Sweet potato toast with herby beans

Sweet potato toast topped with cannellini beans and zucchini ribbons tossed in a beautifully balanced herb and lemon dressing makes a tasty and simple meal.

Orange kumara (sweet potato)  is one of my favourite vegetables, so it was definitely a life changing moment when I learned you can make toast with it. Toast, as in, made in the toaster. It's so brilliantly simple it's ridiculous, and it works so incredibly well!

It takes about four goes in the toaster to come out perfectly just cooked, and slightly blistered and charry in places. Sweet potato toast is the perfect gluten free bread replacement for all your bruschetta or 'something on toast' needs, because come on, what doesn't taste great with sweet potato? I can see this becoming a standard weekday lunch when I'm working at home and need to get a healthy lunch in my belly, fast.

I sliced my kumara lengthways into pieces about 1cm (just under half an inch) thick. Check your slices aren't too much longer than the depth of your toaster, and give the ends a trim if necessary. If there's much poking out of the toaster, those bits won't cook. My toaster was able to fit two slices, standing upright, in each toasting slot, meaning I could cook four pieces at once.

I topped my kumara toast with cannellini beans and zucchini ribbons tossed in a lemony herb dressing. You could use black beans or chickpeas too, if they're what you have on hand.

The dressing is a tasty little concoction inspired by some delicious marinated carrots I had in a Spanish tapas restaurant. Fresh oregano and parsley are made a bit special with lemon zest and juice, capers, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and the secret ingredient - a little sprinkle of fennel seeds which add a pop of sweetness every now and then.

Sweet potato toast with herby beans

Cannellini beans and zucchini ribbons tossed in a beautifully balanced herb and lemon dressing, piled up high on sweet potato toast are a simple and stunning light meal.

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Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Course: Main meals

Cuisine: Gluten free, Vegan

Servings: 2

Calories: 542kcal

Author: Quite Good Food

INGREDIENTS

For the topping:

• ¼ cup fresh oregano leaves finely chopped
• ¼ cup fresh parsley finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic crushed or finely grated
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon capers finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or sweetener of your choice, optional)
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 zucchini (courgette)
• 1 can of cannellini beans drained

For the toast:

• 1 large sweet potato (orange kumara)

INSTRUCTIONS

For the topping:

• Mix everything except for the cannellini beans and zucchini ribbons together in a mixing bowl. The sweetener is optional - taste your dressing and see if it needs it. My lemons were new season, only just ripe and very tart, so some sweetener was essential to balance out the flavours.
• Stir the cannellini beans through the dressing.
• Use a vegetable peeler to make ribbons with your zucchini, then add the ribbons to the bowl too. Give everything a good stir, ensuring the ribbons separate from each other and are all coated in dressing. Set aside to soften and soak up the flavours while you make your toast.

For the toast:

• Slice your sweet potato lengthways, into pieces about 1cm (just under half an inch) thick. Trim the ends if necessary to allow the slices to fit inside your toaster for cooking.
• Put the sweet potato slices in your toaster and let it do its thing, repeating the toasting cycle as many times as needed to reach a level of doneness you're happy with. Mine took four goes.
• Once your toast is cooked, serve immediately with a big pile of herby beans and zucchini ribbons on top.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Calories: 542kcal | Carbohydrates: 85.7g | Protein: 21.4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 2.3g | Fiber: 18.7g

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