Recipe: Recovery Sweet Potatoes
In our Sept/Oct magazine issue, the focus was on recovery and recovery foods. Here we share with members the recipe for the delicious post-workout or pre-race sweet potato, fish, and chimichurri recipe you could see in the magazine.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
When thinking about food that is easy, nutritious and delicious, not many things come to mind or stand out as much as sweet potatoes do. Not only are they a quick and easy post-training food, but they’re a perfect recovery dinner that can keep the whole family happy.
Immediately post-training or racing: Baked or steamed potatoes with the skin peeled off—loaded with olive oil, parmesan, peanut butter, a good sprinkle of salt, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to help make it all palatable. Of course, it’s also a great base with scrambled eggs, rice, or any leftovers you have stashed in the fridge.
For this recovery or pre-race dinner, we leave the skin on for added fiber. This keeps your stomach and gut happy by moving it all along, so that on race day you’re feeling light, fresh, and springy. In this version, we can either slice the potatoes or mash them, then add a grilled fish—any firm white fish will do; we’re using sablefish here. Then add some homemade chimichurri for that extra touch.
This is one of those meals you can make as much or as little as you want—depending on your training!
Ingredients
Sweet potatoes
- Two large sweet potatoes
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- ¼ red onion, sliced thinly
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Lemon juice
Chimicurri
- 1 small bunch of fresh parsley
- 1 cup olive oil
- Fresh lemon juice & rind
- 1 tablespoon chopped shallots or red onion
- Small amount of fresh garlic
- Pinch of pepper flakes
Preparation
Sweet Potatoes:
- Scrub and cube or cut into slices two large sweet potatoes, skin on
- Bring salted water to a boil, add potatoes and cook until tender (approx. 8-10 minutes)
- Drain, set aside in one layer to cool
- Prepare the fish—any firm white fish will do; we used sable for this
- With the potatoes add the celery, red inion, olive oil, course salt to taste, and one fresh lemon squeezed into juice. Mash together into a chunky warm sweet potato salad. (You can also eat as slices served with the fish, depending on preference.)
- Top with the chimichurri (below)
For Grilled Fish
- Dust thoroughly with salt and pepper
- Lightly spray or brush on olive oil
- Grill white side first on med-high heat, get nice grill marks
- Flip once, leave skin on if desired, or it will come right off once cooked
For Pan-Seared Fish
- Dust thoroughly with salt and pepper
- Lightly spray or brush on olive oil
- Bring non-stick pan to a medium high heat, sear white side down first til a nice golden brown (approx. 3-4 minutes), flip once until lightly coooked
Quick “Chimichurri” Recipe
This is a very simplified take on a classic cuban and latin herb oil. One of my favorites for any last-minute cooking, it will brighten any dish, and the hit of acid makes the food so much more delicious after you’ve been sweating and eating gels or bars for hours.
Into your bullet blender:
- 1 small bunch of fresh parsley
- 1 cup olive oil
- fresh lemon juice, start with half of a lemon and go from there
- just the yellow rind from a fresh lemon, approx. 1 tsp or so to start, add more after you’ve tasted
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 1 tablespoon of chopped shallots or red onion
- small amount of fresh garlic
- a pinch of red pepper flakes
Grind together, adjust for taste. It should be a thick, herby, lemony oil that brings the sweet potato and dense fish flavors together nicely.
To plate the whole thing into a delicious recovery meal:
- Fresh leafy greens on bottom of plate
- Top with big heaps of crushed sweet potatoes or slices
- Lay grilled fish on top
- Spoon on ground herb “chimichurri” sauce
- Drizzle extra olive oil, add more salt, fresh lemon. And eat!