Gather, round, folks. Today’s Vegan MoFo prompt is: Make a dish using all seasonal produce. My Harvest Bake with Basil Alfredo Sauce is made utilizing the best of local late summer / early fall produce.

Before I delve into the recipe tutorial, I figured I would speak a bit abut some relevant nutritional thoughts that have been on my mind. Lately, I have been doing some research into the diet’s relation to acne (Dr. Danby has produced some interesting articles). I’ve battled with acne since my teen years and can never seem to obtain clear skin. I’ve tried many types of cleansers (Proactiv, Neutrogena, some prescription cream that turned my face red, etc…) and nothing seems to work. I have been thinking about going dairy-free for a month to see if that helps. Does anyone have any complexion success stories with removing dairy?

Anywho, today I will be sharing a luscious dairy-free, vegan alfredo sauce with you all. It’s creaminess comes from the cheesiest nut of them all, cashews, and dijon lends a bit of tang. I layer sweet potatoes, fresh tomatoes, and peppers of all sorts into an 8 x 8, layer in the sauce, throw in some beans, and call it a day. This comes together in no time, and is a great way to use up a veggie-packed fridge.

The first layer is coconut-roasted sweet potato rounds.

Then I laid on the fresh tomatoes. So juicy and red! Nothing beats tomato season ❤

Then comes the prepared basil alfredo sauce.

I drizzled it over top.

And added a myriad of fresh peppers I picked from a local farm. I believe I used some long Italian peppers and Hungarian wax peppers, which gave it a little kick. Red and green bell peppers would work just fine, though.

Next came the beans and sliced radish.

And the rest of the alfredo for good measure.

This dish can honestly be customized to any season, and any rando veggies you may have dawdling about in your fridge. You can also change up the basil in the sauce for parsley, dill, cilantro – whatever you are hankering for. Explore and enjoy.

Harvest Bake with Basil Alfredo Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients

Veggie Bake

• 3 small to medium sweet potatoes, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
• 2 tsp coconut oil (or canola/grapeseed/avocado oil)
• 2 medium tomatoes, sliced
• 2 bell peppers (or other peppers), chopped
• 1 can kidney beans (drained and rinsed) or 1.5 cups cooked kidney beans
• 4 radishes, sliced into thin half-moons
• salt as needed

Basil Alfredo Sauce

• 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight in enough water just to cover (or just heated in water if you have a vitamix)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup water, for desired consistency
• 3/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/4 tsp dijon
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss sweet potato rounds with coconut oil and a pinch of salt on a baking sheet. Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden on the outside and cooked through. Set aside. Reduce oven heat to 375 F.
2. Make alfredo sauce: Drain soaked cashews. Add all alfredo ingredients to blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.
3. Place sweet potato rounds in the bottom of an oiled 8 x 8 pan. Layer on the tomato slices. Sprinkle with salt. Drizzle on some alfredo sauce. Add the peppers, beans, and sliced radishes. Sprinkle some salt. Pour on the remaining alfredo sauce.
4. Bake the casserole for 25 minutes, or until all veggies are cooked through. Feast!