Dinner fail

I feel like tonight I shouldn't have even attempted to cook dinner, it was one of those nights where one thing goes bad and it keeps going down hill from there. I haven't had this bad of a cooking day in a long time! Tonight I was planning on making caramelized sweet potatoes with my purple potatoes I received in my CSA basket along with curried rice and the rest of the spicy mango chicken sausage.
Here's the recipe:

• 4 medium sized sweet potatoes 
• ¼ cup olive oil 
• Salt and pepper to taste 
• 1 chopped onion 
• 2 cloves garlic 
• 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and chopped 
• 2 tablespoons mild Indian curry powder 
• 3 cups leafy greens (such as kale, chard, collards) cut in thin strips (OR) 1 cup corn, peas or edamame instead of greens 
• 11/2 cups quinoa, rinsed in cold water 
• 3 cups water or low sodium stock 
• 3 tablespoons olive oil or one pat of butter 
• Squeeze of lemon 
• Sweet or hot mango chutney, yogurt and sliced cucumbers on the side

1. Peel the sweet potatoes and slice them 1/4 inch thick. Toss them with salt and olive oil. Place them on a baking sheet covered with non stick tin foil or parchment paper ( or just oil the sheet really well). Cover with foil or another baking sheet. Put the dish into a cold oven( this is important, as the gradual rise in temperature helps bring out the sweet potato flavors).
2. Turn on the oven to 450 Bake for about 30 min. until dark orange and soft.Uncover, and bake for about 15 more minutes or until they get quite dark and caramelized, flip them and bake until the other side is done as well.
3. In the mean time in a medium pot heat up the olive oil and sauté the onion in it. Then add the garlic, ginger and the curry powder and saute until sizzling and fragrant. Now add the greens ( or child friendly vegetables) and stir until wilted.
4. Add the Quinoa to the pot along with 3 cups stock or salted water. Simmer under a lid until all the liquid is absorbed about 15 minutes. Fluff the quinoa with a fork, season to taste and add the olive oil or butter as well.
5. A squeeze of lemon is always good. Put the Quinoa on a platter, top with the sweet potatoes ( if they are dark enough, almost burnt they taste like they are topped with marshmallows).
6. Serve with some chutney, yoghurt and cucumbers if you will.

I made a few changes instead of the regular orange potatoes I used the fancy purple ones I had. Aren't they so pretty!

And instead of quinoa I decided on brown rice because I didn't have any on hand. All week I was debating whether or not I should cook the rice in the rice cooker or just on the stove. I know it takes a crap time longer for rice to cook but I wasn't sure if I should saute the onions, garlic, ginger, curry and spinach in a pan then transfer to the rice cooker. In the end I decided just to do it all on the stove. Wrong choice!!!

First I cut the potatoes what I thought were according to the directions 1/4 inch thick. I cut them all and put them in the oven just as the directions suggested. I was so excited for my purple potatoes!! Then I took them out of the oven after 30 mins to check on them and they were all burnt! Not just a little burnt but all the way through burnt.
I was so upset and I said to John I just don't understand I cut them just like the directions said 1/4in thick. He looked at them and said Michele they are definitely not 1/4in thick. I said yes they are, and to prove my point I took out the ruler! (because I'm stubborn like that) Turns out I didn't cut them correctly. I use the metric system everyday at work and I am so use to using that my brain didn't compute what I was doing so I cut them way thinner then I was suppose to! Strike 1
John was trying to be sweet and picked one up and said they are not that bad we can still eat them until he put one in his mouth and tasted the nice crispy burntness, then promptly changed his mind

Strike 2 came with the rice, I put everything in the pan sauteing and then added the rice and water.

I let it go for 40 minutes and it still wasn't cooked. So I added more water because it started to burn on the bottom and let it go another 10-15 minutes. Checked it and still not done, what the hell! Rice and I do not get along!  I finally gave up when it was mostly edible and John and I ended up eating the mostly edible rice and the sausage.

This dinner = fail and I didn't even get to try my purple potatoes :( The only thing I didn't screw up tonight was the sausage.

Lessons learned:

1) you have a rice cooker use it!

2) don't use the metric system when slicing potatoes

3) if things start to go down hill drink a glass of wine

4) did I  mention if you  have a rice cooker use it?

Tomorrow I get a recovery night we have a dinner date with friends.