Miso Sweet Potatoes with Charred Broccoli and Chickpeas
In 30 Minutes
Today I had a hankering for colourful veg and a head of broccoli in the fridge. I didn’t want to just throw some soy-sauce-stir-fried-thing together and call it a day, I wanted to make something really ravishing, heavenly, as my mom might say. Perhaps staring at all those food magazines at work has brought back my spark, who knows?
Anyways: colour. Something other than green to lighten things up. Sweet potato, yes, but again, I want to be cooler than just a classic roasted starch with broccoli. And before you start asking, I have nobody to impress other than myself and the two of you who are reading this. I’m just “over the top” as someone recently informed me.
So we have two components separated, and I’d like to keep them that way until the end of the project. As we know, I don’t want chunks of sweet potato, and a girl loves a dip, so a whip could work.
Rummaging through the three jars I have left in the fridge, I decided that miso would probably pair better than ancho chilli paste, and coconut milk would add a nice sweet depth that water just simply could not contribute. So born is the coconut miso whipped sweet potatoes; definitely done before, but not in this kitchen.
Now that the showstopping pillowy cloud of a component has been crafted (a real lightbulb, to be honest), I can settle for a simple charred broccoli paired with one of the better players the legume family has to trade; super (like, super) crispy chickpeas.
That’s all, really. Thirty minutes and I am left with this flower crown sat atop a fiery cushion of joy. It is here where the sweet potato and broccoli meet. After ages at the opposite side of the colour wheel, they stumble into some intensely deep affair, one that probably everyone knows about, but it’s special just the same.
This is another one of my better recipes, added to the end of my now 150-page document of ideas and scribbles and the occasional full-formed dish that will be published when I am famous and dead. And if my last recipe I published is going in the cookbook? This one’s going on the restaurant menu. Eat it and weep.
Miso Sweet Potatoes with Charred Broccoli and Chickpeas
Ingredients
Broccoli, cut into florets of all different sizes
Chickpeas, drained and patted very dry
Olive oil
Cumin
Paprika
Onion powder
Nutritional yeast
Sweet potatoes, about 4 small or 1-2 large
Coconut milk
Miso paste
Juice of ½ a lemon
Red wine vinegar
Seeds, pumpkin are best
Micro greens
Directions
Preheat the oven to 220C.
Spread the broccoli florets and chickpeas evenly on a baking tray and coat in olive oil, cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes, until very crispy.
Meanwhile, wrap the sweet potatoes in damp paper towels and microwave for about 4-6 minutes until very soft. Put them in a blender with half a can of coconut milk, a tbsp or so of miso paste, salt and pepper. Blitz until smooth, adding more coconut water if it needs loosening.
When the broccoli and chickpeas are done roasting, toss them with some lemon and a splash of red wine vinegar and a bit more salt if needed.
Plate with the sweet potatoes as the base and top with the broccoli and chickpeas. Garnish with a bit more nutritional yeast, some seeds (I used pumpkin seeds and sesame), and micro greens.
Serve and eat.
