Sweet Potato and Cucumber Salad with a Curried Tahini Dressing

Sweet Potato and Cucumber Salad with a Curried Tahini Dressing

by | Jan 9, 2019 | Health, Home, Recipes

When I first started my blog, I knew I had a passion for cooking and was hoping to go down the route of a recipe developer.  While I have certainly made the recipes I’ve posted on here, multiple times usually, I know they are relatively simple. 

My love for cooking made me also consider the idea of starting a food business.  I was legitimately investigating how I could go about getting a permit to make food and sell it out of my kitchen! 

Ever since I realized how important of a role food has in my personal health through my own struggles, I have a growing desire to share that with others.  I’m not totally giving up on the idea of a food business or becoming a professional recipe developer (more romantic in theory than it really is), but right now I think my path is taking me in another direction.

My way to bring the message of nutrition for health is not necessarily by cooking for people, but by providing meaningful information.  Not everyone is willing to do the nitty-gritty research about why you should cycle-sync, if you’re a woman, or what to put in their smoothies besides fruit but I will be your girl! 😉  I find that while many people won’t seek it out, they welcome the information.  Knowledge is power and they may then utilize it, if they so choose.

As I face obstacles in my wellness journey, I will continue to be open and share those with you all.  I’ve already talked about everything from issues with veganism and anxieties surrounding food to not feeling good enough and discovering presence.  Some of these things are uncomfortable to talk about but I feel good sharing them.  The way I see it, if my posts can reach even one person who resonates with what I’ve been through then that’s already enough. Thanks for checking out the recipe!

For today, I’m tapping into the recipe side of me (hey, I didn’t say recipes won’t be a thing at all) again.  Just like my turmeric chickpea and potato salad, this is also more of a lose add-as-much-as-you-like style recipe.  I’ve been eating this one for months and have posted it on my Instagram stories so much that you probably think I don’t eat anything else.  The sweet potato and quinoa make the salad hearty.  Yet, the water-rich cucumber and romaine/greens make the salad super hydrating.  Oh, and the curried tahini dressing on top! Mmmmm! 🙂 I’m in love but don’t take my word for it—try it and let me know what you think!

Xoxo,

Melanie

sweet potato cucumber salad

 

Sweet Potato and Cucumber Salad with a Curried Tahini Dressing
Recipe Type: Entree
Author: Melanie
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 salad
When you batch cook staple items like sweet potato and quinoa, it makes for easy salad throw-togethers at lunch or dinnertime. Add a fabulous dressing and you’ll wonder where this simple salad has been all of your life.
Ingredients
  • 2-3 cups mixed salad greens or chopped romaine lettuce
  • Chopped cilantro and/or parsley
  • 1 small sweet potato chopped and roasted
  • 1/3 – ½ cucumber, chopped
  • ¼ cup raw or roasted beet, chopped (optional)
  • ½ cup cooked white quinoa
  • 2 tbsp tahini
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • ½ tsp curry powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp water
Instructions
  1. This recipe assumes you have all of your ingredients cooked already: the sweet potato, quinoa, and beets, if using. In a bowl, add your quinoa (mine is hidden under the lettuce), greens of choice, cilantro, cucumber, and beets.
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the tahini, lemon, curry powder, salt, and 2 tbsp of water to form a dressing. The amount of water depends on the thickness of your tahini. Also, cold water seems to make for a thicker, fluffier dressing so that may also require 4 tbsp. However you like it, this recipe usually leaves me with an extra serving for another salad but you do you.
  3. Add the dressing to your salad bowl and top with half of a chopped avocado. Crack some fresh black pepper over your salad and maybe another squeeze of lemon if you’re zesty like me! Enjoy!

 

Be sure to leave a comment or tag me on Instagram if you try it out!

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Peach Smoothie

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Peach Smoothie

by | Sep 2, 2017 | Health, Home, Recipes

I’m such a fan of sweet potato.  I used to eat whole sweet potatoes all by myself, multiple times a week, every week.  Oh, the good days.  Now, I sync food with my cycle phases so I mostly consume sweet potatoes during my luteal phase.  The more I cycle-sync, the more I’ve adapted my cravings to phase appropriate foods.  So, this shake is a mash-up of WomanCode recommended luteal foods like sweet potato, cauliflower, and peach.  More deets about cycle-syncing here, but you don’t need to follow WomanCode to enjoy this smoothie!

The Sweet Potato Cinnamon Peach Smoothie does require a bit of prep work for the veggies but once you have these items in your freezer arsenal, you will be able to reap the benefits of many future smoothies!  So, I promise it’s worth it!

First up is the cauliflower.  Raw cauliflower can wreak havoc on the tummy so I steam and freeze it for smoothies.  It’s also easy to rinse and chop cauliflower and then stick it in the microwave for 3-5 minutes until tender.  Let it cool to room temperature before freezing it on a tray to avoid clumps.  Then, move it to a freezer bag or container.  In a frozen state, the cauliflower makes a neutral and thick base!

Is there anything more delicious than roasted sweet potato?  I think not.  Roasting brings out the natural sweetness and caramel-like flavors in sweet potatoes so don’t skip this step.  Once roasted and cooled, you can slice it into large cubes (to make it easier on your blender later) and freeze.  The sweet potato can be used roasted and cold but frozen creates thickness to make this smoothie shake-like.

I also throw some dark leafy greens into my smoothie.  Be warned: fresh ones will have a greener taste.  Frozen greens, on the other hand, can hide their taste a little better in the smoothie.  Both methods, fresh or frozen, and any leafy green should work.

I always prefer frozen over fresh produce for smoothies because frozen goods make a cold and frosty smoothie.  Though, for this recipe, I’m taking advantage of summer peaches and using it fresh.  The fruit is extra sweet when used fresh, just like how the fresh leafy greens taste extra green.  I haven’t tested with frozen peaches but be sure to add more liquid if you go that route.

Try adding some aloe to this smoothie!

I cut out the flesh from aloe vera leaves (as shown) and throw it into my food processor.  Once blended, the aloe becomes a sticky liquid which I pour into an ice cube tray.  I fill each slot 3/4 of the way so that I can easily pop a cube into my smoothies each day.

Aloe Vera is the last and the optional addition to the Sweet Potato Cinnamon Peach Smoothie.  Lately, I’ve been into adding a tablespoon’s worth of frozen aloe Vera gel to my smoothies.  Supposedly the plant has crazy health benefits.  My Mexican ancestors used to vouch for the spectrum of benefits cactus has.  It can help everything from your skin to your digestion and even help your immune system.  Though, store-bought aloe should also work if you want to incorporate it into this smoothie (or any other smoothie recipe)!

sweet potato cinnamon peach smoothie

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Peach Smoothie
Recipe Type: Breakfast
Cuisine: Smoothie
Author: Melanie
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 smoothie
Here is where summer and fall meet. Warm flavors of sweet potato and cinnamon combine with the fruity freshness of peach to make a delicious smoothie. Admittedly, I like my smoothies thick so this recipe is more shake-like but smoothie sounds more pleasant in the title. 🙂
Ingredients
  • 3/4 cup frozen sweet potatoes
  • 1 cup frozen cauliflower florets
  • A large, fresh white peach
  • 2 tbsp almond butter
  • 1 cube frozen aloe vera gel, optional
  • A handful of greens
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp maqui berry powder, optional
  • About ½ cup water or milk (plus, more to thin to desired consistency)
Instructions
  1. To make the layered smoothie, start with the base of sweet potato, cauliflower, peach, almond butter, aloe, and cinnamon. I like to blend these up with water before adding the protein powder. Otherwise, the protein powder seems to absorb the liquid without leaving any for smoothing out the ingredients.
  2. Next, add the protein powder, and blend again, scraping down the sides if necessary.
  3. Once smooth, pour almost half of the mixture into a serving glass. To the blender, add the maqui berry powder and blend again.
  4. Add half of the maqui berry layer to the top of the first layer in your glass. Reserve the remaining contents for the green layer.
  5. Scrape down the sides of the blender and add the handful of greens. The smallest splash of water also helps get the mixture going. When the greens layer is smooth, pour it into your glass.
  6. The top layer will taste very GREEN so be sure to stir it up after taking a picture 😉
Notes
The prep time does not include freezing time. Most of the main ingredients are frozen except for the peach. See the post for preparation tips and why I use frozen vs fresh.[br]If you don’t have maqui berry powder, skip the middle layer and just make one larger green layer. It doesn’t contribute much flavor-wise, anyway.[br]If the layering business is too much of a fuss, the smoothie also tastes awesome when it is all blended up together at once.