Anyway, this past weekend was my 25th birthday. Yep. Your girl has hit the quarter-century mark. That is a sad and sobering thought that I'm still coming to terms with. However, this weekend was filled with wonderful celebrations with magnificent friends and well-wishes. I was very appreciative to everyone for helping me start off 25 the right way. And I didn't cook a single thing!
Last night after work and a run at the gym (shockingly the Resolutioners haven't fallen off the wagon yet), I wanted something tasty and relatively quick -- Mediterranean Sweet Potatoes were just the ticket.
Nate found this recipe online and it turned out pretty well, though I would say the instructions could've been much better. The original recipe is here
Mediterranean Sweet Potatoes
For the filling:
4 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half length-wise (side note: why are sweet potatoes so difficult to cut?)
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Tsp cumin
1/2 Tsp coriander
1/2 Tsp cinnamon
1/2 Tsp smoked paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Tahini Sauce:
1/4 C tahini
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp savory seasoning
3 garlic cloves, minced
Water, to thin
Salt and pepper, to taste
Additional toppings:
1/4 C cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 C chopped parsley
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with foil.
After your potatoes are cleaned and cut, rub each of the halves fully with olive oil. Season both sides with salt and pepper and lay cut-side-down on one foil-lined baking sheet.
On the other baking sheet, toss together chickpeas with oil, spices and lemon juice. Roast the potatoes and the chickpeas for 35-40 minutes, flipping the potatoes halfway through.
While your potatoes and chickpeas are roasting, make the sauce! In a small bowl (or if you're like me and your tahini jar has exactly 1/4 C left in it and you don't want to dirty a dish), combine tahini, lemon juice, seasonings and garlic and do a taste/consistency check. My tahini had a very strong flavor so I added extra lemon juice and seasonings to combat the overpowering sesame-paste taste.
When you're potatoes and chickpeas have reached roasting nirvana, top a potato half with chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, parsley and sauce and dig in!
The potatoes were tender, the chickpeas were flavorful and the sauce was the perfect element to tie everything together. I generally dislike sweet potatoes because I find them too sweet but the heavily spiced chickpeas and the garlic-y tahini balanced everything out beautifully.
I served these spuds with a fresh mixed greens salad and a slice of focaccia bread I had leftover from my lunch at work. Nate had 3 halves, I had 2 halves and we still had 3 halves and filling for Nate to take to lunch at work today!
Definitely a solid recipe that has changed the way I feel about sweet potatoes.
Stay tuned for some more great recipes!
Very delicious meal, but if I could change one thing it would be roasting the chickpeas not as long as the potatoes, if that's convenient or even possible.
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