Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Years ago, my husband and I spent A LOT of time at the Sea House Restaurant on Napili Bay enjoying their amazing Happy Hour. Back in the day, they had this incredible “small plate” menu and everything on it was between $5 and $7 bucks! For Maui, this was an absolute STEAL and during the Great Recession, it was very much appreciated. I have a post about the Sea House Happy Hour on my old blog HERE if you would like to check it out. Sorry in advance for my poor quality blog pics back in 2010 but the food was seriously AMAZING!

My favorite item on the Happy Hour menu was the Molokai Sweet Potato Quesadilla and OMG, it was so freaking good!

Over the years, the menu at the Sea House has changed. ( Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great place for Happy Hour ) but they no longer have my favorite quesadilla (sad face). But to be completely honest, I wouldn’t be able to eat it anymore because it contained cheese. Luckily, it’s been pretty easy to recreate this quesadilla at home. Over the years I figured out a delicious way to veganize it and make it a whole lot healthier in doing so.

Here’s my updated version below. Enjoy!

Molokai Sweet Potato Quesadillas - Make 4 - 5 small quesadillas

• 1 large purple sweet potato ( Molokai or Okinawan ) a regular sweet potato or yam would work as well. Cubed, steamed, and then mashed.

• 1/2 small onion, diced ( I used a sweet Maui onion )

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 bell pepper, diced

• 1 cup shredded spinach

• 1/2 tsp chili powder

• 1/4 tsp salt

• juice of 1/2 lime

• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

• 1/2 cup shredded vegan cheese ( Violife is good ) This is totally optional. I opted out today.

• 4-5, 6” corn, cassava flour ( pictured ) or regular flour tortillas

Toppings

• guacamole

• salsa fresca

• vegan sour cream ( homemade version HERE )

• hot sauce

• cilantro/chives

To prepare

*Peel sweet potato, cube, and steam in a steamer basket until easily pierced with a fork ( about 15 minutes ). Remove from heat and then mash cubed sweet potato with a potato masher or fork until “creamy” ( you may add a little water if need be ) then set aside.

*In a large non-stick skillet on med-high heat, saute diced onions, minced garlic, and diced bell pepper in about 1 Tb of water until translucent ( about 5 minutes ) You may use 1 tsp avocado or coconut oil instead of water if you prefer. Next, sprinkle on 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp chili powder, squeeze on lime juice, add 1 cup of shredded spinach, and 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro and saute for about 1 minute ( or until greens are wilted ). Remove from heat and then fold the cooked veggies into the sweet potato mash. Taste and sprinkle in more salt if needed.

*Heat tortillas on a hot grill pan or skillet until soft. Remove from heat and then place about 1/2 cup of the sweet potato and veggie mash on one half of the tortilla. Add a sprinkle of vegan cheese if desired here. Then fold tortilla over mixture and place back on grill or skillet until the quesadilla crisps up a bit ( about 2 minutes ). Flip and grill the other side of the quesadilla.

*Remove quesadilla from heat and plate with desired toppings.

The Grain-Based Macro Bowl

I probably make a variation of a Macro Bowl about 3-5 times a week. So comforting, so full of flavor and so incredibly healthy for you. This “easy to throw together” bowl will make a wonderful staple for you and your family during these stressful times.

Feel free to play around with the base ingredients that I have listed below. Please use whatever you currently have in your pantry and fridge because there are no strict rules for this bowl.

For the bowl pictured above, I used chickpeas, quinoa, a variety of sweet potatoes, raw kale, sauerkraut, chopped almonds, and a tahini/lemon/miso-based dressing. The idea is to use some sort of plant-based protein ( tofu, tempeh, beans or lentils ), some sort of grain ( quinoa or rice ) or another whole plant carb like sweet potatoes or squash, some veggies ( raw or fresh ), some sort of fat ( tahini, avocado, or nut butter ) some seeds or nuts for some crunch, some sort of fermented food like sauerkraut or kimchi and, ideally, some sort of sea vegetable like crushed nori.

The Grain-based Macro Bowl

• 1 cup cooked quinoa

• 1/2 cup of roasted sweet potatoes

• 1/3 cup of chickpeas

• 1 large handful of shredded kale

• a couple of tablespoons of sauerkraut

• 1 Tb chopped almonds

• a couple of Tbs dressing ( see recipe below )

• 1/2 of a sliced avocado

• Layer in a bowl, top with dressing, and serve.

Prep for Roasted Potatoes

Take 2 or more sweet potatoes and cut into small cubes ( you may skin them if you prefer ). Toss potato cubes with 1-2 tsp of olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper. Next, spread seasoned potato cubes on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Roast potato cubes at 425F for 40 mins until crispy and browned. Flip potatoes halfway through. Oven temps can vary so some potatoes may need less of more time to reach the desired crispiness. Save any leftovers in the fridge for the next day.

Prep for cooked Quinoa

Rinse 2 cups of dried quinoa if a mesh strainer for about 1 minute. Place in a medium-size soup pot with 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil over med-high heat then cover and reduce heat to very low. Cook covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, leave the lid on, and “steam”. Remove lid and fluff cooked quinoa with a fork. This makes a lot of quinoa. I like dividing this into 1 cup servings and placing it in the freezer for later use.

My favorite Macro Bowl Dressing

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

• 2 Tbs water

• 2 Tbs avocado oil

• 2 Tbs tamari or low sodium soy sauce

• 1/4 cup light miso

• 1/3 cup tahini ( you can omit this for a lower fat dressing )

• Mix in a small mason jar. Keeps for about 1 week in the fridge.

Japanese Sweet Potato Potstickers

How’s everyone doing?

Surreal times right?

Sorry I’ve been a bit M.I.A. I started working 5 days a week vs. a mixture of nights and days so photographing food in proper daylight has been a challenge.

I have some extra time now though…

So, I could go on and on about the impact of the Covid-19 virus here on Maui. Sadly, most of the island is out of work, or at least, we’ve been put on hold. To be perfectly honest though, I need a break from all the doom and gloom right now. I’m sure we all do right? So I’m not going to get into the icky stuff here.

So since I haven’t left my immediate neighborhood for the last 14 days, I’ve had plenty of time to go through my pantry, fridge, and freezer ( like so many people have I’m sure ) and take a solid inventory of what I have on hand. Going forward, I plan on doing my absolute best to grocery shop just once a week. Maui goes into full lockdown mode tomorrow, March 25th. This means only essential errands or solo activities are allowed outside the home. Lucky for us, this still includes surfing ( yay! ). My husband has actually been the one braving the grocery stores for the last 2 weeks and I’ve been doing the cooking ( per usual ). I honestly have not been around another human since March 13th and I gotta say, it’s been eye-opening.

Anyway, so these delicious Japanese Sweet Potato Potstickers… You don’t need many ingredients and they are so fun to eat. Plus, it’s sort of meditating when it comes to the actual folding part and since some of us have a lot of time on our hands now, why not?

BTW - I’ll let you look up how to do the potsticker folding on YouTube. There are tons of tutorials on there. It's probably easier than a written step-by-step from me anyway.

Stay safe and healthy my friends. A L O H A!

Japanese Sweet Potato Potstickers - makes about 30

• 1 large Japanese Sweet Potato ( purple skin, yellow inside ) a yam would work too.

• 1 large shallot, minced

• 1 clove of garlic minced

• 1/4 inch of fresh ginger, skin removed and minced

• 1 tsp sesame oil

• 1 Tb sesame seeds ( optional )

• 1 Tb soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos

• 1 handful of chopped cilantro ( optional )

• 1 package of store-bought potsticker or wonton skins ( check the label to make sure there’s no egg added )

Dipping Sauce

• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

• 1/4 cup low-sodium tamari or low-sodium soy sauce

To make the potsticker filling, peel and chop the sweet potato into small cubes and steam until easily pierced with a fork.

In the meantime, saute the shallot, garlic, and ginger in sesame oil over med-high heat until translucent ( about 5 mins )

Mash steamed sweet potato cubes until creamy. Add shallot/garlic/ginger mix, soy sauce, sesame seeds, and cilantro. The mixture should have a similar consistency to cookie dough.

Place potsticker wrappers on a large cutting board. Place 2 tsp of the sweet potato mixture in the middle of each wrapper, rub water along the edges of the wrapper, fold, and seal.

Place in a steamer basket and steam until cooked through. About 3-5 mins.

*Or if not cooking right away, place all potstickers on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and freeze. Once frozen, place potstickers in a zip-lock bag.

*Steaming will take slightly longer when ready to cook if potstickers are frozen.

ENJOY!