Recipe video above. I know the ingredients looks exorbitantly long for something I describe as "an easy way to turn sweet potatoes into a really tasty meaty dinner"! But actually, it is very straight forward. Thick slices of sweet potato roasted with a simple spice mix, then served on a bed of tahini yogurt topped with a glitter of garlic-sesame-chilli and pine nuts. It's a fabulous flavour combination!Serve with something crunchy - toasted pita bread is my pick. (Note 5)
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr
Course: Main, Side Dish
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Keyword: sweet potato recipe, sweet potato steaks
Servings: 2
Calories: 682cal
Author: Nagi
Ingredients
1gigantic sweet potato - to cut 2 x “steaks” 1.8 cm thick, 17 cm long, 7 cm wide (0.7 x 6.5 x 2.75") - Note 1
Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F (180°C fan-forced). Line a tray with parchment/baking paper.
Bake sweet potato - Rub sweet potato steaks with oil, then sprinkle each side evenly with spice mix (don’t rub, it smears). Bake 45 - 50 minutes until potato is soft. Don’t flip.
Tahini yogurt sauce - Whisk ingredients in a medium heat-proof bowl until mostly combined. Microwave for 20 seconds on high. Whisk again - it will be like softly whipped cream! Use warm or at room temp.
Toast pine nuts in a small pan (no oil) preheated over medium heat. Once lightly golden, remove into a bowl.
Topping - In the same pan, heat oil (still on medium). Add all Topping ingredients and cook, stirring, until the garlic is golden. Transfer into a bowl immediately.
Assemble - Smear most of the yogurt sauce on plate (save some for drizzling). Put sweet potato on top. Sprinkle with Topping, drizzle with yogurt sauce, then sprinkle with pine nuts, coriander and sumac. EAT with crunchy toasted flatbread!
Notes
1. Sweet potato cutting - Using a sharp knife, cut a small slice off one end so you can stand the sweet potato upright, stable. Cut the cheeks off, then cut two x 1.8cm/0.7" thick steaks from the middle that are flat on each side.Ignore my very specific steak size guide, just cut whatever you can using the sweet potato you have! And if cutting steaks standing the potato upright is too hard, just cut 1.8cm/0.7" thick rounds and make sweet potato "filet mignon"!! You can make more than 2.2. Tahini - Paste made with sesame seeds. Usually found in the health food aisle at grocery stores. Use hulled tahini (more common), not un-hulled which is darker and more bitter. The jar label will specify which it is.Use Chinese sesame paste as a sub if you have leftovers from recent recipes I’ve shared, like this one or this one!3. Shallot (US: eschalot) - Also known as French onions, they look like baby onions but have purple-skinned flesh, are finer and sweeter. Not to be confused with what some people in Australia call “shallots” ie the long green onions. Substitute with same amount of finely minced red onion.4. Cayenne peppers - the large chilies that are not very spicy at all once deseeded. They provide a warm hum! If you're concerned, leave it out and substitute with 1 tsp each coriander seeds and cumin seeds. Different flavour profile but they will bring something else to the dish to compensate.5. Crispy pita or Lebanese bread - Cut bread into manageable pieces (or roast whole then break by hand - fun!). Spray or brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and toast in the oven under the sweet potato for the last 10 minutes or so until crisp.6. Saving on calories - If you want to cut down on fat, please don't lower the star rating because you're not happy with the end result (that's not fair! 😂) BUT here is what you can do (in order of what I'd do first):a) Use olive oil spray for the sweet potato - save 50 cal per serving b) Use oil spray to sauté the topping (but be a little generous else it'll never sizzle!) - save 100 cal per serving c) Use low fat instead of full fat yogurt - save 60 cal per serving (note: sauce will be thinner) d) Skip tahini and just make plain yogurt lemon garlic sauce - save 110 cal per serving. I'd be really sad if you had to do this - tahini is so good! Total potential calorie saving 330 cal (682 cal down to 352 cal).Nutrition per serving, assuming all yogurt sauce is consumed. This is a big, hearty, meaty meal! See note 6 for calorie cutting.