Some dishes make you think of a certain person every time you make them. Whenever I make an omelet, for example, I think about the family I nannied for in France. The dad taught me how to make an authentic omelet, and the son (who was only 11 at the time) schooled me in how to cook one for dinner. We’re not all born with these gifts.

Every time I make stuffed sweet potatoes, it reminds me of one of my friends from grad school, Stephanie. She was the one who introduced me to the concept and I’ve been looking for good recipes every since.

This stuffed sweet potato has an Asian twist. You use soy sauce and tahini to make the sauce to go on top, and you sprinkle the sweet potato with some sesame seeds, cilantro and green onion to finish.

The best part about this dish is the crispy chickpeas. I love the blend of spices and how the chickpeas get crunchy after you sauté them in the pan. I ended up saving half of them for a snack tomorrow at work.

I only made one sweet potato because I was cooking dinner for myself, but feel free to follow the original recipe and make four if you’re super hungry or feeding a crowd.

This song reminds me of Steph, too. We were both in the same photojournalism class and one of our first assignments was to wander around taking pictures of random people. I saw Lil Kemo shooting a music video by the beach in Evanston, and his manager kindly agreed to let me take a picture.
Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Chickpeas and Tahini Hot Sauce (from The First Mess)

Ingredients

4 medium sweet potatoes, cut in half lengthwise

for the chickpeas:
2 teaspoons grapeseed or coconut oil
2 cups cooked chickpeas (roughly one 15-ounce can, drained)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon gluten-free tamari soy sauce
½ teaspoon chili garlic sauce/other hot sauce

for the ginger tahini sauce:
1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
¼ cup tahini
1 lime, juiced (about 2 tablespoons of juice)
1-2 tablespoons gluten-free tamari soy sauce
2-3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
½ teaspoon chili garlic sauce/other hot sauce
hot water to thin, about 2-3 tablespoons

for garnish:
2 green onions, sliced
¼ cup chopped cilantro (or other leafy herb)
sesame seeds
extra chili garlic sauce, or other hot sauce (I used Cholula)
lime wedges

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking dish with 2-inch sides with parchment paper. Set the sweet potatoes, flesh side down, onto the parchment. Bake sweet potatoes until they are tender all the way through, about 25 minutes.

While sweet potatoes bake, heat the grapeseed oil in medium skillet over medium heat. In a medium bowl, toss the chickpeas with the garlic powder, cumin, ginger, coriander, maple syrup, tamari, and hot sauce.

Transfer the chickpeas to the skillet. Sauté chickpeas until visibly browned and lightly dried. The spices should form a golden “crust” on the outside of the chickpeas. This should take about 5 minutes with intermittent stirring.

Using the same bowl that you tossed the chickpeas in, quickly whisk together the tahini sauce. Mix together the ginger, tahini, lime juice, tamari, maple syrup, and hot sauce. Once it’s totally smooth, add enough hot water to get the sauce to pourable consistency. Whisk thoroughly and set aside.

Place baked sweet potatoes on plates or a platter. Top the sweet potato halves with tahini sauce, the cooked chickpeas, green onions, cilantro/herbs, sesame seeds, and extra hot sauce. Serve lime wedges on the side. Enjoy immediately.