“This is a real comfort dish for me. It’s something I’ll make after a long day’s work because there’s hardly any prep. The sweet potato takes about 40 minutes to cook but everything else takes about two seconds.”
– Katie Sanderson, chef, Dublin
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
2 sweet potatoes, quartered
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 medium beetroots, grated
1 apple, grated
A squeeze of lemon
A handful of herbs (mint, parsley or dill)
A dollop of crème fraiche
Toasted seeds (fennel or cumin) or amaranth popcorn (see recipe below)
1 red chilli, chopped (optional)
METHOD
Heat the oven to 180C. Sprinkle olive oil, salt and pepper over the quarters of sweet potato and bake for 40 minutes, or until soft.
Grate the beetroot and apple on a medium setting and mix together with a squeeze of lemon and some salt and pepper.
When the sweet potato is baked, top with the beetroot and apple mix, the herbs, a dollop of crème fraiche, a sprinkling of toasted seeds or amaranth popcorn, and some chilli if you have some.
AMARANTH POPCORN
“I sprinkle this on everything at the moment. You can pop amaranth (and millet and quinoa) like popcorn. With toasted sesame and sunflower seeds, it just makes everything taste good – and it’s cheap and nutritious.” – Katie
INGREDIENTS
100g amaranth grains
100g sunflower seeds
200g sesame seeds
METHOD
Lightly toast the sunflower and sesame seeds in a pan and put aside.
Heat a large pot with high sides. Add a couple of amaranth grains to the pot to test the heat – if they don’t pop straight away, the pot isn’t hot enough. Now add a small amount of amaranth – every grain should be in direct contact with the bottom of the pot. Move the pot off the heat if they’re starting to burn. Once they’ve popped, tip the grains into a bowl.
Repeat until all your amaranth is popped, then mix it in with the seeds. The mixture will keep in an airtight container for more then a month.
