A Mother’s Gift: Veggie Pâté

I spent the past weekend in Montreal, which is one of my favourite cities. I spent much of my time there doing one of my favourite things with one of my favourite people: I cooked with my mum.

My mum and I have nearly opposite personalities and nearly identical interests. We both love art and are artistically inclined and creative, we both recharge in nature, we are both romanced by fashion (I being more classic and she being more cutting-edge, and dare I say flamboyant?), we are both passionate about nutrition (she’s been in the biz for about 20 years now!), we are both fascinated by the workings of the human body (both of us have been caught hacking into a mirror with our mouths open to see what it looks like on the inside when you cough), we both salivate over carrot cake, and we both LOVE to cook.

Of all the things my mum has shared with me, her veggie pate recipe is the most valuable (just kidding, Mum…sort of).

And today, I will share it with you, too!

I like to eat this pate plain as a snack, as as spread on crackers or toast, or as a wicked sandwich booster. I’m sure you could call it a side dish too and serve it with some nice chutney or something. Either way, it’s a delight. My mum often brings it to parties and it is one of the first things to disappear. It disappears just as quickly in our own fridge

This pate is salty and smooth, just like a traditional pate, except that it’s made from PLANTS! (Which is yet another thing my mum and I share a love for…especially eating them.)

Conveniently, this pate’s main ingredient fits into Ricki and Kim‘s awesome SOS food challenge! This month’s secret ingredient is the in-season, beta-carotene-packed, fibrerrific, smooth and delicious SWEET POTATO!

Serve it up!

Veggie Pate

1 large sweet potato, roughly chopped

1 small onion, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1/2 cup flax seeds, ground

1 tsp thyme

sesame seeds, optional

-Preheat oven to 350 F; Grease a 9″ x 13″ pan and sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional)

-In a bowl, combine sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, ground flax, and thyme and mix until blended. Set aside. These are your dry ingredients.

-In a food processor, combine chopped sweet potato, onion, garlic, tamari, and oil and process on high until pureed.

-Add dry ingredients into food processor and puree again until sunflower seeds are reduced to small flecks.

-Scoop mixture out onto the greased pan and with a spatula, pat down until pan is covered and surface is flat.

-Bake for 50-60 minutes. Pate will be done when top looks dry and edges look brown and crispy.

Enjoy this healthy and yummy recipe courtesy of my mama! For more posts related to my mum, check out here and here.

Question to my readers: Do you have any amazing family recipes?

Take care,

Alex