Sweet Potato Bites
Born from my love of aperitifs, a near-daily ritual for the French throughout the Summer months, this recipe brings summery warmth and joy to these seasonal flavours and ingredients! Gluten free and infinitely versatile when it comes to toppings, these Sweet Potato Bites are a colourful explosion of flavours.
As part of your 5-a-day and filled with beta-carotene, sweet potatoes are the perfect base for any plant-based dish. Simply slice the sweet potatoes into thin discs, coat with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake in the oven until golden and crispy. All that remains now is to play around with the toppings of your choosing - make them ahead of time of lay out the ingredients for your guests to get involved and creative!
In case you might not know where to start, here are 3 of my favourite versions of these Sweet Potato Bites: a vegan version, a vegetarian version & a pescetarian one. So have some fun & don’t forget that all ingredients can be swapped over, so get creative!
- Vegan & Vegetarian Recipes -
VEGAN BITES
1 thin sweet potato
1.5 teaspoons of olive oil
60g of hummus (homemade recipe here)
Vegan basil pesto*
40g of beets, cubed
Handful of microgreens**
Flaky salt
Freshly ground pepper
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Wash and pat dry the sweet potato and cut it into approx. 1cm thick slices.
In a bowl, toss together the sweet potato slices with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
Place the slices onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until cooked & golden-brown.
Remove the sweet potato slices from the oven, let cool slightly and place in a serving dish.
On each sweet potato bite, spread some hummus, drizzle a bit of pesto, garnish with small pieces of beetroot and top off with a couple microgreen leaves. Season to taste.
Notes: *Use a vegan version of Pesto alla Genovese - a basil-based pesto without the traditional Italian cheese add-in.
**You can replace the micro greens with lemon or orange zest for more colour & a bit of tanginess.
VEGGIE BITES
1 thin sweet potato
1.5 teaspoons of olive oil
1 small apple, thinly sliced*
20g of blue cheese, crumbled**
Handful of pistachios, shelled and crushed***
Handful of pomegranate seeds
Handful of chives, sliced thinly
Flaky salt
Freshly ground pepper
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Wash and pat dry the sweet potato and cut it into approx. 1cm thick slices.
In a bowl, toss together the sweet potato slices with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
Place the slices onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until cooked & golden-brown.
Remove the sweet potato slices from the oven, let cool slightly and place in a serving dish.
On each sweet potato bite, place a couple of sliced of apple, sprinkle some crumbled blue cheese and top off with crushed pistachios, a couple of pomegranate seeds and fresh chives. Season to taste.
Notes: *You can replace the apple with small & thin slices of pear.
**You can replace the blue cheese for any other sort of fresh cheese - goats cheese, cream cheese, feta, etc.
***You can replace the pistachios for any other sort of seed, nut or grain - pecan nuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, etc.
SMOKED SALMON BITES
1 thin sweet potato
1.5 teaspoons of olive oil
80g of greek yogurt*
¼ preserved lemon
1 ½ slices of smoked salmon**
1 tablespoon of salmon roe***
Handful of chives, sliced thinly
Flaky salt
Freshly ground pepper
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Wash and pat dry the sweet potato and cut it into approx. 1cm thick slices.
In a bowl, toss together the sweet potato slices with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
Place the slices onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until cooked & golden-brown.
In the meantime, blend the greek yogurt, preserved lemon, smoked salmon and some pepper in a mixer. Set aside.
Remove the sweet potato slices from the oven, let cool slightly and place in a serving dish.
On each sweet potato bite, spoon some salmon spread, garnish with a couple of salmon roe and top off with fresh chives. Season to taste.
Notes: *You can replace the greek yogurt with a dairy free option - soy yogurt, etc.
**You can replace the smoked salmon with smoked trout.
***You can replace the salmon roe with small & thin slices of smoked salmon or smoked trout.