Jacket Sweet Potatoes with Cottage Cheese

Heleen Meyer shares this lovely side dish with us as a wonderful alternative to the well-known baked potatoes. Baked potatoes are typically served with sour cream, but Heleen’s twist includes using smooth cottage cheese as a healthier option. She is a guru when it comes to making recipes healthier, without sacrificing any of the yumminess. Heleen says with the right cooking method and seasonings, these sweet potatoes are so good that those around your table will not even know that you are serving them a ‘healthier’ side dish.

So flavourful

Heleen makes a simple oil mixture seasoned with fresh ginger, lemon, garlic and chilli. The sweet potatoes and onions are first tossed in this wintery marinade, then oven-roasted until soft and caramelised. Then she stirs the aromatic onions and marinade into smooth cottage cheese and serves that on the sweet potatoes. We can guarantee you that this is even better than just a dollop of sour cream. These sweet potatoes are perfect to serve with grilled or roasted fish, chicken or pork, not to mention as part of a braai menu. Make sure that you can fill the rest of your plate with any green veggies or a green salad will also be delicious to keep the meal wholesome and balanced.

Jacket sweet potatoes with cottage cheese

Recipe by Heleen Meyer

Serves 6

20 ml (4 tsp) olive oil

60 ml (¼ cup) lemon juice

finely grated rind of 1 medium lemon

30 ml (2 tbsp) water

20 ml (4 tsp) finely grated fresh ginger

1 small chilli, seeded and chopped (optional)

1 clove of garlic, crushed

2 onions, cut into wedges

8-10 (700-900 g) medium sweet potatoes, in the skin

black pepper to taste

180 ml (¾ cup) plain smooth low-fat cottage cheese

handful fresh coriander leaves

1. Preheat the oven to 180 ˚C.
2. Mix oil, lemon juice and rind, water, ginger, chilli and garlic in a large bowl. Add onions and sweet potatoes and toss to coat the veggies. Season with pepper.
3. Place in an oven dish, with all the liquid and seasonings. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the sweet potatoes are soft.
4. Stir onions with any pan juices into the cottage cheese. Cut a deep slit into each sweet potato and fill with the cottage cheese mixture. Garnish with fresh coriander and a grind of black pepper. Serve the sweet potatoes with any of the remaining cottage cheese mixture.

Visit Heleen’s website for more recipes like this.

Image by Neville Lockhart.