There’s a little deli in the same parking lot of my work that offers typical deli food, but also Starbucks brewed coffee. Because the break-room coffee at my work tastes like tar is not to my liking, sometimes I head over for a grande blonde roast. But yesterday, the lady behind the counter was frazzled by the lunch crowd and gave me a grande cup of espresso. I know I boast a preference for “strong” coffee but 12 ounces of espresso is not exactly what I had in mind. 2 very disappointing cups of coffee = a sign that I should think about drinking less? Nope. Coffee is my comfort blanket. Just gotta find a new source ;)

After leaving the office, I was on a mad-dash home. One of my best friends Bre came home from college and we were reuniting in our usual fashion: cooking. Bre and I have been cooking/baking/experimenting in the kitchen with both utterly-delicious and downright-ugly results since high school. On the top of our list: Strawberry Banana Oat Cookies.

Last nights menu: Sweet Potato Quinoa Cakes with Blackberry Salsa. These are like a heartier version of a potato pancake, something that sounded totally new and different. They were inspired by Jessica @ How Sweet It Is, though I definitely had to triple the recipe since we had company! I love making new recipes almost as much as I love not getting a cup of espresso for my afternoon pick-me-up.

I am really slow at preparing meals….it took me about an hour and 40 minutes from start to finish because I take chopping herbs all to seriously and am more cautious than necessary about measuring ingredients. I like to take my time! Most people could probably throw this together in half the time, and I promise it’s worth the wait.

Clean-eating is a trending diet/lifestyle that incorporates only natural ingedients/cutting out processed junk. I cannot say I follow a clean-eating diet all the time, but try to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein and whole grains as much as possible though the occasional granola bar/peanut-butter pretzel makes its way into my lunch from time to time/every single day…

Here is the recipe! Makes 16 medium cakes, serves 5 1/2 hungry people.

• Drizzle 1 Tbs olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add cubed sweet potato, onion and pepper. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, until sweet potato is soft. Add garlic in the last minute.
• Remove potato mixture into large mixing bowl, and slightly smash the potatoes. Add the cooked quinoa, fresh chopped herbs, bread crumbs, more salt and pepper if you wish, and lastly the eggs.
• Get your hands dirty and form hamburger-sized patties. Using the same large skillet, heat up a drizzle of olive oil again and place 2-4 patties at a time. Cook for approximately 5 minutes on each side, until you get nice black grill marks. Serve them fresh out of the pan!

I like using fresh herbs; that’s something I don’t do enough. Use the leftover onion and cilantro in this blackberry salsa:

• 1 carton of fresh blackberries, smashed (juicy!)
• 2 Tbs cilantro (more or less depending on your preference)
• Juice of one lime
• 1/4 red onion
• 1 jalapeno (remove seeds & veins)
• Pepper

Mix well, cover and refrigerate. The longer it sits, the juicier it gets…

Admittedly I thought Blackberry Salsa was a little random but went with it. Not bad! I don’t think the cakes needed any sort of sauce, and blackberry salsa would be better suited for blue corn chips but it’s always fun to try something new and it definitely made the plate look pretty.

Check out Jessica’s original post here!

Last tangent: who watches The Voice? I know I’m a little behind, thanks to Tivo, but YAY for Danielle Bradbery! I think America is starting to get the country-bug which is Stinkin’ Awesome. Yeehaw y’all!