Ingredients
- 6 medium to large sweet potatoes
- For the refried black beans:
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red onion, finely diced
- 1/2 red chilli, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 x 400g tin black beans
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup sweet corn kernels
- Juice of half a lime
- Sea salt to season
- For the cashew sour cream:
- 1 cup cashew nuts, soaked in hot water for an hour
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Pinch of sea salt
- For the spinach salsa:
- 1 large handful spinach leaves, finely sliced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 3 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1/3 cucumber, diced
- Juice of a lime
- Small handful of coriander leaves
- For the avocado:
- 2 ripe avocados, peeled and sliced
- Juice of half a lime
- Sea salt and black pepper to season
For this dish, the sweet potatoes are baked in their skins in the oven and served alongside a variety of fillings, the most important of which is the refried black beans. The black beans are cooked with onion, garlic and chilli to add some heat. The cashew sour cream is made from soaked cashew nuts for a vegan option, but regular sour cream works perfectly well too. All of this is served with a spinach salsa and avocado slices dressed with lime juice.
If you don’t want to make all four fillings, just pick and choose your favourites, but the refried black beans are an absolute essential for flavour, but also for their protein content.
This is a really good option for a large group or family as everything can be laid out in different bowls and people can just help themselves and build their own baked sweet potatoes; your very own sweet potato party.
1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Wash the sweet potatoes, but don’t peel them. Pierce them with a fork in a couple of places. Place them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for about 45 minutes, until they are soft right the way through to the middle.
2. To make the refried beans, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan over a low heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add the chilli and garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the chilli powder and cumin and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Increase the heat to a medium heat. Add half the beans along with 1/4 cup of water and a pinch of sea salt and using a potato masher roughly mash the beans. Cook for about 3 minutes, until the water has evaporated. Add the remaining beans along with another 1/4 cup of water and a pinch of salt and do the same; roughly mash the beans and cook for about 3 minutes until the water has evaporated again. Remove from the heat and stir in the sweet corn kernels and lime juice. Spoon into a serving bowl and set to one side. The beans can be served either hot or cold.
3. To make the sour cream, drain the soaked cashew nuts and add them to a blender along with the rest of the sour cream ingredients. Blend until creamy. Spoon into a serving bowl.
4. To make the salsa, simply place all the salsa ingredients in a bowl and toss well.
5. To prepare the avocado, arrange the avocado slices on a plate and dress with a drizzle of olive oil, the juice of half a lime, a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
6. To serve, cut the baked sweet potatoes length ways, but don’t split them. Place on a large serving plate and sprinkle chopped coriander over them. Serve the fillings in separate bowls to allow diners to help themselves.
