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Vegan Pecan Sweet Potato Bake
Vegan Pecan Sweet Potato Bake
I was recently invited to my good friends Larissa and Irene’s Friendsgiving party and was in charge of making sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes. The catch was that both the side dishes had to be vegan. No problem. I typically make this sweet potato bake with real butter, heavy cream, and add crumbled bacon with the pecan topping. So I substituted real butter with plant-based butter made out of cashew milk and used almond milk instead of heavy cream. I also X’ed the bacon. The sweet potato bake still turned out just as good and was a hit with everyone.
Servings: 12
Equipment
- potato masher
- aluminum pan or baking dish
- nonstick spray
Ingredients
- 5 lbs sweet potatoes peeled and diced
- 8 oz plant-based butter
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/4 cup brown sugar plus more for topping
- 3 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup pecan halves
Instructions
- In a large stock pot, bring water to a boil. Add in the sweet potatoes and boil for 10 minutes until fork tender. Drain.
- Using a potato masher, mash the sweet potatoes. Stir in the plant-based butter, almond milk, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Using nonstick spray, grease an aluminum pan or baking dish. Pour in the sweet potato mixture.
- Top the mixture with pecan halves. Sprinkle over more brown sugar. Bake for 30 minutes.
Whole Chicken Braised in Coconut Milk
Whole Chicken Braised in Coconut Milk
This is one of my favorite ways to cook a whole chicken. The chicken is seasoned with creole seasoning and seared in a dutch oven, then braised in the oven with coconut milk, lemongrass, and garlic; creating a rich gravy. This gravy is so damn good, I’d drink it by the cup full if I could. You can add fingerling potatoes the last 30 minutes of cooking, or spoon the coconut milk gravy over steamed rice.
Equipment
- cast iron Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 4 lb whole chicken
- creole seasoning to taste
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp ginger grated
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 2 stalks lemongrass finely chopped
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 medium white onion diced
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 2 lbs fingerling potatoes
Instructions
- Season the chicken with the creole seasoning and white pepper. Fill the inner cavity with the half of the garlic, ginger, and 1 stalk of lemongrass. Heat up the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the chicken to the pot.
- Brown on both sides for 12 minutes in total. Remove the chicken from the pot.
- Sauté the onions, remaining garlic and lemongrass, thyme, smoked paprika, curry powder, and cayenne pepper for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk and water; scraping the bottom of the pot.
- Place the chicken back into the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and place in a 350 degree oven for up to 90 minutes; basting with the sauce every 20 minutes.
- The last 30 minutes of cooking, add in the fingerling potatoes. Let cool before serving.
Octopus with Spanish Chorizo
Octopus with Spanish Chorizo
Octopus sautéed with dried chorizo and crispy potatoes is a classic Spanish dish that May looking intimidating to make, but is actually pretty simple and straightforward. The key here is to find good quality precooked octopus tentacles. If you can only find fresh octopus, you will have to boil them on the lowest setting your oven can go for an hour. Beyond that, once you add the cooked octopus to the dish, you only should cook it 2-3 minutes max or you’ll be chewing on rubber.
Ingredients
- 1 lb red potatoes diced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 6 oz dried Spanish chorizo small dice
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 24 oz cooked octopus tentacles cut into 1/2” pieces
- 1 tsp Spanish paprika
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Simmer the potatoes for 10 minutes until they are just cooked through. Remove from the pot and drain.
- Toss the potatoes in a bowl with the olive oil, thyme, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, cook the dried chorizo and garlic for 2 minutes. Remove from the pan.
- Add in the potatoes and onion. Sauté until the potatoes are crispy for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the octopus and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the chorizo back in and cook for a minute. Turn off the heat.
- Stir in the parsley. Season with the paprika and cracked pepper.
