Roasted Vegetable Napoleon

A couple of weeks ago, I attended my dear friend Marie’s wedding in Alexandria. Marie was my first real Washington friend and to celebrate her wedding somehow made this place feel lived in. I’ve been in DC more than five years now – long enough to watch people fall in love and get married. That’s a first.

Photo By James Linkowitz

The wedding was perfect – a simple affair at the elegant Lorien Hotel. Love a Kimpton! The bride wore a gorgeous blush gown, guests filled out “Matt & Marie” mad libs, and after a few cocktails the photo booth became super popular. Non-traditional and totally fun!

When dinner was served, I was pleasantly surprised. And inspired! People told me that Brabo was good, but come on, it’s a wedding, right? Even more impressive, their website mentions vegan and vegetarian twice on the homepage. Super impressive! Bravo, Brabo 🙂

Alas, my humble recreation of the festive Brabo napoleon. I used some of my favorite veggies, but you can easily use anything you like. The premise is to layer thin slices. Sure to impress!

INGREDIENTS (serves 1)

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1 small sweet potato (aka yam)

2 onion slices, approx 1/2″ thick

2-3 broccoli florets, sliced in half

1 c raw spinach

4 cloves garlic; 2 whole, 2 minced

1/2 c tofu sour cream (or Tofutti)

Sea or kosher salt

PREPARATION

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Thinly slice sweet potatoes (approx 1/8″ thick) and onion (approx 1/2″ thick). Slice broccoli in half. Mince two cloves of garlic.

Brush oil to cover sweet potatoes and onion, place on a baking sheet (covered in aluminum foil to save scrubbing later), and sprinkle with salt.

Roast in oven at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, roast two cloves of garlic over high heat in a pan (shortcut: use the jarred variety and mix with sour cream, or use a cream sauce for non-vegans).

In a food processor, combine tofu sour cream and roasted garlic (peeled!). Set aside.

In the same pan, add 1-2 t olive oil and sauté two cloves of minced garlic.

Remove from heat and add spinach. Stir a bit until it begins to wilt.

After 15-20 minutes, brush broccoli with oil, sprinkle with salt, and add to the roasting veggies in the oven. Roast for another 5-10 minutes and remove from the oven.

On a plate, layer 4-5 slices of sweet potato (to form a circle), add a slice of onion, spinach, another onion, broccoli, and 4-5 more slices of sweet potato to top. Drizzle garlic cream or dollop on the side. Easy gourmet!!

Consider serving with quinoa or tofu.