Meatless Monday: Sweet Potato “Spaghetti and Meatballs”

When it comes to my diet, I call myself a flexitarian. Essentially, I am mostly vegetarian and I throw in a spattering of well-sourced meat when I feel like my body needs it. As someone who is flexible with their diet, I love supporting causes that champion the need for a more mindful way of eating- whatever that may look like to you, absolutely no judgements here! I have been working with Meatless Monday for years and love it when they send us challenges- this particular one involved a very lovely box of Gardein’s meatless products (I have now successfully eaten through the entire shipment from veggie burgers to barbecue wings and everything in between!) I wanted to transform a traditional meat-heavy comfort food into something that gave you the same ‘oomph’ without the meat and so Sweet Potato “Spaghetti and Meatballs” was born!

Now, I love to spiralize everything (take a peek at some of my past recipes here) and sweet potato is no exception. It is a bit more hearty than the traditional zucchini pasta and it infuses with flavor so well! Top it with a bunch of crunchy goodness and some veggie burger chunks and you have a meatless meal that is ready in less than 30 minutes from start to finish.

Ingredients:

1 Sweet Potato- uniformly sized for best results!
2 Veggie Burger Patties (Mine are from Gardein)
1/2 Cup Toasted Almonds
1/4 Cup Pepitas
1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 Lemon
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Sweet Potato “Spaghetti and Meatballs” Instructions:

Start out by spiralizing your sweet potato! This works best if you peel the potato first for a more uniform texture. I have used both a tabletop spiralizer and the Kitchen Aid attachment. If you have a Kitchen Aid I HIGHLY recommend the attachment!
Add your spiralized sweet potato strings to a lightly oiled frying pan on medium heat. Stir frequently to make sure that they don’t stick, you can add more olive oil as needed.
After about 2-3 minutes add in chunks of your veggie patties and cook for another 5 minutes.
Add in almonds and pepitas a mix well. Take off the heat.
Add about 1/4 cup olive oil to a small mixing bowl and incorporate garlic, the juice of your half a lemon, and salt and pepper. Whisk well.
Drizzle the olive oil mixture over the sweet potato spirals and serve warm!

There you have it- Sweet Potato “Spaghetti and Meatballs.” Comfort food Meatless Monday style! What is your favorite way to incorporate more veggies into your diet? With summer coming up and a produce bounty on the way I’d love to know!