauté onion, ginger, scallions, red pepper, carrots, & sweet potatoes until vegetables are soft but not mushy. Lightly season (as the soy sauce & kecap manis will add plenty of sodium later on) and add 1 t. garlic. Sauté for an additional 30 seconds. Remove from skillet/wok and set aside.

Add more oil to skillet/wok over high heat. Add ground beef & turkey, season, and brown. Drain any accumulated fat, if any (I use the leanest cuts so I don’t have extra fat that gets rendered). Add sesame oil, soy sauce, and kecap manis. Add 2 t. garlic and sauté for an additional 30 seconds.

Add vegetable mix. Add ½ of the basil. Let everything get happy for about 2 minutes. Taste for seasoning. At this point, the only additional seasoning you’ll want to add is the kecap manis since this dish is more on the sweet/savory side. Turn off heat and add remaining basil...adding more for a more pronounced basil flavor.

Serve on top of rice...with additional basil, if you dare.

ENJOY!

Beta-Carotene Goodness

Did you know that carrots are one of those veggies that have more nutritional bang for their buck when cooked? So, with that logic, here's something that is not only delicious, but NUTRITIOUS.

Yeah, it's a stretch, but a gooooooood one! ;o)

The Hubs loves himself some carrot cake. I first tried this bad boy when Sean's first CO (commanding officer) on his first sub was leaving and they were welcoming the new CO...this ceremony is called a Exchange of Command. Anyhoo...one of the other officer's wives had made this fabulous carrot cake. FAB-U-LOUS. So fabulous that I made my fiance hunt this man down to get his wife to fork over her recipe. I'm so glad I did because I haven't used any other carrot cake recipe since then. I've tweaked it to my liking.

I made the one above for the wardroom (basically the group of officers on the submarine) Super Bowl party this year. Unfortunately, I don't know how memorable that cake was since basically everyone at the party came down with a stomach virus (incl. our fam) that incapacitated almost the entire wardroom. Yeah, needless to say, there were barely any officers around that week on the sub...save for the guys who weren't at the party and my hubby who managed to barely escape the plague that got us. I. Hate. Nausea. And. Vomiting. I will birth a child, tear a ligament, break a bone any day...but Lord do not make me queasy!!

Anyhoo...with that said. I love, love, love spices. So, I make this cake extra spicelicious. The cream cheese frosting tempers it quite nicely. But, if you don't like too much spice, just cut back on the measurements I gave on the spices...which are approximations since I go against the baking grain and just dump the spices until I think it's good enough. Luckily, since they're spices, my lack-of-measurement for them is technically not wrong since it won't affect any chemical reactions in it.

This bad boy is just some yummy, moist, spicey, carroty goodness.

Carrot Cake
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 t. baking soda
1.5 T. cinnamon (I won't lie, I probably use about 2 T. or more)
1 - 1.5 t. ginger
1/2 - 3/4 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. ground cloves
1 t. salt
1 cup oil
4 eggs
4 cups shredded carrots (the original recipe calls for 3, I like to use 4 or more)
1 t. vanilla (again, I am guilty of using 1.5-2 t. vanilla)
8 oz. crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins, rehydrated in rum (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift dry ingredients together. Add the oil & eegs, one at a time. Beat until thoroughly mixed. Add carrots, pineapple, & vanilla. (This is where you would also add the nuts and/or raisins, if using.) Mix well. Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until done.

Done will be when it's no longer shiny on top, center is firm, sides are beginning to pull away, and there is just a touch of brown spots.

Let cake cool completely in pan before removing.

Frost with cream cheese frosting. Add garnishes, if desired. I added toasted coconut and toasted chopped walnuts in the photo above (since there were no walnuts in the cake).

Cream Cheese Frosting
3/4 cup butter, softened (I use salted since I'm not big on way too sugary frosting/icing)
1 lb. (or less) Confectioner's sugar
1 lb. cream cheese, softened
1 T. vanilla (I. Love. Vanilla.)

Cream butter & cream cheese together. Add vanilla. Mix. Mix in sugar...sloooooowly, unless you like a snowy kitchen. I find working in it in 3-4 portions helps!

**Some healthy substitutions would be: whole wheat flour for the flour, 1/2 cup applesauce & 1/2 oil instead of 1 cup oil (which I used Smart Balance oil), & a lower fat cream cheese in the frosting.

Enjoy!