New York: Harmony Books, 2018. 223pp.

Hello my Booksmart friends! It’s been a minute due to increased demands of real life away from the kitchen. But no matter how busy we get, we gotta eat! And so I must insist that you obtain for yourselves a copy of Sweet Potato Soul forthwith.  This slim paperback is bursting with flavor, creativity, and positivity. As its name implies, it is heavily focused on sweet potatoes, which in addition to being healthy are extremely versatile, but you will also find a number of recipes featuring peaches, collards, black-eyed peas, and other staples of traditional southern cooking. The book opens with an enlightening tale of the author’s journey to veganism as well as some informative text about the history of southern food in the African American tradition. Along with a rather extensive section on the author’s recommended kitchen tools and standard ingredients, there is a description of the differences among the many varieties of sweet potatoes. I certainly didn’t know anything about this; it was a welcome bit of vegan learn-something-new.

The book offers chapters on Breakfast, Salads and Soups, Greens and Sides, Mains, Sweets and Drinks, and Pantry Staples and Sauces. From the breakfast section, I made the Fluffy Sweet Potato Biscuits.

Yummy. Not the super-buttery, layery kind, but easy and much healthier than your average biscuit due to the use of whole wheat pastry flour, and of course, the addition of sweet potato. I also made, and stick with me here, the Sweet Potato Pie Smoothie. I know, I get it, but if pumpkin spice is your jam, you can have it for breakfast with a nice dose of fiber and beta carotene. I thought it would be thick and weird, but it’s not. It’s like a righteous treat, and who doesn’t love one of those.

From Soups and Salads, I whipped up the Georgia Watermelon and Peach Salad, which is basic, but fresh and simple, and just what you want in the summer.

The Miso Peachy Arugula Salad was pretty, different, and a keeper.

From mains, I tried the Black-Eyed Pea Potpie. I am normally not a fan of the pot pie. Too many memories of mushy-crusted, carrot-cube-laden, insipid-white-gravied, thawed out situations from the 70s. This is NOT that. It was tasty, not goopy, and best of all the crust was easy to make, roll, and deal with.

The Smoky Black-Eyed Pea Cakes also come together easily and have just the right amount of heat and seasoning, which bean cakes are so often lacking. Seasoning is definitely a strength for this author. Although the book calls for pan frying these, I air fried mine and was pleased with the results. I think the highlight of this book for me was the Sweet Potato Burgers. While they sounded stodgy at first, like so much of this book they were surprisingly fresh-tasting, flavorful, and held together well. The Red Pepper Aioli go-with is nice and zingy. It’s in the Pantry Staples and Sides section, so you can make a batch and have it with anything that needs a little color and kick.

So many choices for desserts in Sweets and Drinks, but I went with Cream Cheese Pound Cake. Haven’t had a pound cake in so long, and that will not happen again. You can make this in a snap, and it is company worthy — if it lasts until they arrive. The biggest drawback of this cake is that it is way way too easy to eat.

The No-Bake Sweet Potato Gingerbread Bars were the only miss for me here. The crust crumbled on me, although that may have been a fault of my food processor, which could probably do with an upgrade. The flavor was good – the addition of a dash of cayenne was genius – but for some reason – maybe the texture?-  I didn’t want the leftovers.

This is a good time to mention that the print in this book is very small, which is an increasing problem for my aging self. So if you are making something in which swapping ½ for ⅓ will be deal-breaker, grab your specs. 

From the drinks portion of this chapter, I made a pitcher of the Late Summer Sangria, which was pretty and festive and would be great for a backyard party.

I also made a batch of the Peach Ginger Green Tea. I couldn’t taste the peach, but otherwise it was fine. The recipe calls for baking soda. Wasn’t sure what that was about, but according to the Google, it decreases the cloudiness in green tea and reduces bitterness in black tea. So thanks Sweet Potato Soul for that tip!

I didn’t make as many recipes from this book as I usually do, and due to my tardiness in getting this posted, probably more of the summer ones than you’re in the mood for right at the moment. But this book is too good for you not to know about it now. I would rate it Vegan Advanced Beginner. The techniques and ingredients are simple, but several of the recipes are multi-component, which can be a bit challenging for someone new to the kitchen. As always, I’d love to know what you think!

Note: I did not receive any form of compensation in exchange for this review.