Cranberry Pecan Sweet Potato Quick Bread

Warning: this post contains explicit language & delicious bread.

I don't think I've told you guys about the fucking yams yet, have I? Well, it happens to be my very favorite holiday story. 

So, to set the stage… my parents certainly didn't have the mouth's of angels when I was a kid, but the F-bomb was a place they never went. I think I heard my mom say it once my whole childhood, when a thrift store wouldn't accept her donation (she was really riled up that day). Then, when I was in like, 7th or 8th grade, Amanda, Mel, and I spent one super hot summer reading through Stephen King's The Green Mile out loud together. That's what you do out in the country when you don't have cable TV…sort of like old timey radio stories. So we all took turns reading chapters. We were at one super intense part in the story, my mom was reading and Amanda and I were leaning forward in anticipation of what would come next. All of a sudden, Mel stopped reading, her face got super red, and then she continued "Eff-You-See-Kay, Percy Said!" Amanda and I looked at each other, then fell on the floor laughing. She couldn't even read the F-word out loud to us, she had to spell it out. Needless to stay, we lost our steam after that, and it took us awhile to carry on with the story. 

So, fast-forward to a few years ago. It's Thanksgiving day, and Mel is hard core stressin'. We have a house full of people, and she's pulling everything out of the oven, just about ready to serve dinner. From the living room, we hear a giant crash in the kitchen, so we all run in, and Mel is standing there, covered in yams. Orange mush on the walls, the floor, every where. My dad asks "what happened?" And then she bursts into tears and wails "THE FUCKING YAMS!" So, of course, Amanda, John, and I all die laughing. And then, to make her feel better, one of us says "we don't really like the yams anyway." If bullets could shoot out of peoples eyes, that's what would have happened at that moment.

The next year, Amanda and I wandered out Thanksgiving morning in shirts we had made with a cartoon yam and Mel's new catchphrase "THE FUCKING YAMS." Needless to say, this time her tears were laugh-tears, and the phrase sort of just stuck. So now every year we make sure we add some sort of fucking yam to the Thanksgiving menu. 

But the truth is, we weren't lying when we told her that we didn't really love the yams. The mushy, sweet, marshmallow covered yams. So ever since that day, we try to do something new with them. Roasted sweet potatoes, scalloped sweet potatoes, etc. This year, I figured we could go in a whole new direction, and make a sweet potato quick bread!

I based this off of the pumpkin quick bread in my trusty Fannie Farmer cookbook, and was inspired by the recipe just below it for cranberry quick bread. Full of nuts and tart cranberries, with warm fall spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, this bread is perfect for the main meal, the dessert table, or even breakfast the next day.  

Cranberry Pecan Sweet Potato Bread

Based loosely on a Fannie Farmer recipe

Plan ahead so your puree has time to cool before mixing with the egg, otherwise you'll have weird cooked egg pieces. To make the sweet potatoes, I just peeled and cubed one orange sweet potato, then steamed it (in a veg steamer) for about 15 minutes, until it was super tender, and then mashed with a pastry blender until smooth. You can also roast a whole, unpeeled sweet potato, or try boiling the peeled chunks, ala Martha Stewart (minus the salt & pepper).

1.5 cups flour (I used half whole wheat, half all purpose)

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sweet potato puree, cooled 

1/2 cup melted coconut oil

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 teaspoon fresh nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1 cup pecans, chopped

1/4 cup water

1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped

2 teaspoons course turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 350, and butter a loaf pan.

Whisk together flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, stir together potato puree, oil, eggs, spices, and water until properly mixed. Add sweet potato mixture to dry ingredients, and stir until just combined, don't over mix. Stir in nuts and cranberries. Pour into loaf pan and sprinkle course sugar over top. Bake 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack. 

Sweet Potato, Pear, and Wild Rice Salad

It's officially fall, and that means you can officially wear boots and scarves and order pumpkin spice everything, shame free. It also means I can start making dishes full of fall flavors like pears and roasted sweet potatoes. I really think sweet potatoes are going to be my go-to this fall, sort of like corn was all summer. I just love sweet potatoes so much. As is evident here and here. 

Amanda always welcomes fall with a pear and pecan salad that has a creamy yogurt-honey-lemon dressing. I decided to make that salad, but add in some heartiness with wild rice (actually, I used forbidden black rice, which is super fun), sweet potato roasted in coconut oil, and aged white cheddar. Bleu cheese would absolutely work here too (um, maybe both!?). 

This salad also holds up well for lunch the next day! Just layer it in a jar so that your dressing is on the bottom, and your arugula is on the top. And leave your pecans out, so they stay nice and crunchy. 

Who says you can't welcome fall with a salad!?

Sweet Potato, Pear, and Wild Rice Salad

Exact amounts for roasting the sweet potato and making the dressing are below. For assembly, just use proportions that work for you. I like to use equal parts rice, sweet potato, and arugula, then add in a handful of everything else. 

1 large sweet potato or yam, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 tablespoon melted coconut oil

Salt & Pepper

Wild rice of your choice, cooked and cooled

Chopped fresh pear

Honey yogurt dressing (recipe below)

Toasted pecans

Diced red onion

Shaved or cubed aged white cheddar

To roast the sweet potato, preheat oven to 400, toss cubes with coconut oil, spread out evenly on a baking sheet, sprinkle salt & pepper, and roast (flipping once) for 30-40 minutes, until golden and slightly crispy on the outside, and creamy-tender on the inside. Watch to make sure you don't burn them. Cool.

To assemble, toss together cool roasted sweet potato, cool wild rice, pear, arugula, and a spoonful of dressing. Top with pecans, red onion, and white cheddar. Serve with fresh ground pepper. To assemble in jars, add a scoop of dressing, followed by rice, sweet potato, arugula, cheese, and pear. I like to bring onion and nuts in separate containers or baggies--the nuts so they don't get soft, and the onion so it doesn't overpower the whole salad. Refrigerate until lunch time, then either toss and stir in a bowl, or eat straight out of the jar. 

Honey Yogurt Dressing

3/4 cup plain yogurt

3 tablespoons honey

Juice from 1 large lemon

1 tablespoon finely chopped chives

Salt & Pepper

Whisk yogurt, honey, lemon juice, and chives together until smooth. Add salt & pepper to taste.