It's party season! I always find myself needing to bring food/drinks to various parties during this time of year.
Some of my favorite party-friendly recipes include:
While I love these recipes, I also had a pile of sweet potatoes and fresh ginger from my CSA that were calling my name.
Warm appetizers can be difficult to keep warm at a party, but these little guys taste great piping hot out of the oven as well as room temperature! Bonus. They are also gluten-free and vegan, which is great for my group of friends who have very diverse diets.
I love appetizers, but they usually pack a day's worth of calories and fat in one serving! Not so with these - but you'd never know it. They are sweet, spicy, tart, and full of comfort all while giving us Vitamin A, fiber, and potassium. Now that's something to celebrate!
Mashed Sweet Potatoes Bites
24 - 36 appetizer-sized servings
2 cups mashed, cooked sweet potatoes
1/3 cup pureed dates (200 g or about 15 pitted dates)
2 tablespoons grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt + more to taste
1 tablespoon coconut oil
pepper to taste
1/3 cup chopped pecans
36 cranberries
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a mini muffin pan with oil.
- Place the sweet potatoes, dates, ginger, salt, pepper and oil in a food processor. Mix on high for 2 minutes, or until fully combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
- Sprinkle a few chopped pecans in the bottom of each mini muffin cup. You want a single layer with some space between the pecans (approximately 1/2 teaspoon per cup).
- Scoop the sweet potato mixture into a large ziplock bag. Squeeze all of the mixture to one corner of the bag. Cut off the corner to create a small hole. (Alternatively, you can use a pastry bag with a nozzle.) Squeeze the bag so sweet potato mixture comes out the hole and fills a mini muffin cup about 3/4 of the way (about 1 tablespoon). Repeat until all the cups are filled with sweet potatoes. Top each sweet potato mound with a single raw cranberry. You will have some sweet potato mixture left over that is fabulous on its own or you can make a second mini muffin pan.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes. The cranberries will burst and the bottoms will become slightly caramelized. Let cool for about 20 minutes before serving. These also heat up wonderfully!
Cooking Sweet Potatoes: Scrub the outside of the sweet potato and prink a few times with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until soft. This takes about 40 minutes for medium-sized sweet potatoes. I had a few massive ones that took 2 hours. Let cool and remove the peeling. Mash with a fork or a food processor. Mashed sweet potatoes freeze really well, so bake a few extra to have on hand for later!
Pureeing Dates: If the dates are hard on the outside, soak in boiling water for about 10 minutes to soften. Pit the dates, if not already done. Place in a food processor and puree until smooth. This is easiest in a smaller food processor. If you have a larger one like me, scrape down the sides often to get most of the chunks pureed.
Grating Ginger: Use a microplane grater to grate the ginger. This will create a mashed consistency. If you don't have one, mince as fine as you can and use the side of your knife (or a mortar and pestle) to mash it even more.
Nutritional Facts (per bite, 15g): 33 calories, 1g fat, 0mg cholesterol, 32 mg sodium, 6.2g carbohydrates, 1g fiber, 3.3g sugar, 0.3g protein
Labels: cranberry, dates, ginger, Gluten-free, Pecan, Sweet Potato, Vegan
