Sweet Potato Pomegranate Crostini

Sweet Potato Pomegranate Crostini make a delicious holiday appetizer or snack! Topped with lemon sunflower spread or ricotta & herbs. Vegan, healthy & fun!

Sweet Potato Pomegranate Crostini

Hello, from holiday-break-land! This year, Jack and I had a quiet Christmas weekend at home. Which really means that we stayed in our pj’s until at least noon every day. We finished watching the new season of Fargo and we’re now onto Homeland (don’t tell me what happens!).

We’ve made waffles and cocktails and all sorts of other soon-to-be recipes for this here blog. So far January is looking to be delicious, but before we get there here’s a little festive appetizer that would be perfect for a healthier New Years Eve get-together.

This avocado pomegranate crostini is one of my favorites so I decided to make a heartier, more wintery version. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Pomegranate Crostini

 
Author:
Serves: 16-20 crostini
Ingredients
  • 1 medium sweet potato, chopped into small cubes
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
  • Seasonings of your choice - pinches of aleppo pepper, chili powder, etc.
  • 1 baguette, sliced
  • ½ garlic clove
  • Sunflower spread or ricotta (see note)
  • ½ cup pomegranate seeds
  • cilantro leaves (optional)
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sunflower spread:
  • 1¼ cup hulled sunflower seeds, soaked for 6 to 8 hours
  • 1 cup fresh water
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ garlic clove
  • ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
  1. Make the sunflower spread: Drain and rinse the sunflower seeds. In a blender, combine the sunflower seeds, water, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, and salt and blend until smooth. Chill until ready to use.
  2. Preheat the oven to 400°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the sweet potato cubes on one and the baguette slices on the other, and drizzle both with olive oil. Sprinkle the sweet potatoes with pinches of salt and pepper and toss. Roast the sweet potatoes for 35 minutes, or until golden. Toast the baguette for 10 to 12 minutes until crisp. Remove the baguette slices from the oven and rub them with the cut side of ½ clove of garlic while warm. Set aside.
  3. Assemble the crostini with a slather of the sunflower spread, some sweet potato cubes, a few pomegranate seeds, and a few cilantro leaves, if desired. Season to taste and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
Notes
Ricotta cheese seasoned with salt and lemon zest can be used in place of the sunflower spread.

 

 

11 comments

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  1. Sophia from intertwinedescondido.com
    12.29.2015

    Looks very colorful and delish! I’d love to have this on New Year’s Eve.

  2. Sophia from intertwinedescondido.com
    12.29.2015

    Looks very colorful and delish! I’d love to have this on New Year’s Eve.

  3. Allyson from consideringtheradish.wordpress.com
    12.29.2015

    I love the combination of sweet potatoes and pomegranate, and this looks lovely. I’d love to have this at New Year’s with some champaign.

  4. These are so adorable – and so flavorful I’m sure! I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of sweet potatoes; I literally put them on everything.

  5. Angelica from spicygreenblog.com
    12.29.2015

    This is a great idea for a light healthy meal! I wonder, could I use walnuts as a substitute, and maybe add some spice to the spread?

    • jeanine
      12.29.2015

      Hi Angelica, I haven’t tried this one with walnuts (although raw cashews work well here). It’s kind of a blank canvas so you can add any spices you want – sometimes I stir in chopped herbs, or add chipotles. Let me know what combination you end up trying!

  6. Sherrie from withfoodandlove.com
    12.28.2015

    Jeanine! You’re like the crostini master, and these are so beautiful I can barely stand it. Sounds like you and Jack had my kind of holiday, xx!

  7. I don’t know if it’s possible for me to be more obsessed with these than the avocado version but it’s a pretty close call!

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.