Thursday, August 28, 2014

Jerk spiced sweet potato fries with lemon-paprika lentils

Are you familiar with jerk seasoning? Our new neighbourhood has a strong Caribbean influence, so Jamaican dishes are common and jerk chicken is available on every other corner. Obviously jerk chicken doesn't hold much appeal to me, but the spice mix itself is full of things I like: chilli, ginger, coriander, cinnamon, lime and pepper, amongst other things. You could make the spice mix up from scratch, but I opted to pick up a prepared version from the supermarket. It is spicy, salty, a little sweet (the mix I bought has some added sugar) and very moreish. When the spice mix is paired with sweet potato fries, the result is very moreish!


I was focused on the sweet potato as the star of this meal, and threw together a lentil side dish without a lot of thought. However, it turned out to be a worthwhile recipe in its own right. Super simple, the lentils were paired with lemon juice, paprika, dried ginger, tomato and onion. I have since made the exact same mix with chickpeas and it was delicious in that format too. The lemon flavours give the dish a nice buzz, and complement the paprika and ginger spices - and of course the sweet potato fries.

I tend to cook up a batch of beans / pulses at the start of the week, which means it was really easy to throw this meal together with pre-cooked lentils. However, you could use tinned if you are short on time and don't have any prepared lentils available. The dish resonates comfort, but packs plenty of nutrition and consists almost entirely of vegetables!



Jerk spiced sweet potato fries with paprika-lemon lentils
A delicious, spice filled meal for two
Vegan

Author: Bite-Sized Thoughts


Ingredients
For the sweet potato fries -
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into strips
2 tsp jerk spice mix
Olive oil spray

For the lemon-paprika lentils -
Small drizzle olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 tsp mild paprika
1 tsp dried ginger
1-1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 red pepper, roughly chopped
1 cup spinach, roughly chopped
1 tomato, roughly chopped
1-1/2 cups cooked lentils

Method
For the sweet potato fries -
Preheat your oven to 180'C (355'F).

Spray two baking trays with oil and sprinkle approximately 1 tsp of jerk spice mix over the trays. Layer the sweet potato strips over the seasoning, then spray the top of the sweet potato pieces with oil and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tsp of jerk spice.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until golden and crispy (particularly thin fries may need less time, chunky wedges a little longer).

For the lemon-paprika lentils -
Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a non-stick pan and saute the onion over medium-high heat until just golden. Add in the paprika, ginger and lemon juice, stir, and reduce heat to low.

Add the pepper, spinach, tomato and cooked lentils to the pan and allow to cook over low heat for approximately 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the mixture dries out, add a little water as needed.


Have you tried jerk seasoning?

18 comments:

  1. I love the spices you used for the sweet potato fries and how much flavor you infused into those lentils! So much tastiness all around.

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  2. Sounds like a great meal - have bookmarked a few jerk seasoning recipes but yet to try them. I like that you cook legumes at the start of the week - do you store them in water in the fridge?

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    1. I am always so grateful when I have them cooked up - the weeks I don't, meals are that much harder to get organised! I soak them in water ahead of cooking, but then just store them cooked in a Tupperware / covered bowl. I have seen a few sites recommending that you cover them with water for post-cooking storage, but apparently that's to prevent drying out and I haven't really found that to be a problem - possibly because I add them back into dishes with seasoning / moisture.

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  3. I sure have heard of Jerk spices Kari. How exciting you live in that neibourhood. i love all those flavours you have put together.

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    1. Thanks Tania :-) Jerk spice mix is definitely a new favourite now!

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  4. I love jerk seasoning, as long as it doesn't get too hot. This looks like a delicious dish.

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    1. This was a bit hot, but my spice tolerance is moderate to high, so it wasn't off the heat scale. I can see that too much would be dangerous for the mouth though!

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  5. Miam miam, jerk seasoning is the best! Gosh, these spiced fries and lentils are both yummy!!!!!

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  6. I haven't tried jerk seasoning but want to after seeing this! Lemon paprika lentils look great- I love cooking with paprika, must be my Hungarian background :)

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    1. I didn't know you had a Hungarian background - definitely paprika ties there! :)

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  7. I've heard of jerk seasoning but I haven't seen it in a jar. I've always had to make it from scratch. I love the flavour it brings to dishes. What a great way to flavour kumera xx

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    1. Perhaps it's not so common in jars in Australia? Well done on making it from scratch though!

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  8. Yum they both sound so delicious. Have never seen jerk seasoning, but most times I opt to make my own seasoning/herb mixes anyway :-)

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    1. I'd never seen it in Australia either...but then homemade generally is better as you can control the proportions of ingredients :-)

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