Cinnamon roasted sweet potatoes are absolutely delicious – if you haven’t tried cooking them this way, you’re in luck! This simple salad is a quick make-ahead lunch idea that’s very lunch box friendly. I hope you enjoy the recipe! I’m a big fan of the Aldi microwave lentil packs I recently found – there are other brands out there too of course, and I do cook lentils too, but these pre-cooked packs are very handy especially for lunches or if you’re short on time!

Recipe (Serves 4-5)

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 8-10 baby tomatoes
• 1 large sweet potato or 5 small size ones
• A few handfuls of washed spinach leaves
• 2 x 400g packs of pre-cooked lentils (Aldi do their own brand, and Merchant Gourmet also have a few versions of these available in Tesco)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Line a roasting tray with tinfoil greased with a little olive or rapeseed oil.
2. Wash the sweet potatoes, then slice them into 1-inch chunks. Add the chunks to a bowl.
3. Add 1 tbsp of rapeseed or olive oil to the sweet potatoes and stir to coat them in it. Then add the cinnamon on top and stir again.
4. When the oven is ready, spread the sweet potatoes out onto the roasting tray and roast for approximately 35-40 minutes. Check at 30 minutes – a fork should easily pierce the potato if they’re done.
5. While the sweet potatoes are roasting, get everything else sorted. Add the spinach leaves to a large bowl.
6. Slice the baby tomatoes into halves, and add them too.
7. Prepare the lentil packs according to package instructions (usually this involves microwaving them for 1-2 minutes, but do according to the pack you have). Allow the lentils to cool, then add them to the bowl.
8. Mix everything up in the bowl.
9. When the sweet potatoes are done, allow them to cool for about 10 minutes, then add them to your bowl too. Mix everything up, and then serve, or add to lunchboxes if this is your lunch/lunches for the next day! Please note, you can keep the ingredients separate as I have done in the photo, if you prefer!

Enjoy guys! Tag me if you try this one out – @theirishbalance on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook!

Ciara 🙂 x