Sweet Potato and Kale Balls

Gotta love ya some balls right?sweetpotballs2wpI don’t know if you’ve noticed but I LOVE kale and sweet potatoes. I know I know what’s a girl to do. The troubles (eye roll). After the holidays I surely over did it in the snack department. (YIKES!) I just kept saying “Oh it’s Christmas” or “Oh it’s New Years, I’ll start fresh Monday.” Who else says things like that? LOL Starting fresh on Monday is universal I believe. We all think it’s pointless to start something in the middle of the week. How ludicrous! Ahhh the excuses.

Well excuses no more my fellow Healthees! Because these balls are bangin’ and yeap, I’m going to say it…Good. For. You. That’s right YOU! (and you and you over there in the back)

kaleballs2wpkaleballs4wp(Look at that crunchy super awesome kale…Oh Kale Yea!)

With these babies here I used Italian seasonings to give it that sort of meatball vibe minus the meat. (Duuuh!) When they come out of the oven they have almost the same texture of a meatball. I know that sounds odd but it’s true. The baking part gives them a light outer crunch and they hold together so well. Just like a meatball, meatballs. (Did you just call me a meatball? Yes I did…pffft healthy meatballs…hehehe.)

kaleballs3wpsweetpotballs1wpWith only 2 medium sized sweet potatoes I made 12 palm size balls. That’s a nice size ball if ya ask me. I housed them with my son while the hubs was at work. At first I felt guilty but then realized “Hey, I’m eating kale too. It’s only like the queen mother bee of all things green so I’m good I’m good”.

Topping these sweet potato and kale balls with hemp seeds is a MUST! They add that slight nutty flavor and added crunch but it’s not overpowering at all. It compliments all the flavors nicely. Well, you’ll just have to see for yourself and make em’ eh?! (Shoulder shrug and facial expression in which you cannot see but I totally made one.)

Recipe adapted by Hallie Klecker from DailyBitesBlog. But I originally found this from Ricki Heller. Thank you!

Prep Time: 15 minutes ~ Cook Time: 30 minutes ~ Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients
2 sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into 1 1/2″ pieces
2 tbsp full fat coconut milk
1 c kale, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp oregano
salt/pepper to taste

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Steam or boil sweet potatoes until tender. Transfer to a large bowl and mash with fork.
  3. To the mashed potatoes add coconut milk, kale, onion and all the seasonings. Mix until well combined.
  4. Wet your hands and take a palm size full of potato mixture and roll into a ball. Repeat process until necessary. You can do a little smaller than palm size if you’d like.
  5. Place on baking sheet and top with hemp seeds.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Makes 12