Don’t let the ingredient list fool you, this is a fairly simple recipe that works for weeknight dinner quite well. You can prepare the sweet potatoes in advance to save time. Make extra salad for leftovers the next day (it’s delicious!). If you want a vegetarian option, leave off the shrimp and top with white beans instead. I love the combination of warm and cool and that hint of garlic in the greek yogurt topping is soooo yum!
Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Red Quinoa & Dill Lime Shrimp
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 small sweet potatoes washed and scrubbed (or cut two large in half lengthwise)
3/4 cup red quinoa
1 red, orange or yellow bell pepper, thinly diced
1 bunch green onions, white parts sliced thin (save green parts for topping)
1 cup cherry, cut in halves
1 English cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
¼ bunch fresh mint or parsley or cilantro (your choice), finely chopped
¼ cup kalamata olives, sliced thin
1 T. red wine vinegar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ tsp. sea salt
fresh cracked black pepper
Garlic Green Onion Cream
1 cup full fat Fage greek yogurt
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced very fine
Green parts of the green onions (from prep above), thinly sliced
2 pinches sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
Mix all ingredients together, set aside while preparing other ingredients
Dill Lime Shrimp
1 pound wild shrimp, peeled and deveined
sea salt
2 T. Kerry Gold or organic/grass-fed butter
3 T. fresh dill, chopped
zest and juice of 1 lime
Directions:
- Add 3/4 cup red quinoa and 1 1/4 cup water to a small stock pot. Bring to a boil, then immediately cover with lid and turn to low. Allow to steam for 15 minutes, then turn off heat, remove lid, and place quinoa in fridge to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees for roasting potatoes OR prepare for microwave by cleaning them and poking with a fork (microwave will save time, but your choice). If using oven, puncture potatoes evenly with a form then wrap in tin foil and place into oven for approx. 1 hour. Depending on your oven and the size of your potatoes, may take more or less time. Pierce with a fork to check to see if potatoes are tender. If using microwave, some have a potato setting, but typically you can pierce with fork and cook for 3 minutes, turn over and cook for 3 minutes, and turn one more time and cook for 3 minutes.
3. As the sweet potatoes cook, make your greek yogurt “crema” topping. Add all ingredients into a small mixing bowl, whisk until combined, place in fridge for flavors to come together.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, add the chopped white part of the bell pepper, green onions, tomatoes, cucumber, fresh herbs, olives, vinegar, olive oil, black pepper and sea salt. Add the cooled, cooked quinoa and adjust seasonings to taste and set aside (add more olive oil, sea salt, or pepper as desired).
5. Cook shrimp, pat dry with paper towel. Sprinkle with sea salt. Add butter to a sauce pan and heat on stove top on medium high heat. When pan is hot and butter has melted, add the shrimp. Cook on on side for 2 minutes, turn over and cook for additional 2 minutes. Add lime zest, lime juice and fresh dill. Toss and remove from heat. You can keep shrimp whole or you can transfer to cutting board and chop into bite size pieces.
6. When sweet potatoes are cooked to your liking, smash the inside with a fork and sprinkle with sea salt, drizzle with olive oil. Top each potato with a scoop of the quinoa salad, dill lime shrimp and dollop of greek yogurt crema.
7. Enjoy!