Green Poutine-Style Sweet Potato

Dress up a sweet potato with cheese sauce, gravy and greens for a healthy version of Canada’s favourite treat – poutine.

Double cooking the sweet potato will give you a beautiful creamy texture inside, with crunchy bits on the edges. Make sure to cut your sweet potato in half using a fork (the same way you would with an English muffin), so you’ll get lots of nooks and crannies that will brown in the oven.

The amounts for the cheese sauce and gravy here are vague, since it depends on how saucy you like things, and also on how big your sweet potato is. Both sauces last for a week in the fridge, so any leftovers will have time to be used up.

I’ve given two options for the cheese sauce: one cashew based (pictured) and one potato based.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

2 sweet potatoes, scrubbed and blemishes removed
4 tsp olive oil
to taste sea salt
to taste black pepper, ground
4 cups mixed greens (bok choy, kale, swiss chard)
1/2 to 1 cup cashew queso
1/2 to 1 cup roasted mushroom gravy
4 tsp sunflower seeds

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. Using a fork, poke a bunch of holes in each sweet potato. Cook sweet potatoes in microwave on high heat for 5-7 minutes until soft.
  3. Remove from microwave and split sweet potatoes in half using a fork so you get lots of nooks and crannies.
  4. Put onto baking sheet with cut side up and drizzle each with 2 tsp olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  5. Roast for 20 minutes or until browned and crispy on the edges.

 

Cashew Queso

1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight
3 cups water
6 tbsp tapioca starch
6 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tsp salt
3 tsp miso
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp tabasco
1 tsp dijon mustard

Directions

  1. Blend everything in Vitamix until smooth.
  2. Put into pot and bring to a boil over medium heat while stirring. It will go all lumpy and then smooth out.
  3. Let cook for a couple of minutes after it smooths out, then remove from heat, and use right away or let cool and refrigerate.

 

Fresh ‘Cheese’ Sauce

2 cups potatoes, peeled
3/4 cup carrot, peeled
1/2 cup flaked nutritional yeast
1/3 cup sunflower oil
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions

  1. Boil potatoes and carrots in water until totally soft.  Drain.
  2. Put all ingredients in a container and puree with immersion blender until totally smooth.
  3. To save some time, you can use canned potatoes and carrots if you like.

 

Roasted Mushroom Gravy
Yield: 2 1/2 cups (625 ml)

3 tbsp (45 ml) sunflower oil
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2/3 cup onion, fine dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp (10 ml) tamari
2 tbsp flaked nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp black pepper, ground
1/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (we prefer Bob’s Red Mill)
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
to taste sea salt

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. Combine mushrooms and 1 tbsp oil in a bowl and toss until well coated.  Transfer to a roasting pan.
  3. Roast in preheated oven for 15-25 minutes or until mushrooms release their liquid.  Remove from heat and set aside.
  4. Heat remaining oil in saucepan over medium high heat.
  5. Add onion and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.
  6. Stir in tamari, nutritional yeast, and pepper.
  7. Add flour and just enough stock to make a thin paste.  Cook, stirring, for a minute so that the raw taste of the flour cooks out.
  8. For a smooth gravy base, put immersion blender into pot and gradually add the rest of the stock while blending. If you don’t mind a gravy base with chunks of onion, just stir the rest of the stock in gradually with a wooden spoon, going slowly at first to avoid getting lumps of flour.
  9. Add roasted mushrooms and stir to combine.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.  Use immediately or let cool, transfer to an airtight container, and refrigerate for up to 1 week.