Sweet Potato Quinoa Recipes

If you love sweet potatoes as much as I do you’ll love these vegetarian sweet potato quinoa salad recipes. They are great as a side dish or for preparing ahead of time as lunches for the week. One is on the sweet side and the other is a roasted veggie delight.

Quinoa Sweet Potato Cranberry Almond Salad

There’s many flavors that compliment each other within this salad, and it can be eaten cold or warm. The sumac spice was a new tropical sweet sour organic taste for me and is accentuated by the sweet potato and cranberries.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 3/4 cup water
• 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 large sweet potato (or 2 small) peeled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp sumac
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 4 scallions chopped
• 1 cup parsley chopped

Directions:

1. Place 1 tsp oil, quinoa and 1/2 tsp salt in a small pot over medium-high heat. Stir 1 minute to toast the seeds. Add water, bring mixture to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to low, cover pot and allow quinoa to simmer for 15-20 minutes until cooked.
3. Pour cooked quinoa into a fine mesh strainer and allow excess liquid to strain out.
4. Add vinegar, honey and pepper to the drained quinoa and mix.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Place sweet potato, 2 tbsp oil, paprika, sumac, garlic and 1/4 tsp salt on prepared baking sheet.
7. Bake 35-40 minutes until edges of the sweet potato begin to char and remove from oven.
8. Once cooled, combine quinoa, sweet potato, almonds, cranberries, scallions and parsley in a large bowl. Serve and enjoy.

_{4 servings; 467 calories per serving, 8g protein, 18g fat, 73g carb, 7g fiber}

Roasted Veggie Quinoa Salad

The sweet potatoes are definitely the star in this dish and complemented by the other veggies, citrus and spices.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup zucchini, cubed
• 1 sweet potato, cubed
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup red onion, diced
• 1/2 cup corn, fresh or canned
• 1/2 lemon for juice
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• pepper to taste
• 3 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• fresh chopped parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
2. Add the zucchini, sweet potato, tomatoes, onion and corn to the baking sheet.
3. Drizzle with lemon juice, 2 tbsp olive oil and season with garlic salt and pepper. Toss to coat evently.
4. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until tender.
5. Put roasted vegetables in a large bowl and add cooked quinoa and mix.
6. In a small bowl, mix 2 tbsp of olive oil, and apple cider vinegar. Pour over veggies and quinoa and toss to coat.
7. Garnish with parsley and serve.

_{Makes 4 servings}