Baked Sweet Potato Falafels

These were so good!  A healthy side dish to go with the Vegan Shepherd's Pie.

    Baked Sweet Potato Falafels

2 medium sweet potatoes (orange inside), around 700g or 1 1/2 pounds in total

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 small cloves of garlic, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 big handfuls of fresh cilantro/coriander, chopped
Juice of half a lemon
a scant cup (120g) gram /chickpea flour
a splash of olive oil
a sprinkling of sesame seeds
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425F degrees (220C) and roast the sweet potatoes whole until just tender - 45 minutes to 1 hour. Turn off the oven, leave the potatoes to cool, then peel.

Put the sweet potatoes, cumin, garlic, ground and fresh coriander, lemon juice and gram/chickpea flour into a large bowl. Season well, and mash until smooth with no large chunks. Stick in the fridge to firm up for an hour, or the freezer for 20-30 minutes. When you take it out, your mix should be sticky rather than really wet. You can add a tablespoon or so more of chickpea flour if necessary (the water content of sweet potatoes varies enormously).

Reheat the oven to 400F/200C. Using a couple of soup spoons (put a well-heaped spoonful of mix in one spoon and use the concave side of the other to shape the sides) or a falafel scoop if you have one, make the mixture into falafelly looking things and put them on an oiled tray. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and bake in the oven for around 15 minutes, until the bases are golden brown.

Vegan Shepherd's Pie

It has been a crazy couple of weeks.  Travel to North Carolina, family health emergencies and work travel.  This winter is never going to end.  The snow may have melted but it's so  cold and damp that it's not worth being outside.  These were a couple recipes that I forgot to post from 3 weekends ago.

Vegan Shepherd's Pie

Mashed potato layer:   5 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 -inch cubes 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise 1/2 cup soy milk 1/4 cup olive oil 3 tablespoons vegan cream cheese substitute (such as Tofutti ®) 2 teaspoons salt Bottom layer: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped 3 stalks celery, chopped 1/2 cup frozen peas 1 tomato, chopped 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 1 clove garlic, minced, or more to taste 1 pinch ground black pepper to taste 1 (14 ounce) package vegetarian ground beef substitute

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar-style soy
cheese

Place the potatoes in a pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn the heat to medium-low, and boil the potatoes until tender, about 25 minutes; drain.

Stir the vegan mayonnaise, soy milk, olive oil, vegan cream cheese, and salt into the potatoes, and mash with a potato masher until smooth and fluffy. Set the potatoes aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), and spray a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the onion, carrots, celery, frozen peas, and tomato until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the Italian seasoning, garlic, and pepper.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, and crumble the vegetarian ground beef substitute into the skillet with the vegetables. Cook and stir, breaking up the meat substitute, until the mixture is hot, about 5 minutes.

Spread the vegetarian meat substitute mixture into the bottom of the baking dish, and top with the mashed potatoes, smoothing them into an even layer. Sprinkle the potatoes with the shredded soy cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is melted and slightly browned and the casserole is hot, about 20 minutes.