Sweet taters with lime yogurt
This recipe has been on repeat since I got the Gjelina cookbook for my birthday this year. It's utterly simple and incredible. You get spicy, sour, and sweet all in one bite.
It's also a good technique to have for just roasting the sweet potatoes. Something magical happens when they roast with the honey, olive oil and Aleppo pepper and those deeply browned edges are worth the little bit of extra effort.
One of my intentions for this year is to make more fermented foods from scratch and I used homemade yogurt in this recipe. This is not necessary, but I've included some tips that have given me good results. The benefit of making yogurt at home is you get more live cultures than a commercial product. And, if you have no issue with dairy, that bacteria is oh-so-good for your gut.
Sweet taters with lime yogurt
serves 6, adapted from Gjelina
4-5 med-large sweet potatoes (orange is pictured here, but I also really liked this with Japanese yams)
5 TBS extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 TBS raw honey
1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes (the Aleppo pepper is quite spicy, so if you opt for red pepper flakes increase to ~1 tsp)
4 green onions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
a large handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
sea salt
1/2 cup organic Greek yogurt (see note below) :: can sub dairy-free yogurt
Zest and juice of 1 lime-- about 2.5 TBS
Preheat oven to 425'. Place racks in lower and upper third of oven.
For yogurt sauce, mix yogurt with lime zest, juice, 1 TBS olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Cut the sweet potatoes lengthwise into 8 wedges. Toss them with the honey, Aleppo pepper, and remaining olive oil. Season with a few good pinches of salt. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Spread sweet potatoes onto the baking sheets. Roast for 10 minutes. Then, rotate the baking sheets (top to bottom, bottom to top) and roast for another 10-15 minutes until caramelized and soft.
To serve, top with onions, cilantro and drizzle with yogurt. Season with salt. Enjoy.
:: Notes on homemade yogurt making ::
I used this recipe as a guide
Start with the best milk you can: raw if possible, grass-fed, whole and organic
The first time, I started the process before bed thinking it'd stay warm in the oven all night. This didn't work for me and it made more sense to be a little more hand's on.
Now, I start in the morning and check on it every few hours to see if the yogurt is around 110'. If it's too cold, I'll turn the oven to 170' for a few minutes or heat up a cast iron skillet and then put it in the oven.
I tend to like yogurt to be a little on the thicker side and found making sure it was warm and toasty in the oven helped it thicken it up.
I like the tang of letting it ferment for about 8-9 hours. It's slightly sour, but still really creamy.
