Remember these slow roasted sweet potatoes? I believe I discovered a new and possibly even better way to enjoy all varieties of sweet potatoes…white, purple, golden and my favorite, garnet yams!
Yes I love the salty crispy skin, the melt in your mouth creaminess inside of my slow roasted gems, but have you ever tried steaming sweet potatoes?
Thanks to Carla Lalli who shared her technique in a recent New York Times article, I am now steaming my sweet potatoes. I was a bit hesitant but OMG, these are EPIC! Steamed sweet potatoes may sound boring and bland but when you pair them up with a rich tahini butter sauce, you will quickly think other-wise.
Besides, when it’s a steamy with 85%, the last thing I needed was to turn on oven for hours. Steaming sweet potatoes eliminated heating up my house on a warm muggy day.
I was drenched after my run but I do think my body is getting more used to running in the heat. I managed to successfully nail all my paces…..for the most part?.
This particular workout in my Maintain Program is named Sailing?. As I said before, the names Coach MK’s titles her Runs put a smile on my face… although I was cursing her under my breath on this one…5K pace does suck! However, if you embrace that fact and just GO, you may surprise yourself. At least I did. I was close to my sub 8 minute miles for my 5K reps and damn, I felt like I was sailing on the second portion of the workout. My half marathon pace actually felt slow and I was cruising along effortlessly. Yeah me!
Sunday morning runs are honestly some of my favorites, espeically if Rob and I are around to attend church on Saturday night. I love taking my time on a Sunday morning and not rushing out the door. It’s also nice to take in an extra long cool down and focus more time on strength work too. The weekdays are much more rushed so it’s nice to have a more flexible day.
I don’t know about you, but I am always hungrier after running intervals. Immediately after my strength I whipped up a smoothie and had a one of these pillowing soft steamed sweet potatoes.
To make up for the inherent blandness of the cooking method, I slathered them with a rich tahini butter sauce. This simple recipe will surprise you just like it did me so I encourage you to leave your oven off next time you’re in the mood for sweet potatoes. Every bite will surprise you with some crunch from the toasted sesame seeds, the salt, umami, & acidity from the lime juice which counteracts the sweetness of the pillowing potatoes.
Let me know if you try these…I may try steaming them in my Instant Pot next round!
STEAMED SWEET POTATOES WITH TAHINI BUTTER
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 pounds or about 4 sweet potatoes ~ any color
- 6 tablespoons ghee or butter at room temp
- 1/4 cup well-stirred tahini
- 2 to 3 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- freshly squeezed lime juice & lime wedges for serving
- 1 garlic clove finely meshed
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds
- flaky sea salt for serving
DIRECTIONS:
- Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a medium pot fitted with a steamer basket. Place sweet potatoes in the steamer. Cover, reduce heat to medium and steam until potatoes are completely tender, 35 to 40 minutes. (Use a skewer or paring knife to check for doneness; the potatoes should be soft all the way through.)
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk butter, tahini, lime juice, coconut aminos, sesame oil and garlic until smooth. Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and more lime juice as needed.
- Set a small pan over medium heat. Toast the sesame seeds, swirling the pan continuously, until seeds are golden, about 4 minutes. Transfer seeds to a small bowl to prevent them from overcooking.
- When the sweet potatoes are tender, use tongs to transfer them to a large plate or platter. When they are just cool enough to handle, split potatoes in half lengthwise, and season with flaky salt. Spread tahini butter generously onto the flesh, and top with sesame seeds. Serve immediately with lime wedges.
How often do you incorporate harder runs? Once a week? Twice?
Do you have a favorite type of sweet potato and cooking method?
What’s your favorite running season?
Does your church (if you attend) offer a Saturday night service? My husband and I love this option.
Have you ever made sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot?
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