Recipes I've Tried This Week

I tried one new recipe this week. Our youngest daughter is a vegetarian, and has been since summer, so, while our meat-eater is off at college, we are eating less meat around here. It is healthy and good for us, as well, not to eat so much meat. Thus, I have been looking for new recipes that are meatless but continue to provide the nutrients we all need. I tried a new recipe this week and (first, I made a mistake when making it!) and it was not a positive result! I got the recipe from a cookbook I love,  A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen: Easy Seasonal Dishes for Family and Friends, and have found many yummy recipes from it, but this one is one I will tweak if I use it again. I have added my mistakes and suggestions to changing it. :) I bought this book, and I am sharing just this recipe directly from the cookbook:

Smoky Sweet Potato Puree with Spiced Spinach

Sweet Potatoes
2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
salt
2 small canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced about 2 teaspoons, with 2 teaspoons adobo sauce (that was my first mistake-I made it will ALL the chipotle chiles and sauce... and the cans I bought were the smallest our store sold, but ended up being too big! and spicy!!)
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves

Spiced Spinach
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes (and I may have used a smidge too many of these-I might leave these out if I put too many chiles in it-the combo was the "too spicy" in this recipe)
2 pounds flat leaf spinach, stems removed unless very thin, leaves washed and shaken dry to remove excess water-about 12 cups tightly packed
salt

1. For the sweet potatoes: place the sweet potatoes in a large saucepan and add enough water to cover by several inches. Add salt to taste and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat slightly and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water and drain the sweet potatoes.
2. Place the drained sweet potatoes in a large bowl and add the chiles, adobo sauce and cilantro. Use a potato masher (I just put them into our blender and lightly mixed) to turn the sweet potatoes into fine bits, adding the reserved cooking water as needed until the mixture forms a fairly smooth puree. Add salt to taste.
3. For the spinach: Meanwhile, heat the oil in a stockpot or a dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the damp spinach, stir well to coat with oil, cover and cook, stirring two or three times, until wilted, about 4 minutes. Uncover and simmer to evaporate excess liquid, 1 to 2 minutes. Season the spinach with salt to taste.
4. To serve: Divide the sweet potato puree among individual bowls (pasta bowls are ideal). Top each with a portion of spinach and serve.

I will try this again, adjusting things to properly follow the recipe. Hopefully you'll look into this book, even if you aren't vegetarian-it has many recipes I (a meat eater ;)) really like! Thanks for reading, Reader!