Gettin' the Vitamin A

Long time, no blog.  My supper today was an updated or healthified version of a dish floating around in my family, called Hot Dogs, Peppers, Potatoes, and Onions.  The original’s basically all of those ingredients, sautéed and steamed and served with catsup.  I’m not a fan of two taste sensations—salty and oily—and my modifications do away with the oil and extra salt, instead replacing those with spice.  The curry powder I recently purchased is spicy, and of course, you are free to spice or not spice to your palate’s preference.  Sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin A (tell me that’s common knowledge, eh?).

Spicy Sweet Potatoes, Kale, and Hot Hot Dogs

Serves 2ish

2 sweet potatoes, washed and cubed in 1-inch or smaller pieces (I left the skin on)

2 yellow onions, some diced and some half-mooned

2 cups vegetable broth (1/2 teaspoon Better-than-Bouillon plus 2 cups boiling water)

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon curry powder

3 tofu hot dogs, cut into bite-sized pieces (I had only three in the freezer; six or eight would be better)

one large bunch of kale, washed and chopped

2 teaspoons mild vinegar (I used pomegranate-acai vinegar)

Heat a large frying pan (that has a lid) over medium heat.  Add about a cup of broth, which should begin to steam and boil soon after hitting the pan.  Add the sweet potatoes and turn up the heat to medium-high; cover pan with lid.  Boil in the shallow layer of broth for about five minutes—no need to stir—or until there is only light orange around the edges of the potato pieces near the skin.  They should give easily to a knife poke.  Add the onions and about a quarter-cup of broth (just replenish the broth since the potatoes have absorbed some).  

Replace the lid and cook the onions until they begin to turn translucent.  Add the cayenne and curry and stir.  Cook for a minute and then add the hot dogs.  Stir them in and cook, with the lid on, until they are heated through (they will turn yellow from the curry powder and you want that to happen).  Pile the kale on top, replace the lid, and cook for two minutes, or until the kale begins to wilt and turn brilliant, Emerald City green (hey, I saw Wicked recently).  

Turn off the heat.  Let the kale wilt completely, then remove the lid and stir in the two teaspoons of vinegar.  Serve with catsup and (spicy!) mustard.

Some notes: Obviously, if you don’t like to burn your face off, don’t add all the spice; curry powders vary in heat intensity so use the one you like.  The cooking times I give are approximate, and in my experience, it’s better to look at the colour of the food and poke it to see if it’s done.  Eating it with catsup and mustard is just one of my quirks and is not required.  Yes, two cups of broth means there’s a lot of liquid in the pan; this is normal.  Drink it, it’s good for you.  It’s best served in a bowl.  Also, I didn’t cook the onions for a long time since one, I was impatiently hungry, and two, what I dislike most about the original is its lack of texture.  Kale adds texture, too.

Catsup?

No, cat's down.

Just printed out some paper dolls today that I downloaded from Liana's Paper Doll Blog and I hope to cut them out this weekend.