Happy Thursday. I hope you all are having a great day. I thought I would pop in and show you a quick, slightly zhuzh-ed up version of one of my favorite recipes, Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Spicy Feta-Olive Salad, from The Traveler’s Lunchbox. I’ve mentioned it previously here and here, but in the last year we have gone from eating it as a side to having it as the main event. I also tweaked it just slightly, bulking it up a bit and getting rid of what seemed like an unnecessary ingredient. Again, my alterations are so minimal, I am in no way claiming this as my recipe, just letting you in on some changes we’ve enjoyed. If you are doing the allergy elimination diet, or are vegan, whole-foods, plant based, etc., you can absolutely use this recipe. Just be sure to leave out the feta, maybe substituting a big dollop of hummus for some creaminess.
Basically, once upon a time, I had a quarter head of purple cabbage languishing in my crisper drawer and a feta-olive salad that seemed open to new ideas. So I chopped up some cabbage and slapped it in to the mix. Then, while my mom was visiting recently, we left the oil out of the dressing so that she could eat it, and, lo and behold, it still tasted absolutely great. So, cabbage is often in and oil is out to this day. Although, may I say that, on this exact day, the sweet potatoes I purchased were so dry, I seriously considered putting some over the finished product just to lube it up a bit. Anyway, that’s the story. If you try this version (or the original) let me know what you think, or if you can think of any other additions/substitutions that might be good. P.S. I really love the salad/topping over tuna (yep, the kind packed in oil in a can, though I’m sure it would be lovely over fresh tuna). Sorry, I’m weird like that (don’t judge, just try it)!
Spicy Sweet Potatoes
Serves 4-6 as a main.
Ingredients
- 4 medium to large sweet potatoes
- 1 1/2 C diced red cabbage
- 1 1/2 C diced red bell pepper
- 3/4 to 1 cup diced red onion
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup pitted, chopped black olives
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 to 1 cup goat or sheep’s milk feta, as you like (skip this to be a.e.d. friendly and dairy free)
- 1/2 to 1 lemon
- 1-3 cloves of garlic (we embrace garlic on a deep level! suit yourself), minced
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Directions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place clean sweet potatoes on foil or pan and bake until a knife slides easily through the flesh. This will depend entirely on the size of your potatoes, but plan for at least 30 minutes.
- Prepare all vegetables, herbs, and cheese. Dice can be small, medium, or large depending on your texture preference. Place together in bowl
- If you have time, toast spices in a dry pan. In a small bowl, combine spices with garlic and lemon juice (and olive oil, if desired). Stir, whisk, or shake to combine.
- Pour dressing over veg, and fold until ingredients are well mix and evenly coated.
- Pile mounds and mounds onto your piping hot sweet potato, and dig in.