Sweet Potato Torte #vegan #kosher #nutfree #glutenfree

Sweet Potato Torte

I found this recipe in a New York Times article for a Sweet Potato Torte and modified it to make it as low in oil, nut free and gluten free as I could. It came out pretty good! My Cousin Rhonda loved it and called me to tell me the piece I gave her became her entire dinner. I'm going to work on it again because it was a little dry, but the taste is pretty great!

SWEET POTATO TORTE   

3 sweet potatoes

2 cups cooked red or green lentils

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup hemp seed hearts (or ground nuts)

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 15.5 oz can of chickpeas

2 teaspoons ground Mediterranean style sea salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons lite soy sauce

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon tahini (peanut butter also works)

1 6 oz can of tomato paste

1/3 cup vegetable broth

     Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook the lentils in salt water with a 2.5 to 1 ratio of water to lentils. Cover and let them cool. Add extra water if needed to make them soft enough to mold.

Cook the brown rice in the same way, cover and let it cool.  Use the tahini to lightly grease a 10 inch springform pan and line the pan with a circle of lightly greased parchment paper. Peel the sweet potatoes. Soften them by wrapping them in a moist paper towel and partially cooking them in the microwave on high for about 5 minutes. Let them cool enough to handle then cut them into slices, 1/4 inch or less in thickness and arrange them in an overlapping fan to cover the bottom of the pan.  Add the cooked lentils to form a layer over the sweet potatoes and pack them down.  

     Put the rolled oats and hemp hearts in a blender and pulse into a coarse textured meal. Put it in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Add the tahini and all the remaining ingredients to the blender and puree until smooth and spreadable. Add this to the bowl with the oats and hemp hearts. Mix it all together adding a little more vegetable broth as needed to keep it spreadable. Add it over the lentils to make an even layer.  Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes then uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool enough to handle. Flip it over on an oven proof dish and remove the springform pan. Put it under the broiler for 5 minutes to caramelize the sweet potatoes a little. Serve it hot.

Next time I want to cut the slices of sweet potato much thinner and make the lentils more moldable than I did this round. The above directions take this into account and have been adapted to improve on my first try. That has nothing to do with the flavor. It was delicious. Would Cousin Rhonda tell a fib? 

Enjoy!!!!