Sweet Potato & Carrot Mash

The zesty flavour of fresh ginger brings out the best in this simple, super-healthy, wonderfully low-fat, sweet potato and carrot mash. This is my adaptation of a recipe I found originally on one of my International Masters 'Good for You' recipe cards, which focus on health and nutrition. I use my Vegetable Stock when making this as I know that it is low in salt! I often add sunflower seeds to recipes such as this one and have included them here as an optional ingredient. They provide added nutrition and I just love the textural variation provided by that little bit of crunch! Walnuts would also work well. And yes, I know butter is not exactly healthy, but I do prefer to use it in cooking, so when I've made this recipe, I must confess that I've used butter. If you love sweet potatoes, you may also like my Sweet Potato Mash, also very healthy but quite different from this recipe.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2  carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1  orange sweet potato, peeled and cut into bite-sized cubes
• 1  granny smith apple, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
• 2  cups  salt reduced  vegetable stock
• 3  tablespoons reduced fat margarine (if that's your preference) or 3  tablespoons butter (if that's your preference)
• 1  leek, thinly sliced
• 1  onion, minced
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  tablespoon fresh ginger, finely grated
• 1⁄2 cup coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 1⁄4 cup sunflower seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Put the carrot, sweet potato, apple and stock in a saucepan over a high heat; add 2 cups of water and bring to the boil; reduce the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender when pierced with a fork and the liquid has reduced; cover with a lid and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Heat the margarine (or butter) in a medium-sized non-stick pan over a medium heat and pan-fry the leek for about 3 minutes or until it softens, then add the onion, garlic and ginger, stirring to make sure that the ginger is mixed through the other ingredients, cook for 2-3 minutes; remove the pan from the heat and transfer the contents of the pan together with the carrot and sweet potato mixture into a food processor and process together until smooth.
3. Transfer to a serving bowl, stir through the coriander leaves (and sunflower seeds if including) and serve.