It's All About Soul

I am lucky – I seem to meet great people all the time!  Be it through work, through other friends, through Twitter…someone new comes into my life pretty often.  You never know what they might have to offer!
One such person is Jenné Claiborne.  She met me as @vegandthecity and I her, as @sweetpotatosoul.  We somehow wound up tweeting and recommending people follow one another, and though we don’t actually know one another, I do know Jenné is a New York City vegan personal chef, blogger, and founder of the 21-Day Vegan Blueprint eCourse.  I just learned that she has a digital cookbook coming out entitled 5 Ingredient Vegan. The book includes 25 recipes that use 5 ingredients each to create simple, delicious, and affordable meals and snacks anyone can enjoy. Guess what – I got permission (along with an advanced copy…woohoo!) to share two of her recipes with you!  Both have a Meditteranean flair and the first, a beet hummus, resembles a dish I just had at a great restaurant on the Upper East Side with friends last week.  Not to worry, those details are coming up soon…
In the meantime, I’m sharing the food love – here you go!Bright Beet Hummus
Expansions: add 1 tsp mellow miso, garnish with fresh parsley or blend in ¼ cup, blend in 1 tsp fennel seeds, drizzle a high-quality olive oil over the hummus before serving.
14 oz can of chickpeas¼ cup tahini1 beet (baked or steamed), cubed1 tbsp cumin1 tsp balsamic vinegar1 tsp sea salt1 tsp black pepper¼ cup water

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Season to taste with sea salt if necessary.Sweet Potato Falafel

Delicious served with the tahini lemon dressing within a romaine leaf. These sweet potato falafel are healthy, tasty, and perfect for a snack or a meal. Expansions: add 1 tsp of smoked paprika, 1 tsp lemon zest, topping the falafel with sesame seeds before baking.serves 2-41 medium sweet potato, baked or steamed in the skin14 oz can chickpeas, rinsed1 clove garlic, minced1 tbsp ground cumin1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced1 tsp sea salt 1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 350° and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Place all of the ingredients into a food processor, and pulse until the ingredients are combined. Be careful not to over blend or puree. The ingredients should hold together, but maintain their texture. Use a cookie scoop (about 2 tbsp) to scoop falafel balls and place directly onto the baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.