Recipes : Caramelized Sweet Potatoes with Tomato, Cardamom, and Cilantro
Description: Full of flavor, this unusual stew of sweet potatoes, tomatoes and warm spices makes a wonderful appetizer or, with quinoa or another grain you have on hand, a nutritious main dish. Our inspiration comes from the amazing flavor wizard, Yotam Ottolenghi, but we’ve created a version that you can make, start to finish, in about an hour. Drizzled with a quick green sauce it’s festive, too, and in the bargain will please omnivores and vegans alike.
Servings: 4
Cost: $1.95 per serving
Ingredients
- 3-4 medium sweet potatoes, skin on, sliced crosswise into ¾-inch rounds, about 16 rounds $1.40
- For the marinade
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom $0.05
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin $0.02
- 3 tablespoons olive oil $0.30
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup $0.40
- Salt and pepper to taste $0.01
- For the sauce
- 4 tablespoons olive oil $0.40
- 4 garlic cloves, minced $0.25
- 6 ounces canned green chiles, drained and diced $1.00
- 1 small onion, minced $0.50
- 1 14-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, pureed in blender or food processor $1.19
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom $0.10
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin $0.02
- 1½ teaspoons sugar $0.06
- Zest of 1 lime (juice reserved for gremolata) $0.90
- 1 cup water $0.01
- For the gremolata and garnish
- Juice of 1 lime (from zested lime above) $0.00
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro $0.28
- 1 lime, cut into wedges $0.90
Instructions
- Stir together the marinade ingredients in a work bowl; add the sliced potatoes and toss to coat them well.
- In a large cast-iron pan, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the potatoes and cook them in a single layer so they caramelize on one side, which will take 5 to 10 minutes. Do not turn the potatoes but do watch over the process and control the heat to avoid burning. It may be necessary to cook a second batch depending on the size of your pan. Remove the potatoes from the pan and set aside.
- To prepare the sauce: put 1 tablespoon oil in a small sauté pan and gently fry the garlic and chiles until the garlic softens, about 3 minutes. Set half this mixture aside in a small bowl for the gremolata and add the rest to the large sauté pan along with the pureed tomatoes and all remaining sauce ingredients except the water. Stir well and cook for 5 minutes, adding water as needed to thin the sauce. Return the sweet potatoes — caramelized side up — to the pan and simmer slowly, covered, for about 5 to 10 minutes. Test the potatoes for doneness with a fork.
- For the gremolata: stir the lime juice and chopped cilantro into the small bowl of fried garlic and chiles. Taste for salt.
- Drizzle the gremolata on top of the potatoes and serve them right from the cooking pan with lime wedges as garnish or arrange them on a platter. Serve alone as an appetizer, or round out the stew as an entrée with quinoa, rice, or couscous.
Notes
- Originally published by $5 Foodie, Carol Rizzoli, in the Provincetown Independent