Back in January I had one of the biggest "OMG PINCH ME" moments in life and was interviewed by one of my favorite mentors Jess Lively for her podcast The Lively Show. It was a huge honor to share my story and be featured on the show that has inspired me so much over the past 3 years, but the best part of that experience that I couldn't have predicted has been the fall-out!
I've been able to connect with so many inspiring women who are also fangirls of Jess' "life with intention" message, and some of them have even become friends over the past few months. One of those friends, Alex, also lives in Chicago, and a couple weeks ago we met up in person for a lunch date at Thrive360, a new healthy food fast-casual restaurant downtown. I'm obsessed with all the fast-casual places popping up around the city, because giant salads and epic veggie bowls actually bring me joy (yup I'm a healthy freak and I shall wave my flag proudly!)
It took us probably a solid 15 minutes to absorb the extensive menu at Thrive360 (anyone else struggle with menu decisions??) and one of the super friendly staff members gave us samples of their roasted sweet potato salad while we were making up our minds.
I'm not a huge potato salad fan, but I looooove sweet potatoes, and this version was SO GOOD I immediately decided to recreate it at home.
Here's my version -- it turned out delicious! The mint is a surprisingly delicious addition, and tahini is good on anything. You can find it in the middle eastern or Mediterannean section of most grocery stores.
This recipe is perfect to bring to a summer potluck, 4th of July party, or serve alongside anything grilled. It would also be tasty dish as we move into fall or winter! I'm definitely putting it into my rotation.
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Tahini Dressing
inspired by Thrive360
Serves 6-8
[1 yellow, 1 tsp on the 21 Day Fix]
Ingredients
- 3 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 small red onion
- 1/4 c fresh mint
Directions
Preheat oven to 400*F. Peel and dice the sweet potatoes into bite size chunks, spray with cooking oil, and bake for 45 minutes, flipping once or twice.
While the potatoes are baking, chop the red onion into tiny pieces and chop the mint.
Let the potatoes cool, then combine with the onion and mint in a big bowl, and gently toss with the tahini dressing. Serve at room temperature.
Tahini Dressing
- 1/4 c tahini
- 1/4 c red wine vinegar
- 1/4 c water
- salt and pepper to taste
Combine tahini and vinegar in a jar or shaker bottle, and shake or whisk to combine. Add water (1T at a time) until the consistency is pourable, a little thinner than a typical ranch dressing. If you add too much water, just stir in another T of tahini to thicken it back up. Making dressing is more of an art than science! Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Let me know if you give this a try this! I topped it with some dill to make it prettier for the pictures ... and that was a tasty addition too. Any summer herbs would be good!
xo Anna
