Lentil and Mushroom Stuffed Sweet Potatoes + Glowing Green Sauce
These vegan stuffed sweet potatoes are filled with an easy lentil and mushroom mixture, then topped off with a lime avocado sauce - total comfort food, wrapped up in a potato.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Vegan
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 50 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour
Servings 4people
Ingredients
4medium sweet potatoes
Filling
1medium oniondiced
1cupmushroomschopped
1cupcooked french lentils*
3clovesminced garlic
1teaspooncumin
½teaspoonsalt
½teaspoonpepper
½teaspoonhot pepper flakesor to taste
1teaspoonapple cider vinegar
1tablespoonolive oil
Glowing Green Sauce
2ripe avocados
½cupfresh cilantropacked
¼cuplime juice
2tablespoonsolive oil
1tablespoonapple cider vinegaroptional*
2clovesgarlic
1teaspoonmaple syrup
½teaspoonsalt
½teaspoonpepper
¼teaspoonhot pepper flakes
Instructions
Give the potatoes a good scrub, then wrap them in individually in tin foil and place on a baking sheet. This is important - they might leak and cause some smoke if you don't put them on a sheet (I am speaking from experience). Bake at 400F/200C for about an hour, or until easily pierced with a fork.
Filling
Heat a large pan over medium heat with a little oil. Add the onion and sauté until soft and beginning to turn golden. Add the mushrooms and garlic. Try not to stir too much, as you don't really want to steam the mushrooms. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and the mushrooms have browned.
Stir in the lentils and cook until they're just heated through. Add the cumin, salt, pepper, and hot pepper flakes. Cook for a minute, until fragrant, then add the apple cider vinegar and stir so that any spices that got stuck to the bottom of the pan are lifted. Turn off the heat and stir in the olive oil.
Glowing Green Sauce
If you have a food processor, toss everything in and pulse until a smooth sauce forms. If not, use a blender. You may need to scrape the sides down to make sure everything is mixing in properly. If you're worried that it might not make everything smooth enough, definitely mince the garlic beforehand to prevent garlic chunks swimming around.
Otherwise, you can mince the cilantro and garlic with a sharp knife. Mash the avocado with a fork, stir in the cilantro, garlic, and lime juice first, followed by the remaining ingredients.
To assemble
Cut each sweet potato down the centre, but try not to cut them right in half. Stuff them with with about 1/3 cup each of the lentil and mushroom mixture. Top with as much glowing green sauce as you'd like. It makes quite a bit so you'll likely have some extra if you're not an avocado fiend.
It might seem like a lot of ingredients and instructions, but apart from waiting for the sweet potatoes to bake, this takes about ten minutes to throw together.
Notes
1. You can use regular green or black lentils here as well, but avoid red split lentils. You want a little chewiness, and french lentils are ideal for that. 2. Add the vinegar if you like a little more acidity and the sauce tastes kind of flat.