Harvest Sideshow

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This recipe, Harvest Sideshow, comes from a delightful workshop I attended in 1999 called Jazz Cooking, led by the amazing Twin Cities author and thought leader Leah Skurdal. The essence of the class, explained so beautifully by Leah, is that there are basic flavor and texture groupings in cooking, just as there are basic chord progressions and patterns in jazz. Once we know those groupings and patterns, we can work with them and "riff", playing within that framework. This has served me well in the kitchen and as a metaphor for life. The hearty root vegetables and savory flavors in this dish pair nicely with the sweetness of the apples, delivering a fragrant and nourishing sideshow or a delicious main event. By all means, play with these basics and riff a bit, too, creating your own delicious variation. You can't do this wrong, friends. This Harvest Sideshow is jazz delicious!

 

Harvest Sideshow

 

 Ingredients:

 

  • 1 large yellow onion, sliced or diced (what do YOU prefer?)

  • 1 medium apple, peeled and cubed (I like Pink Ladies or Honeycrisp, but you pick what works for you.)

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

  • 2 large yams or sweet potatoes, sliced in ½- inch cubes

  • 1/3 cup orange juice

  • 1 tsp thyme 

  • 1 tsp cinnamon

  • Salt and pepper to taste

  • Fresh parsley leaves (stems removed), coarsely chopped

 

Instructions:

 

  1. For 10 minutes, gently sauté the onion, apple, and olive oil in a large, covered pan, adding 1/4 cup water when needed and covering again to steam the onions and apples a bit without browning.

  2. Add yams/sweet potatoes, orange juice, thyme, and cinnamon, then cover. Cook for 20 minutes or until the root veggies reach your desired tenderness, adding 1/4 cup water as needed and covering again to steam.

  3. Salt and pepper to taste, then garnish with chopped parsley. 

 

"Riffing" options to add or substitute: 

 

  • sliced turnip or rutabaga

  • cubed butternut squash

  • Craisins

  • diced dry apricots or dates

  • ground ginger or nutmeg

  • Five-Spice powder

  • 1 tbsp soy sauce

  • 1 tbsp real maple syrup

  • coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

  • Serve with 1 tbsp of butter added on top and the coarse herbs scattered on the butter.

  • Serve over a rice blend, millet, or quinoa. 

 

Go ahead – jazz it up!

 

Elizabeth Bayer is a graduate of Green Lotus’s 200-hour and 300-hour yoga teacher-training programs. She is a noted lecturer, workshop leader, and author of two non-fiction books dealing with self-discovery – her 2003 memoir Wednesdays at the Fluff 'n' Fold and 2016's Yoga Expression Spirit in which she chronicles the three pillars of her life. In 2020, Elizabeth and her husband founded the Annandale Art and Textile Center, the non-profit home of the Heart of the Lakes Weavers, a vocational-weaving program employing individuals with social and developmental disabilities.