Sweet Potato-Pinto Bean Balls Recipe

After posting a recipe for healthy falafel balls a few weeks ago, one of our readers played around with our recipe and came up with a great recipe of her own for balls made out of sweet potatoes and pinto beans.

Included with this unique recipe is a simple and delicious tahini dressing recipe that goes perfectly with the balls. If you enjoy sweet potatoes, pinto beans, and middle eastern flavors, I encourage you to give the following recipe a try:

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups of cooked pinto beans, drained and well rinsed (1 can)
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato (1 large, about 12 oz.)
1/2 a cup minced onion
1/2 a cup of fresh parsley, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of tahini
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of coriander
1/4 cup of amaranth flour

Directions:

Set oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put pinto beans in large bowl and mash well. Add mashed sweet potato and mash together until well blended. Add onion, parsley, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, cumin, turmeric and coriander and mix well. Stir in flour and mix thoroughly.

Scoop out rounded tablespoons of sweet potato mixture and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake balls for 15 minutes. Turn them over and bake for another 15 minutes.

Serve hot or at room temperature, with Tahini Dressing if desired.

This recipe makes approximately 30 sweet potato-pinto balls.

Tahini Recipe

Ingredients:

2 heaping tablespoons of tahini
1 small clove of garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
Sea salt to taste
Water

Directions:

Blend all ingredients together, adding water slowly until desired consistency is reached. This creamy dressing is also perfect for salads, steamed vegetables, and sandwiches.

Recipes are courtesy of Margaret Condy