Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Tahini

This sweet potato recipe is a really easy, flavorful side to put together. Instead of roasting in an oil, I use tahini, which, while oily in it's own right, still has the benefits of the entire sesame seed. This recipe also relies on an herb combo to get a really unique flavor, but don't worry if you don't have all the herbs listed below on hand. Just use what you have!

When we first moved to the United States, Thanksgiving was a brand new thing for my family. We were invited over by some family friends, and of the many dishes served, one of the more confusing was a casserole dish of bright orange potatoes, covered in some sort of syrup and marshmallows. Cloyingly sweet, I couldn't stand the dish. Nor could my mother, which somehow translated to a full on ban of sweet potatoes and yams in our household. It wasn't until I reached adulthood that I understood that sweet potatoes are merely an innocent vegetable, and can be cooked without all the extra sweet stuff. I've been making up for lost time with sweet potatoes ever since.

Not only are sweet potatoes delicious (when cooked appropriately), they're also a really important part of any runner's diet. Runner's World can explain this far better than I can in this article. So, I cook with sweet potatoes quite a bit. This recipe is a really easy one that adds some extra flavor and gives the potatoes a really nice texture. The trick to great roasted potatoes is to pre-boil them for a little bit THEN roast. If you're short on time of course you can just chop and bake, but the slightly fluffy texture achieved by pre-boiling means you're getting a crispier roast potato, and texture is just as important as flavor! The steps below are pretty straight forward--let me know how you do!

Medium Quick, Easy Prep

What You Need:

• 4-5 small sweet potatoes, cubed

• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped herbs (list below) OR 1 tablespoon dried of each:

• Rosemary

• Oregano

• Thyme

• Mint

• 1.5 tablespoon tahini, melted

• 1 tsp lime juice

• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

• Parboil your sweet potatoes for about 6 minutes. They should still be firm, but slightly cooked. This helps with their texture when they roast.

• Combine all of your marinade ingredients, including herbs, and mix well. (I put them in an old jar and shake it vigorously by hand. Seems to work, and relieves stress. Visualize your enemies while you do it.)

• In a bowl, mix your drained sweet potatoes and your marinade until all the potato cubes are evenly coated

• Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, flipping occasionally so they do not stick to the pan and they are uniformly roasted. (I do this by loosening them with a spatula then just shaking the pan. If you've got anal retentive tendencies you could go one by one.)