Spiced Beef and Sweet Potato Bowls with Crispy Eggs #30MinuteMondays

Spiced beef and sweet potato bowls with crispy eggs, fresh figs, and goat cheese:

a unique and satisfying grain-free breakfast or dinner in less than 30 minutes.

This may seem like a strange combination of foods, but don't knock it 'til you've tried it. This quick spiced beef with sweet potatoes is delicious all on its own, but adding a crispy egg, a few fresh figs, and a generous dollop of goat cheese kicks things up several levels.

The spiced beef and sweet potatoes is a fast, pared-down version of my bacon and sweet potato chili, with a few slightly more exotic spices added in. Microwaving the sweet potato chunks for a few minutes while the meat is browning saves times and ensures even cooking. Coriander, turmeric, cardamom, and allspice give the beef and sweet potatoes just the right amount of fragrance and spice.

In case you haven't had the pleasure of indulging in a crispy egg, let me sell you on it. It has perfectly cooked whites, a runny yolk, and irresistible crunchy browned lacy bits all around the edges.

Kale and Bacon Quiches with Hash Brown Crust + A Giveaway

It's my second blog birthday! I feel like I've come a long way since my very first post, but last year's blogiversary feels like it was just yesterday. Time flies when you're eating well!

At the risk of sounding sappy, I want to say thank you for stopping by my site. Reading your comments and connecting with you on social media makes my day, and turns the often solitary activities of cooking, photographing, and writing into something that's actually meaningful.

To celebrate the occasion, I made grain-free kale and bacon quiches with hash brown crust. They're like little crispy nests of savory goodness. This was my first time making a potato crust, and I'm totally hooked. I'm even thinking it might work in some sort of a dessert pie (is that too radical?). Here, the crunchy potato tangles hold a filling of eggs, kale, shallots, crisp bacon, and crumbled goat cheese. These are perfect for Easter brunch or any weekend morning (or a blogiversary, of course).

As I embark on my third year of blogging, I'd love to hear from you. What would you like to see more of here on A Calculated Whisk? For example, are you looking for quick and easy recipes, Whole30 meals, desserts, vegetarian meals, or something else? Would you like to see more non-recipe posts (reviews, giveaways, perhaps travel stories)? Whatever it is, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

Balsamic Steak with Fig & Arugula Salad

Do you think beautiful food tastes better? I do.

Of course, every once in a while you come across a beautiful dish, take your first bite, and feel disappointed because it doesn’t taste nearly as good as it looks. In my experience, though, that doesn’t happen much.

More often, a food’s level of beauty and deliciousness are relatively close together, with the gorgeousness boosting the deliciousness up a notch or two (or perhaps vice versa, but I don’t really find that a food looks prettier once I’ve tried it and know that it’s tasty…we eat with our eyes first, after all). The food looks good, so it tastes even better. I think that’s how it goes with me and figs. Yes, they’re yummy, but most of all, their colors are just so pretty. When I take a bite of fig while looking at the freshly-sliced figs that are still on my plate, the beauty of those figs makes the one in my mouth taste even better.

Roasted Beet & Carrot Salad with Goat Cheese Vinaigrette

What's your favorite color?  Mine is pink (shocking, right?).  

When I was scrolling through the recipes on K & K Test Kitchen to choose something to make for this month's Secret Recipe Club, the gorgeous hue of this healthy salad caught my eye.  By the time I read the words "goat cheese" near the end of the post title, I was totally sold.  When I see a food that's naturally bright pink and has my favorite kind of cheese in it, I sign myself right up.

Stuffed Zucchini with Goat Cheese & Herbs

Cheese is back!  After finishing up my version of a Whole 30, I've been adding some dairy back into my diet.  I've made some interesting discoveries.  I used to think that too much coffee upset my stomach, but since switching to almond milk, I realized it was all the milk in my coffee that was causing me problems (I like a LOT of milk in my coffee).  So I'm trying not to go too crazy with the dairy, but I'm fine with a little cheese.  

Goat cheese is one of my favorite cheeses, and it's one that people who are lactose intolerant can often still enjoy.  Apparently this is because the fat molecules in goat's milk are shorter than those in cow's milk, and thus easier to digest.  Whatever the reason, I'm glad I can enjoy goat cheese.  It really takes these stuffed zucchini over the top.

One more note on ingredients: this was my first time cooking with ground pork.  It was so good!  Why is everyone still buying ground beef all the time?  I mean, I'm sure this recipe would be good with beef, or even ground chicken or turkey, but the pork just has so much great flavor.  Perhaps this is due to a higher fat content?  What I really want to know is this: why don't people make hamburgers out of ground pork?  Any thoughts?  After all, they are called HAMburgers...

On to the recipe!  I'm eager to try this with other vegetables as well: maybe mushrooms instead of peppers, or shallots instead of onions.  Let me know if you try this or any variations!

Pasta with Goat Cheese and Caramelized Garlic and Onions

So, last week I made a caramelized onion risotto that I read about on A Bitchin’ Kitchen.  It was delicious, but not very photogenic.  All I had was red onions, and those are just a fifty bad shades of gray when caramelized.  But, it got me thinking about how I should do more with caramelized onions.  And I decided to throw some garlic in there, too, because I believe everything is better with garlic.  Plus garlic gets nutty and sweet when it’s cooked long enough, and I love that.  The dish had to be pasta, because I don’t like rice that much.  And what else could I think of to make the dish fabulous?  Goat cheese, of course!  Only the best cheese ever.  I threw in some green peas for another sweet flavor, and to add some color to the dish.  I hope you like it!

Ingredients (serves 2-4):

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 yellow onions, halved through the core and thinly sliced

6 cloves garlic, sliced into slivers

1 cup frozen green peas

1 pound penne or other pasta

2 ounces goat cheese, plus extra for serving

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons milk or cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  When it is hot, add the garlic and onion and sprinkle some salt on top.  Leave them alone for a few minutes to get the browning process started.  Then, cook, adjusting the heat as necessary to prevent burning, stirring occasionally, until the onions and garlic are a rich golden brown, about 25 minutes.  Add the peas and cook for another five or so minutes, until the peas are bright green and tender.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta al dente and reserve one cup of the cooking water.  Combine the pasta, vegetables, goat cheese, parmesan, and cream or milk.  Toss to combine, and season to taste with salt and pepper.  If the pasta seems too dry, add some of the pasta cooking water until it looks just like you like it. Top with additional crumbled goat cheese and serve hot.