Side dish, fit for a king
Everyone knows a jacket potato as a side dish, and it’s often served with dollops of sour cream. Heleen Meyer has a mouth-watering healthier alternative, with just as much (and even more) flavour. When roasting sweet potatoes, their natural sweetness becomes even more prominent. Preparing them in the skin adds colour and fiber to your meal and it’s so much quicker to prepare – no peeling necessary and no waste.
If you like fresh ginger, garlic, lemon, and a touch of chilli, you will love this simple, but aromatic marinade that combines amazing winter flavours. All of these will give you a good immune boost too. Roasted sweet potatoes and onions are just so delicious with the cottage cheese and coriander, bringing all the flavours together. Don’t let any of the pan juices go to waste and stir every last bit of it into the cottage cheese for an aromatic sauce. Enjoy the sweet potatoes with grilled fish, chicken, pork or at your next braai. Serve with your favourite green veggies or a big green salad.
Jacket sweet potatoes with cottage cheese
Image by Berna Coetzee, LiG Tydskrif
Serves 6
20 ml (4 tsp) olive oil
15 ml (1 tbsp) finely grated lemon rind
60 ml (¼ cup) lemon juice
30 ml (2 tbsp) water
20 ml (4 tsp) finely grated fresh ginger
1 small chilli, seeded and chopped (optional)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 onions, cut into wedges
6-8 (700-900 g) small, sweet potatoes, in the skin
black pepper to taste
180 ml (¾ cup) plain smooth low or medium-fat cottage cheese
handful fresh coriander leaves
- Preheat the oven to 180 ˚C.
- Mix oil, lemon rind and juice, water, ginger, chilli and garlic in a large bowl. Add onions and sweet potatoes and toss to coat the veggies in the oil mixture. Season with pepper.
- Spoon onions and sweet potatoes onto a large baking tray or shallow oven dish, with all the liquid and seasonings. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the sweet potatoes are soft.
- Stir onions with all the pan juices into the cottage cheese. Cut a deep slit into each sweet potato and serve with dollops of the cottage cheese mixture. Garnish with fresh coriander.
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