#335: Sweet Potatoes with Almond Pesto

Sweet Potatoes with Almond Pesto

Ingredients

2 medium sized sweet potatoes, washed, peeled, and chopped into matchsticks (or spiralized)

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon of garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

3 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

1 teaspoon white bleached flour

3 tablespoons milk (cream, unsweetened almond, half and half, skim, most unflavored milks should work)

1/4 cup sliced, blanched natural almonds

3/4 cup hot water

Directions:

1. Blanch the almonds:  Place the almonds in a bowl.  Pour boiling water to barely cover the almonds.  Let them sit for 2 minutes to soften, drain and set aside. 
2. In a deep bowl (cylindrical container if you have one), place the almonds, parsley, flour, garlic, water and milk.  Use a hand blender to blend the entire mixture until it’s creamy but still a bit grainy and chunky.  It will end up a thick texture, so, if you want it looser, I’d add some more milk.   Set aside. 
3. Use the knife or spiralizer to turn your two sweet potatoes into matchsticks or noodles.  In a salute pan or shallow pan on medium-high heat, add the coconut oil, then add the spiraled sweet potatoes.  Cover and let cook for 5-7 minutes, uncovering to toss halfway through, until sweet potatoes are cooked through.  
4. Add the pesto cream to the cooked sweet potatoes, and stir thoroughly.  

This dish was intended to be vegan, so I used almond milk and no cheese at the end, but obviously if you love and eat cream and cheese, I will NOT stop you from using them!