Sweet Potato Shawarma Bowls

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Thanks to our love of cooking, one of the gifts we most often receive are oils and spices from our friends and family after they go on a vacation. Over the years we have accumulated paprika from Hungary, tzatziki blends from Greece, olive oil from Italy, and more red spices from the Middle East than we could possibly know what to do with. To try and keep things fresh in our kitchens, we made a resolution to start using all of these pantry items up! While it’s fun to save them from memories of our own travel, the truth is that items like olive oils really are meant to be used as oils go rancid and spices lose their flavor over time.

One of the spices that we acquired was a shawarma seasoning blend. We love these flavors and cook with them often, but rarely use this spice mix. To mix things up from the traditional chicken shawarma that we know and love, we decided to make these vegetarian sweet potato bowls. The bowls are filled with crispy chickpeas, an herby tomato and cucumber salad, and of course, sweet potato fries. Everything comes together with a homemade tahini dressing for a lunch or dinner that is exploding with tons of flavor. We promise that this dish makes healthy eating truly enjoyable.

Sweet Potato Shawarma Bowls

  • Servings: 4
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  A hearty and healthy vegetarian recipe that is bursting with shawarma flavors.

Base ingredients for the Bowls

  • 2 sweet potatoes, cut into large french fries
  • 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1/4 cup neutral oil (avocado or vegetable)
  • 1/4 cup shawarma seasoning
  • 6 cups lightly packed arugula or your favorite leafy green
  • 2 cups cooked farro

Ingredients for the Tomato Cucumber Salad

  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 3 Persian cucumbers, diced
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 tbs red wine vinegar
  • 1/3 cup fresh mint, chopped
  • 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the Tahini Dressing

  • 1/2 cup tahini
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • zest and juice of 1 large lemon
  • 1 large clove garlic
  • 1/4 cup cold water (or more if you prefer a looser dressing)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Drizzle the sweet potatoes and chickpeas with the neutral oil and sprinkle with the shawarma seasoning and salt to taste. Toss well to coat. Lay the sweet potatoes and chickpeas on a large cookie sheet, making sure that there is enough room for the sweet potatoes and chickpeas to lay side by side in a single layer. If you need to divide amongst two cookie sheets, no problem. Bake the sweet potatoes and chickpeas for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, flip the sweet potato fries with a spatula and toss the chickpeas; cook another 10 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are cooked through and crispy on the outside.
  3. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, make the tomato and cucumber salad. Combine the ingredients (tomatoes – parsley) in a medium mixing bowl. Gently stir the ingredients and season well with salt and pepper. Set aside.
  4. Make the tahini dressing. Combine the dressing ingredients (tahini – 1/4 cup water) in a small blender. Blend to thoroughly combine and break down the tahini until it is nice and smooth. Depending on how you like the consistency of the dressing, you may add additional water to thin it to your desired consistency. Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Make the bowls by layering 1 1/2 cups arugula (or other leafy green) and 1/2 cup cooked farro into each of four bowls. Divide the tomato cucumber salad, sweet potatoes, and chickpeas amongst the four bowls as well. Drizzle with a generous amount of tahini dressing to serve.

Whiskey Soaked Sweet Potatoes with Cookie Butter Crumble

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Most people have some sort of a sweet potato dish on their Thanksgiving menu. Most of the dishes are sweet, and even marshmallow covered, but this year we wanted to test the boundaries and do something different. The name of this recipe gives away everything that is unique and amazing about this sweet potato dish. A dash of whiskey? Yes please. Cookie butter? Duh. Wait… cookie butter in sweet potatoes?! Yep, we did that. Our favorite Speculoos Cookie Butter from Trader Joe’s has made it into this year’s menu. Despite what you might think, we love this dish because it isn’t overly sweet. The whiskey helps to temper the sweetness of the cookie butter and makes the sweet potatoes a bit more savory. If you prefer your rendition of Thanksgiving sweet potatoes to be more on the sweet side, add another 1/4 cup of sugar to the glaze and top with marshmallows before putting them in the oven.

Whiskey Soaked Sweet Potatoes with Cookie Butter Crumble

  • Servings: 8
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Not your mama’s sweet potatoes! These whiskey infused sweet potatoes are topped with the ultimate cookie butter crumble making all of our side dish dreams come true.

Sweet Potato Ingredients

  • 6 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 3 tbs butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup bourbon (we used Bulleit)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbs pumpkin spice

Crumble Ingredients

  • 4 tbs butter
  • 1 cup ground almonds
  • 1/2 cup cookie butter (or Speculoos)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large stock pot, bring water to a boil. Add the sweet potatoes and blanch for 6 minutes. Drain the sweet potatoes, rinse with cool water, and set aside. The potatoes should not be cooked through at this point.
  3. In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over low heat for 6-10 minutes. You want the butter to start browning. Add the brown sugar and whisk until the brown sugar is dissolved, approximately 4 minutes. Add the whiskey and whisk continuously for 3 minutes. The mixture will begin to bubble and thicken.
  4. Add the sweet potatoes, pumpkin spice and salt and stir until the sweet potatoes are thoroughly covered with the whiskey glaze.
  5. Spray a medium baking dish with cooking spray. Pour the sweet potatoes and glaze into the baking dish so that there is an even layer. Set aside.
  6. Make the crumble. In a small sauce pan, with the heat on medium, add the butter until melted. Stir in the ground almonds and sauté for 5 minutes until the almonds are toasted. Add the cookie butter and stir until the cookie butter is melted through. Pour the crumble mixture over the top of the sweet potatoes and spread evenly.
  7. Bake the sweet potatoes in the oven for 30 minutes and serve immediately. If the cookie butter crumble is starting to brown, cover with foil and continue cooking until the sweet potatoes are tender and cooked through.

Vegan(ish) Mexican Sweet Potato Grain Bowls

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We are back with another fun vegan(ish) recipe! We say vegan(ish) because we did add cheese to this recipe, but it can easily be omitted or substituted with a vegan alternative. One of the keys to eating vegan is attempting to reject the traditional concept that a meal needs to be “a protein, carb, and veggie”. It’s easy to feel stuck trying to fit that mold. Instead, we try to focus on changing the terminology to eating “plant-based”, where a meal can be made up of a bunch of different vegetables. This recipe has a bunch of different veggies and proteins that we bring together with a kick-ass, cilantro lime vinaigrette. These bowls are filling and really tasty; so much so that we promise that when you eat it you won’t be missing the meat.

Vegan(ish) Mexican Sweet Potato Grain Bowls

Makes: 4 servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients for the Bowls:

  • 2 medium-large sweet potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 1/2 cups mixed grains (we used brown rice and farro but use what you have)*
  • 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained, patted try with paper towel
  • 1 tbs chili-lime seasoning (Tajin), divided
  • 3 tbs olive oil
  • 4 cups arugula
  • 1 avocado, quartered
  • 1/2 cup cotija cheese (you can leave this off if you want the recipe totally vegan)
  • 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
  • salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the Dressing:

  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • juice of two limes
  • 1/2 cup packed cilantro
  • 1 tbs honey
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 large clove garlic
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Lay the sweet potatoes on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with 2 tbs olive oil and 2 tbs of the chili-lime seasoning. Toss to coat. Lay in a single layer and bake in the oven until tender, about 30 minutes.
  3. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, cook the grains. Heat 3 cups of water to a boil and add the grains you are using with a pinch of salt. Cook until tender, about 30 minutes.
  4. Prepare the chickpeas by laying them on a second cookie sheet. Drizzle 1 tbs olive oil and the remaining 1 tsp chili-lime seasoning over top. Toss to coat and lay them back in a single layer. When the sweet potatoes have cooked for about 20 minutes, add the chickpeas to the oven. Cook for the remaining 10 minutes with the sweet potatoes.
  5. While the chickpeas are cooking, prepare the dressing. Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a small blender. Blend until smooth and season to taste with salt and pepper.
  6. When the grains, sweet potatoes, and chickpeas have finished cooking, prepare the bowls for serving. Layer 1 cup arugula, 2/3 cup of the mixed grains, and 1/4 of the sweet potatoes in each of four bowls. Top each bowl with approximately 1/4 cup chickpeas, 1/4 of an avocado, a few slices of red onion, and 2 tbs of crumbled Cotija. Divide the dressing among the bowls and serve immediately.

**You can buy frozen, pre-cooked brown rice or quinoa and save a step by just reheating to serve.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Sweet & Spicy Tahini Butter

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One of the cookbooks we turn to again and again is Nadine Levy Redzepi’s Downtime. Her hearty recipes are simple in ingredients but really extraordinary in flavors. The recipe we have made the most is her dry roasted ribs with sweet potatoes. Unlike traditional bbq ribs that are drowning in sauce, her ribs are roasted slow in the oven with just a bit of salt and pepper. She serves them with roasted sweet potatoes for the ultimate simple dinner. This go round of making the ribs, we decided to up our sweet potato game by pairing them with tahini butter.

If you are unfamiliar with tahini, it is essentially a peanut butter made from sesame seeds instead of peanuts. You most commonly find it in hummus. It is rich, creamy, and lends itself well to everything from sweet, to spicy and savory flavors. We have combined it with a bit of each of those notes for this tahini butter. The tahini butter holds up well in the fridge and can be drizzled on everything from grilled chicken to salads.


Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Sweet & Spicy Tahini Butter

Makes: 4 servings

Prep Time: 1 hour Total: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 4 sweet potatoes
  • 1/2 cup tahini
  • 1/4 cup (4 tbs) butter, room temperature
  • zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 large clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tbs honey
  • 1 tsp+ cayenne pepper
  • Everything Bagel Seasoning (optional)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Prick each of the sweet potatoes with and fork and lay them onto 4 individual pieces of foil. Spray each piece of foil and the sweet potato generously with cooking spray. Wrap each sweet potato completely in the foil and put in the oven for 1 hour, or until the sweet potatoes are fork tender.
  3. While the sweet potatoes are the oven, make the sauce. Use a whisk or a hand mixer to beat the butter until it is smooth. Add the tahini, mixing well to combine. Add the lemon zest and juice, garlic, honey, and cayenne. Mix well to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. When the sweet potatoes have finished in the oven, remove them and let them rest in their foil for about 5 minutes. Use a pairing knife to cut away a segment of the top skin from each potato. Use a spoon to fluff the inside of the potato and to create a little well for the tahini butter.
  5. Serve a generous dollop of tahini butter on each potato. Top with Everything Bagel Seasoning and serve immediately.

Loaded Greek Sweet Potato Fries

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If you are reading the title of this post and are a little confused, hang with us, you are going to LOVE this recipe! We love Greek food and wanted to create a version of all of our favorite flavors meshed into one dish. Even though this recipe is for french fries, it is incredibly healthy. Can we just call it a salad because it’s topped with vegetables? Yes, definitely. Right? This is a recipe for Greek salad that just happens to be served on top of crispy hot sweet potatoes instead of lettuce. We like it as an appetizer or a dinner side dish of grilled chicken kabobs, but respect you if you just dig in with a fork and call it dinner.

Loaded Greek Sweet Potato Fries

Makes: 4 servings as an appetizer or side dish

Prep Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 3 large sweet potatoes, washed well and patted dry
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 3/4 cup tzaziki sauce
  • 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, dried with a paper towel and diced
  • 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles
  • 1/2 cup cucumber, diced
  • 1/3 cup kalamata olives, halved (not pictured because quarantine)
  • 1/3 cup red onion, diced
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Cut the sweet potatoes into fry-sized sticks. Lay the sweet potatoes on a cookie sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and give everything a good toss to coat. Lay the sweet potatoes in a single layer and bake for about 20 minutes, or until they are crispy on the outside and cooked through the center.
  3. When the potatoes have finished cooking, remove them from the cookie sheet and onto a serving platter. Top with the tzaziki in little plops around the fries, followed by the red peppers, feta, cucumber, olives and red onion. Serve immediately.