vegan – gluten free – grain free – refined sugar free – 30 minutes or less
Crispy roasted sweet potato topped with a rich and flavorful chickpea tikka masala – a traditional recipe from the UK characterized by a creamy tomato coconut curry sauce + loaded with spices. The easiest weekday meal ready within 30 minutes.
If you love this curry dish, try my favorite vegetable + rice coconut curry.
Cooking essentials:
A lined baking sheet
A small saucepan
See below for a breakdown of nutritional information and substitutions.
[mpprecipe-recipe:82]
For this recipe, you will need:
- Sweet Potato: loaded with vitamins and minerals. One cup of sweet potato has all your daily vitamin A intake, almost half your vitamin C and manganese, 36% of your copper, 34% of your B6, 24% of your biotin, and 20% of your potassium. Nevermind that they contain antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
- Chickpeas (garbanzo beans): a nutrient-dense food, loaded with vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber and healthy fats. Just one cup of chickpeas has 10 grams of protein, 4 grams of fat and 10 grams of fiber. Additionally, one cup has 12% of your daily omega-6, 70% of your manganese, 43% of your copper, 18% of your phosphorus and much more.
- Coconut milk, full fat: a good source of healthy fats and a great alternative to cow’s milk, which contains unnecessary added sugar.
- Tomato paste: tomatoes have a high water content of 94%, making them a good food for hydration and regular bowel movements, but not the most nutritionally-dense. However, one medium red tomato still has 65% of your daily vitamin A, 33% of your daily vitamin C as well as a good source of a few other vitamins and minerals. Since tomato paste is made up of concentrated tomatoes, you can get a lot of the benefits from tomatoes in a smaller quantity.
- Agave nectar: a low-glycemic natural sweetener. While honey, maple syrup and table sugar have a glycemic index of 50 or higher, agave is closer to 20. Although high glycemic foods aren’t necessarily bad for you (pineapple has a GI of 70), they will cause a larger insulin spike, leading to temporarily higher blood glucose levels. People with high blood sugar may want to limit high glycemic foods. Agave should still be used sparingly, since it is high in natural sugar (fructose). Substitutions: pure maple syrup.
- Extra virgin olive oil: one of the best oils for its healthy, monounsaturated fats. Just 4 tablespoons of evoo has over 35% of your daily intake of vitamin K and vitamin E, as well as 5% of your daily omega-6. It is also one of the most beneficial foods for healing inflammation due to the presence of oleic acid and oleocanthol. It is important to choose extra virgin olive oil over other lighter olive oils that have been diluted with cheaper oils like soybean oil or canola oil that have less health benefits. Substitutions: avocado oil. Most other oils or plant butter can be used, I choose avocado or evoo for their health benefits.
- Paprika: very rich in vitamin A. One teaspoon of paprika has 48% of your daily recommended vitamin A intake, as well as 4% of your vitamin B6, 4% of your vitamin E and 3% of your iron intake.
- Turmeric: an extremely healthy food due to its active compound curcumin. Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, making it great for prevention of cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s.
- Cumin: with an array of health benefits, cumin is most widely used for indigestion by increasing the activity of digestive enzymes. Studies have shown that cumin is effective for weight loss, improving blood cholesterol and preventing food-borne illnesses.
- Ginger + nutmeg: these spices have great anti-inflammatory properties and antioxidants. Adding spices to your meals is a simple way to prevent the risk of heart disease and lower blood sugar levels.
- Coriander powder (aka cilantro aka Chinese parsley): another powerful herb loaded with loaded with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents that help fight off disease.
- Sea salt: a natural alternative to table salt, which is more heavily processed and contains additives.
