Potato Power Bowl with Baked Beans and Brussel Sprouts

This vegan potato power bowl is a crowd-pleaser that will stick to your ribs and is perfect for meal prep

Potato Power Bowl with Baked Beans and Brussel Sprouts

Healthy, oil-free, crowd-pleasing, perfect for meal prep

Makes: 8 Servings

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 75 mins

Ingredients:

• 10 yukon gold potatoes
• 4 lbs brussel sprouts, halved lengthwise
• 4 15oz cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 large onion, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp bourbon or water
• ½ cup molasses
• ⅓ cup ketchup
• ¼ cup vegan worcestershire sauce
• 6 Tbsp maple syrup
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp paprika
• ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp liquid smoke
• 2 Tbsp stone ground mustard
• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2ish cups plain soy milk
• 2ish cups vegan sour cream (or more soy milk)
• 2 tsp garlic powder, divided
• 3 Tbsp bbq sauce
• 3 Tbsp hot sauce
• 3 Tbsp water
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Saute the onions and garlic, using small amounts of water to keep from sticking (if needed). Once onions are translucent, remove from heat.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the beans, onion and garlic mixture, ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, vegan Worcestershire sauce, 2 Tbsp bourbon or water, 3 Tbsp pure maple syrup, dry mustard, paprika, cayenne, and liquid smoke. Stir.
4. Transfer to a covered casserole dish. Bake for 1 hour, then remove cover and bake for another 15 minutes.
5. When the beans have cooked for 45 minutes, start on your potatoes. Place washed yukon gold potatoes on the steam basket in your instant pot with 1 cup of water. Put on the lid and set the steam release valve to ‘sealing.’ Steam for 25 minutes. If you don’t have an Instant Pot, steam the potatoes in a large, covered pot on the stove, in a steam basket over boiling water. This method may take a bit longer, so check to see if they’re very fork tender after 25 minutes and steam longer if needed.
6. While the potatoes steam, make the brussel sprouts. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the brussel sprouts and cover. Stir occasionally. Once they’ve turned a deep green, add salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste and stir to combine. Continue to cook until the brussel sprouts are slightly charred on the outside and are fork tender. You may have to cook the brussel sprouts in batches, depending on the size of your pan. Once cooked, set aside.
7. Make your glaze by combining the remaining 3 Tbsp of maple syrup with the bbq sauce, hot sauce, and 3 Tbsp of water. Set aside.
8. Once the potatoes have steamed, make your mashed potatoes. Place the steamed potatoes in a large mixing bowl with the stone ground mustard, nutritional yeast, and garlic powder. Mash. Then slowly stir in soy milk and homemade vegan sour cream (optional) until the mixture reaches your desired consistency. Add salt to taste.
9. Serve the mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, and baked beans in bowls. Top with a generous drizzle of the glaze. Enjoy!
10. If using this recipe for meal prep, let the baked beans, mashed potatoes, and brussel sprouts cool before dividing them up into to-go containers for the week. Top a generous drizzle of glaze and store in the fridge.

I consider myself a ‘foodie.’  I’m okay with spending an exorbitant amount of time and energy on a recipe.  I love experimenting with different spices. And I’m okay with spending a little extra money on a cool new ‘toy’ (an exotic ingredient).  But I know this isn’t true for everyone. For some, saving money their food budget may be crucial. For others, time in the kitchen is not a luxury they can afford.  So I’m starting a series of cheap and/or easy recipes that use either rice or potatoes as the base of the dish. Potatoes and rice are cheap and they’re easy to make.   This is the first variation of my ‘Potato Power Bowls’ (trademark me) (not really trademarked, but I came up with this name and I’m pretty pleased with myself). This one features three main elements: brussel sprouts for your daily dose of cruciferous veggies (if you’re trying to save money, buy them frozen), mashed potatoes, and baked beans.

Making brussel sprouts without oil is actually pretty easy.  I’ve found that I prefer them cooked in a non-stick pan over medium heat with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  If they are blanched before hand, they go too mushy for my taste. Just wash them, cut them in half, and throw them in your heated pan and cover them.  Stir every 3ish minutes until they are a little burned on the outside and are tender on the inside while still maintaining a little crunch. If you season them midway through the cooking process, the seasonings will stick better.  If you’re cooking from frozen, follow the same method but leave them uncovered so the moisture can evaporate.

The baked beans recipe I use is Mary McDougall’s recipe, (she has created some amazing recipes over the years, all plant-based and oil-free, and they’re available for free on the McDougall website- check them out!).  I found this recipe when I was hosting my first vegan 4th of July party and needed a replacement for my grandmother’s delicious yet bacon-loaded recipe. Mary’s recipe is just as delicious, doesn’t involve killing sentient beings, and is waaaay healthier.  I do make some slight changes, which is why I’m typing out my own instructions rather than just linking to hers.

The mashed potatoes recipe I’ve developed has taken some trial and error.  Until recently, I would only make mashed potatoes for the holidays and load them up with vegan butter.  I didn’t necessarily want to do this, but I didn’t know how else to create those creamy, mouth-watering potatoes my family and I were used to eating at the Christmas table.  I am excited to report that this recipe has no oil, no butter replacement, and is just as amazing as the fatty kind I used to make. How do you achieve this? The secret is in the cooking method and the kind of potato you choose.  I used to boil my potatoes, leaving me with unevenly cooked chunks that didn’t mash well and had lost a lot of their starch. If you steam yukon golds for 20-25 minutes, you get a perfectly cooked, creamy base for your mashed potatoes (I use an instant pot to steam them so if you’re using the stove top your steaming time may be longer).  Once steamed, just mash them up with your seasonings of choice, some non-dairy milk, and maybe some homemade vegan yogurt/sour cream. I prefer soy milk because all the nut milks I’ve tried end up leaving a slightly sweet flavor. For ten potatoes, I use about 2 cups of unflavored soy milk and 1.5 cups of homemade soy sour cream (strained soy yogurt, also made in the instant pot).  The result is simply amazing. If you don’t make your own soy yogurt/sour cream at home, you can just sub for more soy milk.

Top this all with a bbq glaze, and you have one delicious, filling dish that will feed up to 8 people.  Not cooking for a large crowd? This is the perfect meal to make on Sunday evening for prepping lunches throughout the week.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Happy Cooking!

-Courtney