Greek Salad Sweet Potato

I've just recently gotten back into cooking. It's been slow going. I'll be honest, and this may come as a surprise to you, especially if you're familiar with how much I love to cook (and who are we kidding, you all are), that in the past 3 months I've done virtually 0 homemade meals. During the first trimester I had an interesting relationship with food. I never really got full blown morning sickness, but did have consistent nausea, and that combined with being tired beyond belief, well even the thought of grocery shopping, cooking, then cleaning was enough to induce a nap.

But here I am now with more energy, a better albeit limited appetite (i.e. I'll eat anything that's pregnancy approved but find that I get full REALLY quickly), and no working oven. So I turned to my favorite food blogger, Luisa from The Wednesday Chef (also a new mom herself!), because if anyone has me dying to make a recipe, it's her. And of course almost immediately I came across this insanely delicious meal that I'd never, ever think to put together. Sweet potatoes topped with Greek salad.

Strange combination perhaps but it works! For all the reasons I'll only eat a little Greek salad (too acidic, too salty, feta... yuck) are the exact reasons why sweet potatoes work perfectly in conjunction. It's the perfect slightly sweet, warm and starchy vessel the salad needs to mellow out a bit. This has fast become my go-to home alone dinner or work day lunch. Since most feta is unpasteurized (plus gross... to me) I've turned to ricotta salata, a favorite of mine and it's made with pasteurized sheep's milk. I added in cucumbers, left out red peppers and scallions, thought about tossing in a chopped tomato but maybe next time. And once the salad was made- enough for a few days, it only took 5 minutes to heat the potato in the microwave. Voila. Healthy, delicious, simple and quick. Perfection in my book, whether pregnant or not.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Spicy Feta Ricotta Salata-Olive Salad
Makes 2-4 servings
Adapted from Traveler's Lunchbox
1/2 pound feta ricotta salata cheese, cut into small cubes 
2/3 cup black oil-cured olives, pitted and chopped
1/2 cucumber, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon za'atar (optional)
2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt to taste- didn't need any
A spoonful of sour cream or yogurt

2 large sweet potatoes

1. Microwave or bake the sweet potato until tender. 

2. Prepare the salad, let marinate. Once the potato is done, slice down the middle and top with the salad. I usually do a whole potato for dinner and a half for lunch.