My Fave Side Dishes!

I made it to a new milestone this past weekend. I ran for 16.2 miles! I'll admit that I was a little stiff and sore afterwards, but I did it. Plus, I had a fairly intense CrossFit WOD today: The warm up consisted of  two rounds of 400 m run, 10 sit-ups, 10 hands off push-ups, and 20 mountain climbers. This was followed by the Metcon, which was 5 rounds of 250 m rowing, 10 slam balls (15#) and 10 wall balls (I did 10#. I can do 14 but have to take it easy with my hip strain). The strength/skill portion was 15 minutes, on the minute, of 3 burpees and 3 hang power cleans (the rx for the power cleans was 90 lbs, yet I'll take my fairly decent 55 lbs). All in all, I'm making some serious progress with my workouts.

Anyways, all this exercising leaves me hungry for some good grub! I know I seem to go on about how I love my meat... and I do. But I thought that this time I'd  share my two favorite side dishes:  garlic & rosemary mashed sweet potatoes and roasted asparagus. Both are simple and oh so delicious!

Garlic & Rosemary Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 3-4 sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 6-8 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• water
• coconut oil (or butter)
• salt/pepper, to taste

Method:

• Put the sweet potatoes and garlic in a large pot and pour in enough water to just cover them. Add the two sprigs of rosemary.
• Turn the heat to high and bring up to a boil. Reduce the heat and boil until the sweet potatoes are tender, ~20 minutes. You'll know they're done when you can pierce a cube with a fork and the potato slides off.
• Drain the potatoes/garlic/rosemary and pour back into the pot with a little bit of water. Use your fingers to strip off the rosemary leaves if need be. 
• Use a hand blender or a potato masher to mash everything together. Add ~1 tbsp coconut oil/butter (or 1 1/2 if you're like me and are addicted to the stuff), salt and pepper to your taste.
• Enjoy!

Roasted Asparagus 

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch asparagus
• 1 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• salt/pepper, to taste

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.
• Spread out the asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour on the coconut oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Use tongs to toss the asparagus until it's evenly coated.
• Bake for 20 minutes, or until the asparagus is browned and tender.

The nice thing about these recipes is that they're very simple and easy to cook! I know the mashed sweet potatoes take a little more effort, but the flavor alone totally make up for it. The potatoes are sweet and flavorful with the herby rosemary. The asparagus is crispy and a little salty. The two of these together make a great set of side dishes!