Sweet Potato Packets: Another “Case” for Real Food!

Bison and Kale in Sweet Potato Packets

Stuffing food into an edible case may seem a bit fussy, but we have a history and tradition of making little food packages, both elegant and common, that are easy to prepare and well suited to handling leftovers.  From egg rolls to mini-quiches, they still dominate appetizer platters at many a social gathering.  Problem is, most of these food cases are made from cheap carbohydrates with little nutritional value: pastries, crepes, tortillas, hollowed loaves of bread…the list goes on.

There are much better alternatives for our health.  Vegetables and leaf wrappings make excellent packets that can be stuffed with a ton of nutritious ingredients.  Just look at some traditional ethnic cuisines for inspiration: stuffed grape leaves from Greece, nori rolls from Japan, stuffed papayas from Jamaica, etc.

The following recipe was given by a good friend of mine, Dr. Al Edwards of Vancouver (credit must be given!).  An exceptionally resourceful cook, he has encouraged many people to get their noses out of the cookbooks and to start making up their own creations.

This recipe makes good use of a mandolin, or Japanese Benriner.  If you don’t know what a mandolin is, you’ve probably at least seen one.  A mandolin is a manual food slicer–great for making garnishes, sashimi, salads, basically anything where you might need something cut into matchsticks or sliced as thinly as 0.3mm.  I bought mine in Chinatown, but they are also available online.  They aren’t expensive, and you wouldn’t believe how useful they can be.

Sweet Potato Packets Stuffed with Bison and Kale

• several large sweet potatoes
• a few bison sausages
• one bunch of kale
• olive oil
• 1/4 – 1/2 c beef stock
• black pepper to taste

Ingredients are not listed in specific quantities – this recipe is extremely forgiving!

i.  Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Partially cook the sausages by grilling or broiling them.  Cook them until they are browned and heated thoroughly, but not fully cooked.

ii.  Wash and trim the kale (cutting out the tough stems).  Steam the kale over boiling water until tender, about 8-10 minutes.   Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.  Wring all of the water out of the cooled kale, and chop finely.

iii. Cut the sweet potatoes into very thin slices (lengthwise) using a mandolin.  Adjust the thickness screw accordingly to get thin, flexible slices.  I used organic sweet potatoes, and left the peel on.  Use the finger guard!

iv.  Here’s the fun part where you get to assemble everything.  Prepare a muffin tin by coating the cups with olive oil.  Place a single slice of sweet potato in each cup so that the two ends stick up over the sides.  Next, place a second slice of sweet potato in each, crosswise, so that the ends of the second slice also stick up on the remaining two sides.  Each cup should have four sweet potato ‘leaves’ sticking out of it.

v. Now fill each cup.  Start with a little chopped kale, then add two slices of bison sausage.  Cover the sausage with more kale.

vi. Add a few teaspoons of beef broth to each cup, and a few drops of olive oil.  This will help to meld the flavors together as the packets cook.

vii.  Fold each sweet potato ‘leaf’ over as if you were closing up a package. If the pieces don’t stay down and the packet doesn’t remain closed, simply stick a toothpick in the centre to hold everything in place.  Drizzle more olive oil over the top of each packet.

viii. Place the filled muffin tin into a 375° oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until the sweet potato slices are cooked.

Feel free to substitute ingredients as required and use what you have on hand.  You can use spinach instead of kale, and turkey sausage or any quality ground meat instead of the bison sausages.

Alternatives?

If you’re not in the mood for filling little muffin tins, you can also turn this recipe into a layered sweet potato “galette”.  It’s a bit quicker, and can be done on top of the stove.  Simply oil a cast iron or heavy skillet with olive oil and place the thin sweet potato slices in the pan, overlapping in a spiral fashion.  Next, add a layer of chopped kale, a layer of thinly sliced bison sausage, and finally, another layer of kale.

Complete the galette by making another layer of sweet potato slices, overlapping them as before.  Brush the top with oil.  Place a plate on top of the galette to act as a weight, and cook the layered mixture right in the skillet.

Halfway through the cooking time, flip the whole mixture over so that the galette falls out of the pan onto the plate (use oven mitts!).  Carefully, slide it back into the pan to cook the other side (weighing it down with the plate again).  When the galette has browned appropriately, it is done.  Flip it out onto a plate to serve.

Both versions are great served on a bed of arugula or other greens.  Use chopped chives or parsley as a garnish for the top.  Either way, I guarantee a taste treat!

Some things worth mentioning:

• Bison is low in saturated fat, and is traditionally raised without the need for drugs, antibiotics or hormones.  Many people who cannot eat red meat can tolerate bison fairly well.  Try and find grass-fed bison products, which will have a higher omega-3 content.
• Kale offers more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost any other food.  In addition to being an excellent source of Vitamins K, A, and C, it also contains important phytonutrients that offer protection against various forms of cancer.
• Sweet potatoes sometimes get a bad rap because they are not strictly “paleo” (they cannot be eaten raw), but they are an excellent source of beta carotene, a good source of Vitamin C and B6, and have powerful antioxidant properties.  A good source of fibre, the sweet potato also offers the lowest glycemic index rating among root vegetables (it digests slowly, allowing for a gradual rise in blood sugar).  Combining sweet potatoes with good fats (as in this recipe) will lower the glycemic index rating even more.

Bon appétit!

Tags: recipe, sweet potato