Lately, I can’t get enough of romaine lettuce, which is weird considering a few months ago it was my least favorite green (next to iceberg). However, with the creation of our Vegan Caesar Salad with BBQ Sweet Potato Croutons, my love affair began, and it’s been going strong for months.
This is an iteration of that recipe, but with more decidedly Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean influences thanks to the addition of za’atar spice blend, hummus, and tahini (follow links for recipes and to learn about the origins of these ingredients).
Not only is this bowl incredibly flavorful, it’s also quite nourishing with the addition of a whole sweet potato for plenty of whole, complex carbs and natural sweetness. Our go-to 4-ingredient dill garlic sauce adds a garlicky, lemony punch. Did we mention it’s ready in 30 minutes? Let us show you how it’s done!
Nourish Bowl Components
First comes our tabbouleh-inspired parsley salad for a fresh, herby element. Parsley is native to the Mediterranean and is rich in antioxidants and minerals including potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, and magnesium (source). It’s one of our favorites!
But if you’re not a parsley fan, another fresh herb such as cilantro or dill could work as a substitute.
Next is one of our favorite sauces from the blog: Dill Garlic Sauce! Made with hummus, lemon, garlic, and dill, this sauce comes together in just 5 minutes and adds so much flavor!
And for the roasted sweet potatoes, we used our tried-and-true method: cut in half, coat with a dash of oil, and bake cut side down until tender (~25 minutes). Do you see that caramelization? Hubba hubba!
With the components ready, this nourish bowl comes together in no time!
Chopped romaine provides crunch, sauerkraut supplies probiotics and tang, and tahini adds richness and minerals. Za’atar brings it all together with its herbal, tangy, savory notes.
Oh, and don’t forget about the extra spoonful of hummus because there’s no such thing as too much hummus!
We hope you LOVE this bowl! It’s:
Savory
Comforting
Versatile
Customizable
Quick & easy
Flavorful
& Nourishing!
It’s perfect as a weeknight meal, but also delicious enough to impress dinner guests! And while plenty filling on its own, it would also pair well with our falafel, beet falafel, or lemon baked salmon.
More Sweet Potato Recipes
- Mediterranean Baked Sweet Potatoes
- Sheet Pan Meal: Curried Sweet Potato & Chickpeas
- Masala Chickpea Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
Garlic & Herb Sweet Potato Nourish Bowl (30 Minutes!)
Ingredients
SWEET POTATO
- 1 medium sweet potato, halved (skin on)
- 1/4 tsp avocado oil
PARSLEY SALAD
- 1 cup finely chopped parsley
- 1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper or cherry tomatoes
- 3 Tbsp diced red onion
- 1 ½ Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 healthy pinch each sea salt and black pepper
SAUCE
- 1/2 batch 4-Ingredient Dill Garlic Sauce
FOR SERVING
- 2 cups chopped romaine (we like romaine hearts)
- 2 Tbsp hummus (or store-bought)
- 1 Tbsp sauerkraut (or sub store-bought)
- 1 Tbsp tahini (or see our favorite brands here!)
- 2-3 tsp za’atar (or sub store-bought)
- Lemon wedges (optional)
- 1 Tbsp dulse (or other sea vegetable or sprout of choice // optional)
- Chili garlic sauce (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees F (204 C // if you have convection, use it to speed cook time) and line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. Add halved sweet potato and rub with a little oil to coat (if your sweet potato is large, cut into quarters or large wedges to speed bake time). Then bake for ~25 minutes or until tender.
- In the meantime, prepare parsley salad by adding parsley, red bell pepper, red onion, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to a small mixing bowl and tossing to combine. Add more lemon or salt to taste if needed. Set aside.
- Next, prepare dill garlic sauce by adding the hummus, lemon juice, fresh or dried dill, and minced garlic to a small mixing bowl and stirring to combine. Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding salt to taste (only if needed), lemon juice for more acidity, garlic for bite, or dill for a more intense herb flavor. If the flavors are too strong, dilute with a little hummus. The sauce should be pourable, so add a bit of water to thin if needed.
- To serve, add the chopped romaine to a large serving bowl along with parsley salad, roasted sweet potato, hummus, sauerkraut, tahini, and za’atar. Optional: You can also serve with lemon wedges and top with dulse and/or chili garlic sauce. Serve with the dill garlic sauce.
- Best when fresh. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator, keeping the sauce and sweet potato separate from the greens / parsley salad. Sweet potatoes will last for 2-3 days, greens for 3-4 days, and sauce for 4-5 days. Reheat sweet potato in a 375 degree (190 C) oven or on the stovetop over medium heat until hot.
Video
Notes
*The majority of the prep time takes place during the cook time, which is about 25-30 minutes, depending on the size of the sweet potato.
Meredith says
I was curious how the flavors would work together but it was DELICIOUS. I didn’t have za’atar, dulse, or sauerkraut so I left those out. I roasted two sweet potatoes, added some crispy tandoori chickpeas, and doubled the garlic dill sauce to make this four meals.
Yay! So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Meredith! Thanks for all your kind reviews!
Daman Lamba says
Delicious! All the flavours work together so beautifully. This will be a staple in my weekly rotation.
Love it! Thanks so much for the review, Daman!
Allison says
Loved it! Works pretty well for meal prepping too if you make the dressing and chop everything ahead of time then all you have to do is roast the sweet potato while you do something different. Over the winter I was making a lot of middle-eastern inspired dishes and so now have a small jar of za’atar to use up, do you think you could create more recipes that would use za’atar?
Thanks!
We’re so glad you enjoy it, Allison! We’ll add that to our requests list =) We love adding it to roasted vegetables, hummus, and grilled chicken. Hope that helps!
Robyn says
I’m surprised by how delicious this is! Very light and fresh but full of flavor!!
Woohoo! We love to hear this. Thanks for the lovely review, Robyn! xo
Lorie says
This recipe was amazing! I was a little skeptical as I was making it because some of the ingredients wouldn’t seem to go well together, but I’m so glad I took a chance on this! Although I didn’t change anything with the recipe, I wasn’t too diligent on measuring everything and this salad was so delicious! Will definitely make again!
Yay! We’re so glad you gave it a try and enjoyed it, Lorie! Thank you so much for sharing! xo
MK says
I made this for the first time this week and ended up making it again for three other meals — it is that yummy! I was initially worried the combo of flavors and ingredients were really weird together but it’s SO flavorful and filling. Highly recommend!
Thanks so much for the lovely review. We are so glad you enjoy it! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! Xo
Christina Nguyen says
I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS!!! Meal prepped it for the week and I throw the sweet potatoes in the air fryer for 5 mins to get them back into that “caramelized state” that was ruined from sitting in the fridge. DELICIOUS!
Yay! We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Christina. Thanks so much for the lovely review!
Brenda says
This is so delicious! I’ve made it with cilantro instead of parsley and the last time had neither so cut up cherry tomatoes and cucumbers instead and it was still great. I have made it with and without the hummus and 4 ingredient garlic and dill sauce. I don’t like hummus so now I use your ginger tahini sauce and skip the hummus. I don’t recommend skipping the garlic chili sauce, it is so good in this!
Love all your variations, Brenda! Thanks so much for sharing!
Jennie says
I’ve made this dish three times now, 2 of them on request of my meat-eating fiance. He lived in Cypress for a few months and says this dish reminds him of mezze.
It does NOT take me 30 minutes, but that’s only because I make my own hummus (your 5 min recipe) and flatbread (also your recipe).
We’re so glad you both enjoy it! It is very much a Mediterranean-inspired dish =) Thanks so much for sharing!
Jess says
DAMN this was a good salad!! The flavor combination is out of this world and adding the sweet potato really make for a filling bowl. I recently started cycle syncing and all these ingredients are perfect for when you are in your menstrual phase of your cycle. Will for sure be adding this to the ‘make again’ list.
Whoop! We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Jess. Thanks so much for sharing!
Kristen says
This was so good! Not something I’d normally go for but I love how filling and tasty it was. And it actually did only take 30 minutes! Will definitely make again.
Whoop! So glad you enjoyed it, Kristen! xo
Meghan says
Loved this recipe! The flavours worked together even better than I would have imagined. It was so delicious. If you’re not a vegan I suggest adding feta cheese to take it to the next level :)
We’re so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing, Meghan!
Tracy says
Delicious! I have always enjoyed Mediterranean flavors, but had never heard of za’atar. . . . . this combination of flavors was just so so so good! I will be making this over and over and over!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Tracy! Thanks so much for sharing!
melanie says
i really enjoyed this unique pairing of ingredients! i skipped roasting the sweet potato and cooked it in a skillet (for a faster meal) which was still good! next time i’ll try to put it in the oven.
like you, romaine can be hard to eat–especially when the weather gets colder. i threw the chopped lettuce into a skillet for just a quick minute to lightly warm it. that made for such a cozy bowl! #tip :)
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Melanie! Thanks so much for sharing! You could also sub other greens such as kale or spinach.
Tammy says
We loved the umami flavors of this dish. I made this using the quantities for two servings and found that we had a nice amount of leftovers. I ran out of parsley and filled in with watercress which worked fine. My question is about serving- did you just sort of toss it?
Yeah! Once everything is plated I loosely slice and toss! A mix of everything in each bite is so good.
Shari says
Loved this meal. It had such bright flavor and was so easy to make! It will definitely stay in the rotation. Once again you never disappoint!!!!!!
Lovely! Thanks for the kind review, Shari!!
Cristina says
My man made this for me tonight and omg…. so much flavor and freshness and somehow light and completely satisfying at the same time. I didn’t lift a finger but he said it was hella easy to make. Pairs well with natural rosé. Thank you, Dana, you rock my world.
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Cristina!!
Lena says
So gorgeous. I basically live on nourish bowls and I love yours so much so please keep them coming!!!
xo!
Alix says
this looks so good! last night I had just mozzarella sticks for dinner and then I spotted this this morning — perfect way to balance out my weekend meals. :) I don’t have parsley on hand so I skipped that element but chopped up some scallions for a little fresh greeniness. I had some beets in the fridge so I chopped those up too to roast while the sweet potato roasted. definitely a bowl full of nourishment! thank you!
Thanks for sharing your modifications, Alix!