For the first time ever I’ve successfully grown coriander (cilantro). To be honest, up until about a year ago I hated coriander. It could be that the first time I tried it my Dad warned me that it tasted like squished bugs. He was right. And for years and years I would pick it off everything; I could smell if it had been chopped in the vicinity of something else, and sometimes I thought it ruined a perfectly good dish.

Then things began to change. My palate made a shift, and I don’t know what it was exactly but I started liking foods that I never had before. Pickles. I used to totally hate pickles. Now I love them. I always used to struggle with chilli, but now I really like the buzz. And coriander. I probably still wouldn’t eat it by the fist full on it’s own but, with the right combination of foods, I really like it.

Sorry coriander, it wasn’t you, it was me.

Sweet potato is one of those ingredients that we could eat daily in our house. It’s a favourite of everybody’s, for one reason or another, and if ever we could invest in a sweet potato farm that would probably be a good idea… it’s a shame it’s too cold to grow it where we live, otherwise we would be set!

Most of the time I’m just happy to roast sweet potato with some good olive oil, salt and pepper. It doesn’t need anything more than that to be absolutely delicious. An ace piece of roasted sweet potato is tender, sticky, salty and sweet with crunchy little edges, I mean that’s why we completely love it.

But sometimes you want to stay true to your favourite and also mix it up a little bit.

This sweet potato side dish combines a couple of my current favourite foods, sweet potato of course, smoked paprika, toasted almonds and pepitas with the light addition of some coconut yoghurt and lime. And not to forget that coriander. It really does add something. If you have luck growing your own, even better.

Smoky Roasted Sweet Potato

with coconut yoghurt, coriander, lime, nuts and seeds

Serves 4 as a side

2 large sweet potato (approx. 1 kg), cut into large chunks
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
3 tablespoons olive oil
pinch of salt
small handful of almonds, roasted + chopped
small handful of pepitas, toasted lightly
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
handful of coriander
1 – 2 tablespoons natural coconut yoghurt
juice of 1/2 lime

Preheat oven to 200° C / 400° F / Gas Mark 6.

Roughly chop the sweet potato and toss in the olive oil, sweet paprika and salt. Bake in the oven for around 40 minutes, giving it a toss half way through, or until golden around the edges and tender.

Allow to cool slightly before sprinkling with smoked paprika, dolloping on coconut yoghurt, squeezing with lime and garnishing with nuts, seeds and coriander. Lovely eaten warm or at room temperature.

If you’d like to give making your own coconut yoghurt a go – Oh, Ladycakes has a great coconut yoghurt tutorial you can find here!