JODY THOMAS

(4 Servings) 

 

This recipe is rather delicious!  I’ve stated previously, that if a recipe has more than 10 ingredients, it’s already too hard - this is worth the effort though, as the herbs and spices make this dish taste great!

 

Sweet Potatoes

 

• 4 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into spears

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin 

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

 

Cashew Queso Sauce

 

• 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours and drained

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

• 1/2 cup water

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

 

Fixings

 

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

• 1/2 small red onion, finely diced

• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and cubed

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

• 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 425g can black beans drained and rinsed

 

To prepare the sweet potatoes, preheat oven to 200C and line a baking tray with baking paper.  Put the sweet potatoes in a large bowl, drizzle with oil, and toss until evenly coated.  In a small bowl, stir together the salt, paprika, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, pepper, and cayenne.  Scatter the spice mixture over the sweet potatoes and toss again.  Spread the sweet potatoes on the baking sheets in an even layer.  Bake, stirring occasionally, for about 35 minutes, until quite crispy.

 

Meanwhile, make the quest sauce.  Combine all the ingredients in a blender (preferably a high-speed blender) and process until totally smooth.  If the sauce is thicker than you’d like, add another tablespoon of water.

 

To prepare the fixings, put the tomatoes, onion, avocado, cilantro, lime juice, maple syrup and salt in a medium bowl and toss to combine.

 

Put the sweet potatoes in a large serving dish.  Top with the tomatoes mixture, then the black beans.  Finally, drizzle the queso sauce evenly over the top.  Serve right away, with any other desired toppings.   

 

 

Sweet Potatoes are a rich source of fibre as well as containing an array of vitamins and minerals including iron, calcium, selenium.  They’re also a good source of most of our B vitamins and vitamin C.  One of the key nutritional benefits of sweet potato is that they’re high in an antioxidant known as beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A once consumed!