Grind and Roll: Sweet potato balls with smoky cashew “aioli”

by Caitlin Saniga

Aioli is a sauce traditionally made with olive, oil, lemon, garlic and egg yolks, but this one’s a little different in that it includes softened raw cashews instead of egg yolks. Plus, smoked paprika is like magic pixie dust. Don’t skimp and grab for regular paprika. Buy a little bottle of the smoked version, and I promise you won’t regret it. I’ll be looking for new ways to incorporate it, so stay tuned. My first experiment was to add it to hummus — delicious!

Sweet potato balls:

• 2 small sweet potatoes, roasted, cooled and skins removed (Should yield about 2 cups.)
• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 cup panko
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 egg, beaten with a fork
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• olive oil

Smoky cashew “aioli”:

• 3/4 cup raw cashew pieces, soaked 4-6 hours
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a large glass baking pan in the oven while it’s preheating.

In a large bowl, use your hands to combine the sweet potato, quinoa, panko, garlic, egg, cilantro and salt until thoroughly incorporated.

Remove the baking pan from the oven and lightly brush the bottom with oil.

Form the sweet potato mixture into about 20 walnut-sized balls and place them in the baking pan. Cover the pan with foil, and return to the oven to bake for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the aioli. Drain and rinse the cashews. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cashews, garlic, water, olive oil, lemon juice and smoked paprika. If needed, add additional water 1 tablespoon at a time. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve the sweet potato balls with the aioli and garnish with cilantro.

Makes 20.

Sweet potato balls recipe adapted from: Dash of East

Smoky cashew “aioli” recipe adapted from: Oh My Veggies

*Push up your sleeves and get ready to roll… meatballs. This March we’re serving up bite-sized recipes for meatballs featuring different meats and nonmeat ingredients for our Grind and Roll guide.