I love sweet potatoes. They are naturally a nutrient-dense food particularly rich in beta carotene and vitamin C, and they are a good source of dietary fiber.
I have not had as much opportunity to cook as I would like in recent years, but I DO love cooking and when a potluck was coming up at work, I decided I wanted to try making something new, and I stumbled upon this recipe on the Internet. It has been adapted slightly to make it completely vegan and possibly higher in vitamin content with an alternative cooking method.
The original recipe calls for a little bit of milk to be added while mashing the cooked sweet potatoes, but I found that the sweet potatoes mashed quite nicely without any additional liquid. It also calls for cubed sweet potato to be cooked by boiling in water. Vegetables that are boiled in water, especially when cut up, can potentially lose a significant amount of water-soluble vitamins into the water, so I like to avoid boiling in water if possible.
Instead, sweet potatoes (as well as regular potatoes) cook very well in the microwave and likely retain significantly more nutrients as compared to boiling in water. It is just important to make sure they are covered with a damp cloth or paper towel throughout heating and that they are turned a couple times during the microwaving process.
- 6 medium sweet potatoes
- 6 cups kale, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 TB extra virgin olive oil
- 3/4 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- ground flax seed meal
- nonstick spray
- Wash sweet potatoes under running water (no need to scrub as the skins will be removed later). Line bottom of microwave oven with a damp paper towel. Lay sweet potato on paper towel, puncture each a couple times with a fork, and cover with two damp paper towels. (I was able to fit three sweet potatoes in my microwave oven. I cooked the other three separately.) Microwave on high for 3-4 minutes, turn sweet potatoes over, cover again with damp paper towel, and microwave again on high for 3-4 minutes. Times may vary depending on your microwave oven and size of potatoes. If needed, microwave again in increments of 2 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
- Lay the cooked sweet potatoes on a plate or tray to cool.
- In the meantime, mince the garlic, chop the onion, wash and chop the kale.
- When the sweet potatoes are cool enough, remove the flesh from the skin and place in a large bowl. (I found it was much easier to cut the sweet potatoes in half and then scoop the flesh out.) Mash the sweet potato thoroughly with a fork.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil, garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes and sauté for about 1 minute. Then add the kale and sauté until wilted.
- Add the kale mixture to the sweet potato and mix together well.
- Season sweet potato mixture with sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. (I used about 1 tsp course sea salt and about 4 turns of my black pepper grinder.)
- Fold in black beans.
- Apply nonstick spray to mini muffin pan. Using a spoon, scoop sweet potato mixture into muffin pan to the top. Sprinkle a pinch of ground flax seed to the top.
- Bake at 425 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Then, turn oven to broil for another 5 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned and crispy.
- Remove muffin pan from oven and allow to cool. Use a knife to gently loosen from muffin tin.