Let this recipe serve as your reminder that you can use store/farmers’ market bought pre-made sauces to BRING THE FLAVOR. Very often I find personally and with my clients that the FLAVOR factor holds us back from cooking. We want our food to taste amazing, but often recipes don’t turn our as flavorful as expected.

Leaning into pre-made sauces is a great way to get into the kitchen with less pressure. Let professionals deal with the flavor while we prep and cook all the other ingredients. Just make sure that we LOVE the ingredients in the pre-made sauces. Opt for organic, local sauces made with ingredients you can pronounce and anti-inflammatory oils (olive oil, avocado oil or coconut oil as opposed to sunflower seed oil, vegetable oil or canola oil!). If you find a great sauce/dressing you love, don’t hesitate to add it to your meals to bring the flavor and give you confidence in the kitchen.

This recipe features a sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and lots of vegetables. It’s as delicious as nutritious- filled with fiber, plant based protein, and green vegetables (which we could all use more of in our diets!). I sourced everything aside from the canned beans from my local farmer’s market and my own garden, making this a zero waste, sustainable meal!

Chickpea & Vegetable Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

• 2-3 medium sweet potatoes

• 1, 15 ounce can chickpeas

• 1 medium onion

• 2 garlic cloves

• 2 cups string beans

• 8 cups greens of choice (kale, spinach, Swiss chard, combination!)

• Pre-made sauce of choice (I used a chimichurri)

Instructions

1. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and poke each a few times with a fork. Bake them in a 375F oven for 50-60 minutes until soft.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, prep the vegetables: chop the onions, string beans and greens and mince the garlic.

3. Once prepped, heat avocado oil in a pan over medium heat. Once warm, add in the garlic and onion and saute until fragrant and the onions are translucent. Then add in all other vegetables. Saute until the string beans are cooked (soft, but not mushy. I like my string beans to retain some crunch!).

4. Once all the vegetables are cooked, mix in your sauce of choice.

5. To serve, cut open the sweet potatoes and top with the stuffing. You can remove the sweet potato from the skin and mash it a bit and then add it back into the skin before adding the stuffing if you want!)

Check out my Instagram Reel where I walk you through how to make this delicious recipe.