Have you settled back into the Fall routine yet? We’re not really there yet, but I did manage to stock our fridge up with a bit of meal component prep this week. Something about this time of year always has me feeling some intense energy. I keep waking up at 4:30 and I find myself leaving random stuff in weird places all over the house. I’m not sure if it’s the season itself, the recognition that the year is beginning to close out, or something cosmic far beyond all of that. Whatever it is, I’m feeling it and the idea of spending extensive hours cooking is just slightly less appealing.
Enter the meal prep. When I’m in the flow of this practice, I always bake whole sweet potatoes. I usually reheat them and stuff them, smush them up in dahl, or even blend them into smoothies. I also give little spoonfuls to my dogs, no shame. Their ideal landing place though? These sweet potato cakes with quinoa, hemp, herbs, and tons of spices–including my fave blend ever Old Bay.
Compared to other recipes of mine, this one is pretty minimal on the chopping front, which is a nice break! If you take your meal prep one step further and cook quinoa at the beginning of the week and make your lemony tahini sauce, this one can comes together pretty quickly!
I know a lot of people immediately go to squash when Fall ushers itself in, but the first major craving for me is sweet potatoes, with spice-cooked apples as a close second. What’s your favourite Fall crop and how do you typically cook it? Have a great week, all! <3
SWEET POTATO CAKES WITH LEMONY SLAW RECIPE
SERVES: 4
NOTES: These cakes should be crisp on the outside and soft/moist on the inside. Remember to flip them over at the halfway point!
-I used a mix of lacinato kale and red cabbage for my slaw because I have an abundance of both in my garden. You could also use shaved fennel, shaved carrots, broccoli stems, all kinds of things!
-I bake whole sweet potatoes as part of my meal prep every week. For this recipe, I’d recommend the cooked and cooled flesh of roughly 1 medium sweet potato.
-The drier the quinoa is when you mix it, the better your sweet potato cakes will be! 🙂
LEMONY TAHINI SAUCE:
⅓ cup tahini
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, finely minced/grated
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dijon mustard mustard
1 teaspoon agave nectar/maple syrup
sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon ice cold filtered water
SWEET POTATO CAKES:
½ cup quinoa, thoroughly rinsed
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato flesh
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
¼ cup flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon sweet paprika
½ teaspoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon psyllium husk powder
sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
avocado oil spray (or other oil spray of choice)
ASSEMBLY:
4 cups shredded kale or cabbage, or a mix!
chopped fresh dill or more parsley
lemon wedges
Make the lemony tahini sauce. In a medium bowl, whisk together the tahini, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, dijon mustard, agave, salt, and pepper. Then, add the ice water and whisk until smooth. The colour of the sauce should pale and the texture should be slightly thick. If it’s too thick, add more water by the teaspoon until you have the right consistency. Set aside in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Place the rinsed quinoa in a small saucepan along with 1 cup of filtered water and a pinch of salt. Cover the pot and place it over medium-high heat. Bring the quinoa to a boil. Then, lower to a simmer, remove the lid, and cook until almost all of the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove the quinoa from the heat and let it cool.
Once the quinoa is cool and dry, add it to a large bowl along with the mashed sweet potato, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, Old Bay, parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, lemon zest, psyllium husk powder, salt, and pepper. Once evenly mixed, taste the mixture for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
Lightly spray the parchment-lined baking sheet with oil spray. Divide the sweet potato cakes mixture in 4 equal portions. Lightly oil your hands and from each portion into a patty. Place each patty on the oiled parchment, giving each some space.
Bake the sweet potato cakes for 35 minutes, carefully flipping them over at the halfway point. Once the sweet potato cakes are browned on the outside and firm, remove them from the oven and let them sit for 5 minutes.
In a separate large bowl, toss the shredded kale/cabbage with enough of the lemony tahini dressing to coat. Season the greens with salt and pepper and toss to coat.
Divide the lemony slaw evenly among 4 plates. Top each heap of slaw with a warm sweet potato cake. Drizzle extra lemony tahini sauce over the sweet potato cakes and finish with some chopped dill/parsley and a lemon wedge. Enjoy!
Prep Time: 10 mins
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