Believe me or not, I haven’t met a single person who doesn’t like a sweet potato. Kids love it, grown-ups love it, everybody loves it. It’s one of those rare veggies that’s not only incredibly delicious but also has an impressive nutrient content. Oh, yays! So in this recipe you’ll learn how to make easy vegan sweet potato boats.
As the name tells itself, sweet potato really is sweet. That’s why I love to combine it with something spicy, chilly and savory. In this recipe I’ve topped sweet potato with spicy roasted chickpeas and creamy vegan cheese sauce (and you won’t believe it’s made from a cauliflower). This combination is amazingly delicious and very filling.
So what’s so good about the sweet potato? It turns out that sweet potatoes are high in beta-carotene, which is the precursor to vitamin A in your body. It helps to strengthen your eyesight and boost your immunity to disease plus wards off cancer and protects against the effects of aging.
Sweet potatoes are also a good source of magnesium, and vitamin D. Magnesium is the relaxation and anti-stress mineral, but vitamin D helps to build healthy bones.
Although the toppings I used in this recipe are very delicious, remember you can always adjust them to your needs. If you’re not a fan of chickpeas, you can use black beans instead. Or if you don’t feel like eating cauliflower, you can substitute the sauce with this one from my Mac and Cheese recipe.
This is what you’ll need to make 4 serves of sweet potato boats with chickpeas and cheesy vegan sauce.
For the sweet potato boats:
- 2 sweet potatoes
- a splash of olive oil
For crispy chickpeas:
- 2 cans or 800g of chickpeas
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- salt & pepper
- a splash of olive oil
For cauliflower “cheese” sauce:
- 400g of cauliflower (fresh or frozen)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- salt & pepper
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 180ºC degrees and line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
- Rinse potatoes and cut in half lengthwise. Rub the sweet potatoes with a bit of olive oil and place face down on the baking sheet, put into the oven.
- Rinsed and drained chickpeas and put them into a baking tray. Sprinkle with olive oil and add spices – some salt and pepper, cayenne pepper and turmeric. Put into the oven.
- Prepare the cheesy sauce. Boil or steam the cauliflower for 10 or 15 minutes until soft. Drain the water, add nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and some salt & pepper. Blend with a hand blender or regular food processor until smooth. Taste and adjust the salt & pepper if needed.
- After about 25 minutes, remove the potatoes and chickpeas from the oven.
- Make a small cut into the middle of each sweet potato boat and make a little opening (or mash it a bit with a spoon or fork). Fill it with chickpeas and top with the sauce.
3 Comments
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Great combination of flavors in your marinade. I’ll definitely try this soon.
Good luck, Cartier. 🙂