“Tastes like a treat, is actually good for you,” might as well be our eating motto. And no food embodies this more than the humble sweet potato. Rich and filling, these vibrant vegetables have a place in every meal. This week’s featured foodie agrees so strongly she included them in the name of her blog. Jenné Caliborne of Sweet Potato Soul is here to share nine of her go-to recipes, starring everyone’s favorite orange food.
1. Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion Toast
Swapping sliced sweet potato for bread is all well and good, but sometimes there’s nothing better than a thick slice of the bakery’s finest smothered with taters. Roast sweet potatoes until tender, then mash with sticky-sweet caramelized onions, maple syrup, and herbs. If you don’t have bread on hand, don’t fret—the mash is just as tasty over a bed of grains, greens, or even from a spoon.
2. Sweet Potato Burgers
These smoky sweet potato burgers bind together with chickpeas, ground almonds, and oats; the mild-tasting ingredients let the potato flavor shine through. It may sound silly, but we suggest forgoing a bun and traditional burger fixin’s for a mini pita and a mound of shredded cabbage and romaine. The accompanying recipe for green tahini sauce is optional, but if you make it once, you’ll understand why we recommend it every time.
3. Sweet Potato Fries With Dipping Sauces
If you’re anything like us, you probably crave sweet potato fries on the regular. What could possibly be better than a warm plate of fries, you ask? That plate of fries ~plus~ three unique dipping sauces. For the smoky fan: a chipotle pepper mayo with just a hint of lime. For the spice lover: creamy avocado blended with wasabi powder. For the sweet-toothed: raw ketchup made with cherry tomatoes, dates, and tamarind paste (mix lime juice and a bit of light brown sugar to mimic the flavor if you can’t find the paste!).
4. Kimchi and Kale Salad
Bored of crunching on the same kale salad every night? Pile on chickpeas, roasted sweet potato, and kimchi (briny fermented cabbage). As for those tough leaves? Massage chopped kale with your fingers, adding in a few pieces of avocado for extra tenderizing. The veg won’t know what hit it.
5. Sweet Potato Biscuits
Attention: Fluffy, buttery, vegan biscuits do exist! We can’t really contain our joy, and you shouldn’t either. Mashed sweet potato adds sweetness and good fats to the batter, and whole-wheat pastry flour adds a subtle nutty flavor. It’s highly recommended that you devour freshly baked biscuits straight off the baking sheet with a generous smear of (vegan) butter and maple syrup.
6. Sweet Potato Pancakes
Saturday morning. You wake up to a slight chill in the air, and your brain starts shouting “PANCAKES!” You listen. Before reaching for the Bisquick, take a few extra minutes and DIY. Sweet potato pancakes taste like the crispest of fall days and are known to solve many a case of post-summer blues.
7. Everyday Buddha Bowl
Bowl food is one of our favorite ways to fill up on protein and vegetables, and the Buddha bowl may rule them all. This simple yet super-flavorful dinner, loaded with roasted sweet potatoes, black beans, brown rice, and a topping of salty kimchi and broccoli for complexity, gives you all the fall feels. Swirl each forkful in the cloud of tahini-miso sauce for a creamy finish.
8. Sweet Potato and Parsnip Bisque
When you’re in the mood for a meal that tastes like fall, look no further than parsnip and sweet potato soup. Thicken the cozy bisque with mild cannellini beans and add richness with a glob of coconut oil. A pile of greens on top (think: cilantro, parsley, arugula) cuts through the thick soup, leaving your mouth ready for another bite—and then another.
9. Pecan Pesto Salad
When you hear “pesto,” you probably think of that basil-pine nut sauce, right? Time to step outside the box. Blend baby kale with toasted pecans for a whole new world of pesto flavor. Toss the zippy sauce over roasted sweet potato, cauliflower, and carrots… warm salad never tasted so good.
Jenné is a vegan chef; the creator of Sweet Potato Soul, a vegan food and lifestyle blog; and co-founder of Buddhalicious vegan meal plans. She was born in Atlanta and lived there until leaving to receive a BFA in acting from Boston University. Though she no longer acts, Jenné spends a lot of time on camera sharing her love of vegan food and fashion with her YouTube audience. Jenné’s passion for food was fostered as a child down South. Soul, attention, and love—magical elements introduced to her by her grandmother—are the three main ingredients she puts in every dish she makes, no matter how simple. She studied nutrition at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and is a voracious consumer of nutrition science and behavioral psychology. For more, follow her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.
