Chipotle Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion Un-Meatballs

I couldn't sleep last night. Among the many thoughts that danced through my head in between dreams of being a professional tap dancer, sweet potatoes were the most prevalent.....that's right produce keeps me up at night. I am not sure if it was the rain that inspired these cravings, the lingering nip of winter in the air urging me to seek out comforting carbs. Whatever it was I lay there mentally digging through my pantry and figuring out how I would prepare sweet potatoes for dinner tonight. The given recipe is how I made them. I have not tried the variations, but halfway through making the un-meatballs I realized that the dough (is that even what you would call it) could be used for other things as well.

what you need:
2 sliced onions
1/4 tsp salt
olive oil for frying
1 baked sweet potato
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1 chipotle chili or more to taste
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (omit for vegan version)
food processor

What you need to do:
Heat the oil over medium heat and add the onions and salt. Cook until translucent with some browning.
Meanwhile in your food processor combine the sweet potato, chickpeas, BBQ sauce, chili, and process until everything is mixed together. It should be smooth and almost like a thick batter. Taste and add more chilis or Tabasco if desired at this time.
Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in onions and shredded cheese. Using an ice cream scoop form mixture into balls and bake on a cookie sheet @ 350 for 10-15 minutes. I pan fried half of these in olive oil as the kiddos need the fat. Both baking and frying produced nice results.
If you are having trouble getting them to hold together add breadcrumbs until they are the desired consistency.

I wish the pictures did these justice, they were sweet and spicy, crunchy on the outside and gooey melty on the inside. To vary this recipe a bit you could add flour and roll the batter into gnocchi, or use it as a patty for a veggie burger....I'm thinking ciabatta with garlic butter, mozzarella, and baby spring mix.

In other news, we will be having company so posts will be few and far between....even more so. I look forward to getting into a less hectic pace sometime around 2026 though. So unless the zombie apocalypse* comes to pass before then look forward to more frequent postings at that time.

* Note to Hun, talking about, and blogging about the zombie apocalypse are two different things. One, is a single sentence made in jest, the other is an ongoing obsession that interrupts daily life with disaster planning and escape routes.....don't for one second think this means I have lifted the ban.