LEMON SHORTBREAD TART

This one is REALLY easy, primarily because 1) the crust is a breeze to throw together, and 2) I used a jar of pre-made lemon curd from Trader Joe's. I promised myself I'm going to make my own lemon curd next time, especially since I watched Martha Stewart do it, and it looked so easy! Last night, however, I saw this jar of lemon curd I had bought some time ago at Trader Joe's, and it occurred to me that lemon curd would taste really good with shortbread! SO, until I update this later with my own homemade lemon curd, here is the recipe:

(Note that this is pretty much the same shortbread tart crust recipe from my other tarts, with just a few modifications.)

Ingredients:

13 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup organic sugar

1 tsp pure almond extract

1 1/2 cup organic unbleached AP flour

1 cup finely ground pecans

1 jar Trader Joe's Lemon Curd
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

With a mixer, cream together the softened butter and the sugar until smooth and thoroughly mixed. 

Add the almond extract and allow to mix through. 

In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, and 3/4 cup of the finely ground almonds and whisk together. With the mixer, slowly add these dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture a cup or so at a time until thoroughly blended. The dough may look a bit grainy and loose, but don't worry...it will press into a dish or pan nicely.

Measure out about 1/2 cup of the dough mixture and place on a plate and just set in the freezer. This will be used for the topping later.

Press the remaining dough evenly into the bottom of a nine inch tart pan or quiche pan and slightly up the sides. I use the bottom of an aluminum measuring cup for this purpose. (Thanks again, Martha Stewart!)

Pour the entire jar of Trader Joe's lemon curd over the crust and spread evenly to the edges. Get the the crust mixture from the freezer and crumble it evenly over the top of the filling.

Bake your tart at 350 for about 35-40 minutes, depending upon your oven. Remove when filling is nicely set and the edges of the tart crust are golden brown. Allow to cool somewhat.

Sift some powdered sugar over the top of your tart and serve.

'SPIRALIZED' SWEET POTATOES, BEEF AND BLACK BEAN CASSEROLE

The Paderno Spiralizer opened up a whole new world for us in terms of cooking and eating vegetables! It's amazing, first of all, how quickly and easily some veggies can be prepared for cooking, and second, how cutting them in different ways suddenly influences all sorts of creativity in the actually cooking and constructing a dish!

The following recipe started with 'spiralized' sweet potatoes!

Note also that the 'house seasoning' is my standard mixture of garlic powder (not salt), onion powder (not salt), and a good quality seasoned salt. (Lawry's) I keep this in a large spice jar in the cabinet all the time. It's great on roasted vegetables, popcorn, even buttered rolls! It's very versatile in everyday cooking!
House seasoning:
1/2 cup garlic powder
1/3 cup onion powder
1/4 cup seasoned salt

In chronological order:
Preheat oven to 350

3 medium sweet potatoes, spiral cut
3 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp house seasoning (see note above)
Place the spiralized sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Toss with the coconut oil. Sprinkle the house seasoning over them and toss again to spread the seasoning evenly throughout. Place the seasoned sweet potatoes in a 9 x13 baking dish. (Stoneware bakeware works great for this!) Place in preheated oven and roast for approximately 35-40 minutes, or until just tender,  stirring once about halfway through the baking time.



  
MEANWHILE:
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef (low fat)
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cans diced tomatoes (I like mine less chunky, so I ran them through the food processor slightly)
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp smoky paprika
1 tsp red pepper (more or less to taste)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp prepared mustard
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 
1 can black beans

1 cup shredded white (or yellow) cheddar cheese (Cabot's Sharp Vermont White Cheddar works GREAT for this dish!)

Heat the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat and add onions. Saute until translucent. Add the ground beef and brown completely. Drain. To this beef mixture, add the garlic powder, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, paprika, red pepper, brown sugar, prepared mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well. Add the black beans and stir to mix.

When the sweet potatoes have finished roasting, pull them from the oven and pour the beef and been mixture over them evenly. Return to the oven and bake for about 10 more minutes. When you remove from the oven for the second time, while the casserole is still very hot, spread the shredded cheese evenly over the top and allow it to melt slightly before serving.

This is great accompanied by good quality multi-grain tortilla chips and avocado!