Sweet Potato + Lentils on Pita
sweet potatoes and lentils. savory, sweet, and tangy. perfect for fall!
You know I love a fall dish, and this is one that has the perfect balance to it! lentils and sweet potatoes are so good together. you can combine them into mediterranean dishes, mexican, and just standard american dishes too!
nutritionally, sweet potatoes and lentils balance each other out well. lentils have iron, which is important for everyone to get enough of (about 14% of Americans are iron deficient!). sweet potatoes have vitamin C, which actually helps iron absorb better. so really not only are sweet potatoes and lentils delicious together, but they also nutritionally they make a great pair too :)
one thing about lentils and sweet potatoes is that they both can go into either sweet dishes or savory dishes. obviously this recipe is for a savory dish, but you can make sweet potato brownies or lentil muffins, both which have sweet aspects to them!
and yes, I know this recipe has a lot of ingredients in it. some of these things are optional!
optional:
dill cucumbers. you can just entirely leave this out if you want to.
mayonnaise mixture. you can leave this out too!
heat the pita in the oven after the sweet potatoes are done
sometimes I add avocado to this recipe. you can either add chunks to the top of the pita, or spread it out as a base.
sub the mayonnaise mixture for hummus!
ingredients:
5 pitas
1 sweet potato, diced
1 tbsp oil
salt, to preference
pepper, to preference
1 tsp harissa
16 oz of cooked lentils
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1/4 cup veggie broth
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 cucumber
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp dill
instructions:
slice cucumber into small slices. submerge in white vinegar, dill, and salt. keep in fridge.
in a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, a pinch of garlic powder, and a pinch of harissa. add in a tiny splash of water to thin it out a bit. keep in fridge.
set oven to 375ºf.
on a sheet pan, add the diced sweet potatoes. cover with 1 - 2 tsp of oil, salt, pepper, and harissa. place in oven for about 20 minutes. keep in for 30 minutes for more “roasty” flavor.
in a pan add 1-2 tsp of oil. add in the cooked lentils (lentils are easy to cook, just bring to a boil in water for like 15 minutes. drain in a colander). season with salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin.
once the sweet potatoes are done cooking, add them to the pan with the lentils. add the veggie broth, garlic powder, and onion powder. let cook together until all of the veggie broth has absorbed.
to assemble: lay out the pita. spread on a layer of the mayonnaise mixture. add on 5 slices of the cucumber. top with the lentil and sweet potato mixture.
enjoy!