Stuffed Sweet Potato
I’ve been really getting into sweet potato in the last year because Fergal loves it.
One of my favourite ways to ‘dress it up’ for the adults is to roast them whole and stuff ’em.
In this case it’s some browned minced (ground) beef or lamb but I also love to use chickpeas for a hearty veggie version.
enough for: 2
takes: 60 minutes
2 medium sweet potatoes
450g (1lb) ground (minced) beef
4 tablespoons tahini
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 bag baby spinach leaves
1. Preheat your oven to 200C (400F). Scrub sweet potato and place on a baking tray or other ovenproof dish.
2. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until sweet potato are nice and tender.
3. While the sweet potato are roasting brown beef in a little oil in a large frying pan on a high heat. Season with salt.
4. Then make the sauce by stirring together the tahini, lemon juice and 4 tablespoons water in a small bowl. Season that with salt and possibly a little more lemon if you feel like it.
5. When the sweet potato are cooked, divide between 2 plates and slice lengthwise down the middle (not cutting through completely). Open out the cavity with your fingers or a spoon then divide the meat between the two sweet potatoes. Drizzle over tahini sauce and serve with baby spinach on the side.
Variations
vegetarian / vegan – replace beef with cooked chickpeas or lentils. You might like to add some browned onion for extra flavour.
spiced – add 2 teaspoons baharat (lebanese spice blend), ras el hanout (moroccan spice blend) or 1 teaspoon each ground cumin and coriander.
hot! – add some chopped chilli to the beef while cooking. Or serve with your favourite chilli oil or hot sauce.
no tahini? – tahini is a paste made from ground sesame seeds. You might need to go to a health food store or middle eastern grocery store to find it. Almond butter or cashew butter would work instead. OR make a sauce by seasoning plain natural greek style yoghurt and forgetting the lemon juice.
carb-lovers / more substantial – serve with warm pita bread, flat bread or tortillas. Or toss in some cooked chickpeas or lentils with the meat.
more veg – soften an onion before cooking the meat. Add chopped zucchini, eggplant, mushroom or red capsicum (bell peppers) to the meat to cook through. Serve with tabbouleh or more interesting salad veg instead of the baby spinach.
Big love,
Jules x
Looks great! I hadn’t thought of lentils/chickpeas as a filling – I immediately thought vegetarian as chopped tomato, avocado and coriander..maybe with some raw red onion. Maybe I should go and eat lunch….
Did you find ‘The Simple Year’ course easy to follow, or did you find that life got in the way and you were trying to catch up from one month to the next? I’d tried something similar earlier (just by reading about it) and although I have significantly simplified and downsized things, I found I kept doing it in fits and bursts and struggled to remain consistent. Do you think the way it is set out means it is relatively easy to stay on track?
Thanks Alex!
Tomato and avocado would also work really well as a veggie filling…
Good question about ‘A Simple Year’. I haven’t actually taken it as a student but for the last 2 years have led two of the months topics, cooking and eating. But I’m planning on taking the whole program in 2016 with my Irishman because we both want to get back in to simplifying out lives. And I’m really excited about it!
I think part of the beauty of the course is that it’s spread over the whole year so there’s plenty of time to go through the course material each month without falling behind.
And having a fresh topic to focus on each month means you’re more likely to stick with it and stay on track and keep the changes you make to your life consistent. Or if you do start to stray, I love that each new month there will be a gentle reminder to get back on track. It’s really designed to help you achieve long term lasting change across your whole life rather than being a ‘quick fix’ .
Hope that helps!
Jx
I love sweet potatoes! There are so many different things you can do with them, but stuffing them is one of my favorites. When I haven’t had any meat I use quinoa instead. I think that would also be a good alternative for vegetarians. I’m also a fan of using kale, although spinach is just as tasty.
Thanks for the veggie suggestions Kristina!