Sweet Potato and Carrot Puree

Several years ago, at a delicious little hideaway restaurant in Lake Tahoe, my husband and I discovered carrot puree. I used to love my mom’s caramelized carrots with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar, and this dish was like a dreamy whipped version of that family favorite.

Our version includes sweet potatoes and a variety of our favorite spices. If you think you’ll never be tempted to sit down and plow through a bowl of pureed vegetables, think again!

You can serve this as a side dish, or incorporate the puree into other recipes like pancake batter and vegetable lasagna.

Sweet Potato and Carrot Puree

Servings: 6 side dish servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup baby carrots
• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• Extra virgin olive oil and sea salt for roasting the vegetables
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (I like the vanilla flavored version)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp cinnnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F
2. Spread the carrots out on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt
3. Pierce the sweet potatoes a few times with a sharp knife (to allow steam to escape). Coat lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle liberally with coarse sea salt (or regular salt, if you don’t have coarse salt). Wrap loosely in baking foil
4. Place the carrots and sweet potatoes in the oven and bake until incredibly soft (easily cut with a spoon). The carrots should take about 30 minutes, and the sweet potatoes may take closer to 60 minutes (depending on their size). Don’t under-cook the vegetables – it will result in a chunkier, less sweet puree
5. Once cooked, allow the vegetables to cool for 10-15 minutes
6. When the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut in half, then gently peel off and discard the skins
7. Place carrots and sweet potatoes in a blender with the remaining ingredients, and blend until completely smooth. Pause to scrape down the sides as needed

Helpful hint: I’ve made this recipe with a food processor, but a blender produces a much smoother, creamier final product.