Ingredients
1 C quinoa
1 bunch parsley
handful mint
1/2 bunch radish
1 fennel
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
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1 C yoghurt
2-3 Tbsp tahini
1 garlic clove, minced with pinch of salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
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sweet potatoes, (1 medium per person)
a knob of coconut oil (or ghee)
1 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of salt
Summary
Throw some sweet potatoes in the oven, top with lots of fresh flavours and you can’t go wrong. I guess this is a kind of winter tabbouleh – the quinoa, herbs and the crunchy, colourful additions are delicious with any roasted vegetables, falafels, or a meaty meal. And the tahini yoghurt sauce is so tasty with just about anything.
Herby Quinoa Salad with Roast Sweet Potatoes and Tahini Yoghurt Sauce
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Wash the sweet potato, and place on a baking tray with coconut oil, a sprinkle of salt and cumin seeds. Use your hands to coat them well, then pop them in the oven. Alternatively, par boil them in water until just softened (around 10 mins) and then bake for another 15-20 minutes until nice and roasted.
For the salad, rinse the quinoa well in a colander then cook in salted water for about 10 minutes – until the little tails on the grain start to unfurl, but the quinoa still has some firmness in it. Drain and place in a salad bowl to cool.
Wash and dry the herbs, and chop as finely or rough as you like. Finely slice the mint, fennel and radish and combine everything together with the quinoa. If you’re eating it soon, lightly dress with lemon and olive oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
For the sauce, I like to mince up the garlic with salt in a mortar and pestle, or more often, I chop it finely on the board, add the salt on top and then kind of smoosh it into a paste with a heavy knife, dragging the garlic and salt with the flattened edge of the knife. (This is a good trick when making any raw garlicky sauce like tzatziki or a garlicky guacamole). Anyway, use as much garlic as you want and mix all the sauce ingredients together to suit your taste. You may even like to add a little maple syrup or honey. Add a splash of water or whey (from the yoghurt) if it needs a little loosening.
Get your sweet potatoes out of the oven once they’re sufficiently roasted, and pile it all on together.
