Roasted Pecan and Maple Sweet Potatoes with Lentils
This recipe from Rod Parker, director of the LSU School of Art, is “pretty fine with a grilled rack of lamb” and draws from Chris Morocco of Bon Appétit magazine and Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. If the flavors interest you, Ottolenghi has a cornucopia of books that will outlast even a pandemic’s worth of cooking.
Rod Parker’s roasted pecan and maple sweet potatoes with lentils.
Rod Parker
Please buy local, Louisiana ingredients—Sweet potatoes had a 2018 farm-gate value
of $54 million, with commercial production in 10 parishes.
“Only in the USA would the idea of adding maple syrup and raisins to an already sweet
potato sound viable,” Rod Parker said. “But it really works—the other ingredients
dial back the sweetness. The result is vivid and intense.”
Parker loves learning about and experimenting with spices. He makes frequent trips
to Red Stick Spice Company on Jefferson Highway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
“While [my wife] Courtney doesn’t entirely agree, I think having six or eight kinds
of pepper indicates a culinary range, not an obsession!”
Roasted Pecan and Maple Sweet Potatoes with Lentils
(Serves 6-8)
3 large sweet potatoes (about 3 pounds)
4 tablespoons olive oil (plus 4 tablespoons more for lentils)
1 cup dried lentils, preferably black or French green
½ cup pecans, roasted and coarsely chopped
6 green onions, coarsely chopped
½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
½ cup golden raisins
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
Dressing:
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar (plus 1 tablespoon more for lentils)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Chop washed but unpeeled sweet potatoes into ¾-inch
cubes. Drizzle with oil, salt, and pepper, and bake for 30 minutes, turning once halfway
through. Boil lentils in salted water (or broth) in a medium pot until tender but
not mushy; check after 15 minutes. Drain and let cool a little. Mix all ingredients
for the dressing separately and soak raisins in dressing for a few minutes to soften.
Next, toss lentils with 4 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp vinegar and add salt and pepper
to taste. When potatoes are ready, mix with green onions, parsley, cilantro, and red
pepper flakes. Toss with dressing and serve either warm or room temperature over a
bed of lentils.
Elsa Hahne
LSU Office of Research & Economic Development
ehahne@lsu.edu