Double Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Cumin and Lime
I realize by looking at this picture you could be staring at any old baked sweet potato. Perhaps an additional dollop of sour cream, some chopped cilantro and chilies would give a proper indication of what’s in store? I’ve never been particularly concerned about this part of food blogging. I document dishes I’ve made that should not be forgotten. That’s sufficient to me. This should not be forgotten.
So what we’re looking at here, even if it’s not indicative of much, is an intense amount of flavor. These sweet potatoes are tangy, spicy, creamy and sweet. Sweet potato is just such a natural pairing for cumin and lime! It’s a really great dish in its own right, and we’ve dined on these alone for dinner on several occasions now. Alternatively, you could cut the sweet potatoes into wedges, roast them and toss with the cumin, paprika, brown sugar, salt and pepper, then make a dip of sour cream, lime and cilantro. That would be lovely as well.
- 4 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed
- 1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- salt and pepper
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cut a slit in the top of the sweet potatoes to allow steam to escape and make future scraping easier, then bake them on a sheet pan until very tender, about an hour.
- Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and allow them to cool slightly. Meanwhile, heat cumin seeds in a dry skillet until fragrant. Set aside.
- Raise the oven temperature to 500 degrees. Carefully remove the flesh from the sweet potatoes into a bowl, and combine with the cumin seeds, hot paprika, brown sugar, sour cream and lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then fill the emptied skins with the prepared mixture.
- Return these to the sheet pan and bake until lightly golden. Serve immediately topped with crumbled queso fresco, chopped cilantro and/or chilies, if desired.
Mmmmm ……… thanks for this recipe. It’s much along the way of how I use them, too.
Cumin is my favorite spicy flavour. The first thing I dig for on the rack. Which some might say, leads to a dull existence? Nope, not for me! Love that cumin flavour from either dry, or wet roasted; in oil When used dry-roasted, I usually smoosh them up with a pestle. Before returning to the pot.
Adding them to the sweet potato is a stroke of “minor genius”. I will skip the sour cream and replace with 2 Tbs of Becel. With the tang of lime ….sweet! Cheers Jamie
Cumin is a wonderful flavor that unfortunately smells like foot ;) My wife doesn’t allow me to cook with it all that often, but it works if I can “bury” it in things a bit. I can’t remember if you said you were vegan or vegetarian, but if the latter, I would recommend yogurt as a substitution for that certain ‘creaminess’.
Never heard the smell described as being like “feet” before? Definitely an earthy odour and somewhat unmistakeable. I think? Cumin is the world’s most widely used flavouring?
I make my own bread products and happen to be vegetarian in habit. Not bound my religion, but just preference. Means, I can cross boundaries if wished. Yes yogurt sounds like a good substitute too.
My time spent in India, in my twenties, left a life-long love of that condiment. Recipes from Madhur Jaffrey i.e. Cauliflower with potatoes. Or, Phool gobi aur aloo ki bhaji show this off to perfection!