Hello Rootabaga Subscribers,
Welcome to your weekly produce reveal! This week’s Rootabaga is inspired by the upcoming Easter/long weekend, and I’ve got a delicious dessert recipe to share for Sweet Potato Pie. It’s similar to a classic pumpkin pie but with sweet potatoes stealing the show instead. There’s also a new carrot variety in your bags this week, since sadly, the Super Sweet Carrots from Elmridge Farm that we all know and love are done for the season. Luckily, we were able to source some carrots through Noggins Corner Farm. They’re not quite as sweet as our regular variety, but they are still crunchy, delicious, and locally grown in the maritimes.
This week the small share has:
Carrots – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally-grown, PEI
Sweet Potatoes – Elmridge Farm, spray-free
Green Cabbage – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally-grown
Cucumber – Den Haan Greenhouses, conventionally-grown
Hot House Tomatoes – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally-grown
Bramble Hill Microgreens – Bramble Hill Farm, spray free
Wild Blueberries – Nova Scotia, spray-free
The large has everything above, as well as:
1lb of wild blueberries instead of ½ lb
Russet Potatoes – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally-grown
Sweet Mini Peppers – Stokdijk Greenhouses, conventionally-grown
Sweet potato pie is a delightful twist on the classic pumpkin! And, it’s a great recipe for using local ingredients since we have sweet potatoes available almost year round in nova scotia, unlike pumpkins. I based the pie off of this recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/12142/sweet-potato-pie-i/. However, I did make significant changes to the spicing, decreased the sugar, and I found the amount of sweet potato needed to be increased to get a better consistency.
- 2 heaping cups mashed sweet potato
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ to ¾ cup white sugar
- ½ cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ginger, clove, or more allspice
- 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust - plus dough scraps to make a bunny or other decorations if desired!
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the sweet potatoes. I boiled mine whole with the skin on. Once they are soft through, drain them and run them under cold water. The skin will slide off easily.
- You can use an electric mixer or a high-powered blender to make the filling. Add all the ingredients and blend until smooth. The mixture will be wet and pourable, but if it seems a bit loose add a tablespoon or 2 of flour. I added 2 tablespoons to my mix. If you like your pie on the sweet side, add the upper amount of sugar. I personally prefer a less-sweet pie so I cut the sugar down to ½ a cup, the sweet potatoes add their own sweetness as well. Lastly, adjust the spices to taste, these are based on my preference for a well spiced pie!
- Pour the filling into an unbaked 9 inch pie crust and bake at 350 degrees until set, or a knife comes out relatively cleanly, 50 minutes to an hour. The pie filling will puff up considerably as it cooks and settle down as it cools. Give the pie an hour or so to cool off before slicing. Top with iced or whipped cream and enjoy!
I love this pie so much I might like it even more than pumpkin! If you make it, please let me know if you think it stands up to a traditional pumpkin pie.
A few weeks ago I made this Sweet & Spicy Smashed Cucumber Salad: https://rainbowplantlife.com/sweet-and-spicy-smashed-cucumber-salad/. It uses a technique I hadn’t come across before – rather than slicing cucumbers, you smash the cucumber into pieces with the side of a large knife (much like you would a clove of garlic). The smashed pieces have more surface area to absorb dressing into and it gives a satisfying crunchy texture, it was really neat to try. Since it’s not peach season, I substituted a crisp apple in the salad instead. It all comes together with a sweet and spicy vinaigrette, golden raisins, and fresh basil. It’s a delicious salad and would be a perfect and unique addition to any Easter potluck!
Another great family dinner dish I’d like to try is a cheesy cabbage casserole. A Rootabaga subscriber mentioned that she had made a cheesy cabbage casserole and I thought it was a great idea! This recipe is simple and calls for layers of chopped cabbage, rice, onion, cheese, and chicken broth. It’s all topped with buttered breadcrumbs and baked until crispy golden brown on top. The recipe calls for Savoy cabbage but green cabbage would do well here too. This would be an easy crowd-pleasing side dish and would help use up that cabbage if need be.
Lastly, I’d like to try something a bit different with my roasted carrots this Easter. Our family always has carrots as part of the feast, but we typically do butter and brown sugar on steamed carrots of maple-balsamic roasted in the oven. I came across this recipe for Garlic Parmesan Roasted Carrots: https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a42676799/garlic-parmesan-roasted-carrots-recipe/. Can you ever go wrong with garlic and parmesan? I think they’ll be a hit.
That’s it for this week folks. I hope some of these ideas resonate with you as we get together with friends and family to celebrate the long weekend
Wishing you all a Happy Easter,
Robin