In the spirit of getting a healthy start in the New Year, we've tapped celebrity chef Sam Talbot to share some delicious recipes to kickstart cooking better for ourselves.
"We live in a world full of accessibility," Talbot says. "If we want to eat well, we can buy everything already prepared, which can get expensive." In his book, 100% Real, Talbot shares "100 insanely good recipes for clean food made fresh." With this book, Talbot wants to teach people how to cook well for themselves at home using natural, healthy ingredients.
Part of Talbot's commitment to eating healthy comes from living with type 1 diabetes. As such, he has a number of go-to ingredient substitutions that he uses regularly to help maintain his diet. These include brown rice flour and chickpea flour in lieu of white wheat flour, and maple syrup or coconut sugar instead of refined white sugar.
Recipes featured in the book explore new ways to to use the same foods we're already used to, such as with the waffled sweet potato hash brown featured here. This recipe can be eaten for breakfast or lunch, and "topping them with ham and veggies makes this a satisfying and complete meal," according to Talbot's book. In this instance, the sweet potatoes are topped with thinly-sliced ham and a cranberry-dijon Brussels sprouts slaw for a delectable open-face sandwich.
Sweet Potato Hash Brown Open-Face Sandwich With Ham and Cranberry-Dijon Brussels Slaw
Excerpted from 100% Real by Sam Talbot. Copyright © 2017 Oxmoor House. Reprinted with permission from Time Inc. Books, a division of Time Inc. New York, NY. All rights reserved.Hands-on Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 2 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
2 medium-size sweet potatoes (about 20 ounces), peeled and grated
1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
3 tablespoons brown rice flour
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted, plus more for greasing waffle iron
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
8 ounces Brussels sprouts, shaved
1/3 cup dried cranberries
8 ounces nitrate-free reduced-sodium thinly sliced cooked ham
Directions:
1. Preheat a waffle iron to HIGH. Combine the grated sweet potato, onion slices, flour, 1 tablespoon coconut oil, egg, and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt in a medium bowl. Grease the waffle iron with coconut oil, and place about 1 1/2 cups of the sweet potato mixture in the center of the waffle iron, spreading the mixture to create a 6-inch square. Close the waffle iron, and cook until browned and tender, about 13 minutes. Remove the waffled sweet potato hash brown, and repeat the procedure to make 3 more hash browns.
2. Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, maple syrup, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Add the shaved Brussels sprouts; toss to coat. Let stand until the sprouts are tender, about 10 minutes. Fold in the cranberries.
3. Put 1 hash brown on each of 4 plates. Top each with 2 ounces ham slices and about 2/3 cup Brussels slaw.
