Fiber Fool

There are a few flavors I frequently associate with this time of year, even though I do frequently enjoy their flavors at other times too - DH’s Swedish rye, cranberries with warm spices and sweet potato. They are flavors I’ve been indulging in a fair amount lately. DH has been tweaking a Swedish Rye recipe to contain more whole grain so there have been several loaves baked in the last month or so. I’ve been really enjoying my cranberry sauce as a topping to greek yogurt, often as my 2 hours before bed snack in the evenings. For a no-fuss side to a chicken or turkey breast I’ll often bake up a sweet potato in our toaster oven. Imagine my surprise at my knitting group on Monday night to discover I could enjoy all three at once!

This week I had the privilege to host the weekly Monday night knitting with what has to be one of the most wonderful groups of knitters. The “clubhouse” aka Dee’s house was otherwise occupied this week so everyone converged at my house. Deb posted all about our great group of knitters on her blog yesterday and shared how they all took part in Nourishing Knits. I often use hosting as an excuse to try out even more new recipes on the group :-) This weekend I pickled cranberries, on Monday I made sweet potato hummus and I think DH finally nailed down his whole grain Swedish rye. Amanda discovered right away that the sweet potato hummus and the cranberries were really good together. I think the cranberries highlight the sweetness in the hummus and the richness of the hummus kind of tempered the vinegar’s tartness a tad. Having heard that, and knowing that the spices in the Swedish rye would be good with those in the cranberries I decided to slather a piece of rye with the hummus and then put the cranberries on top. Delish!

Maria of Knit & Play with Fire shared with me a pickled cranberry recipe from Serious Eats a few weeks ago and I couldn’t get the idea out of my head. With the book done and cranberries still in the stores I decided it was time to give it a go. I’m glad I did! It was also good with chevre (the soft spreadable goat cheese) on crackers of various types. I’m sure it would be great on a sandwich of leftover turkey too. If I ate pork I think heated it would make a nice sauce for a roast or chops. Sadly, pork doesn’t agree with me. Nor do I often cook a roast. That is just too much for one meat eater. DH isn’t big on pickled things so I don’t see us going through this too quickly, so I opted to can it in 4 oz jars. I definitely recommend giving the recipe a try if you like cranberries. It is a nice change from the regular sauce.

The sweet potato hummus recipe is courtesy of my sister and my dad. Amber had come across the recipe in the November issue of Women’s Health just before they came out to visit for Thanksgiving, but ended up leaving the issue at home. So, when dad and did the grocery shopping for the Thankgiving meal he said to just pick it up off the newsstand. We were so busy hiking, snowshoeing, snow tubing, riding horses, shopping and working out that we didn’t get the hummus made while they were here. But I made it Monday. It is a very interesting take on hummus and resulted in a pretty stiff spread, especially if it is fresh from the fridge. But I really liked the sweetness and the sage and am definitely wanting to go get some turkey to make the whole sandwich, perhaps with the addition of the a bit of pickled cranberry! Sounds delish!

DH’s rye bread is based off the Swedish rye or Limpa recipe in Scandinavian Feasts: Celebrating Traditions Throughout the Year by
Beatrice A. Ojakangas. It is scented with orange and studded with anise, fennel, and caraway seed. But, DH decided to start with all the whole grain he was going to use and the non-milk liquids and make a 4-6 hour sponge to get the whole grains good and hydrated. It is a remarkable light and airy loaf and oh so yummy!

Don’t miss out on Beverly of PoMo Golightly’s contest to win a copy of the Masala slipper pattern from Nourishing Knits!