Tag: side dish
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.
Garlic Scapes
Garlic Scapes
I’ve been meaning to try scapes for sometime now. You most likely will never find them in a grocery store. The place to go is your local farmers market, usually sold in bunches. Scapes are the stalks that grow out of hardneck garlic bulbs; harvested right before they flower. They’re typically available from spring into summer. They taste like a cross between a garlicky green bean and green onion. They can be used in a stir fry, pestos, compound butter, salad dressings, or as a side with even more garlic, finished off with a squeeze of lemon.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 bunch scapes
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 small lemon juiced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in the scapes. Sauté for 3 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.
Scalloped Potatoes
Scalloped Potatoes
I unfortunately grew up on Betty Crocker boxed scalloped potatoes. Complete garbage. I can tell you, as an adult, I’ve never eaten them since and only make them from scratch. For pennies more, you can make a large baking dish with very basic ingredients that everyone already has at home.
Equipment
- mandolin
- glass baking dish
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 yellow onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 3 lbs white potatoes sliced 1/8” thick
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the onions and garlic for 8 minutes.
- Turn the heat to medium and whisk in the flour. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the milk and chicken stock. Season with salt and white pepper.
- Simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened; continuously whisking the whole time.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Layer 1/3 of the potatoes in a greased baking dish. Pour over 1/3 of the cream sauce. Repeat this step until the ingredients are used up.
- Bake for 45 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through and tender. Place under the broiler for a couple minutes to brown and crisp up.
