Oven Roasted Sweet Potato, Black Bean and Kale Bowl with Goat Cheese and Pepitas

Some days you are looking for a hearty, no frills kind of dinner. This is it baby. Vegetarian, healthy and totally satisfying. Nutritious whole carbohydrates, check. Leafy greens, check. Vegetarian protein, two checks. And the thing that goes with practically everything... goat cheese. Of course if my husband were home he would ask, where is the animal protein. But he is not. So la-de-da-da.

A while back I discovered one simple swap that makes me love sweet potatoes even more... coconut oil! Although I am not a coconut oil fanatic... I do LOVE it on sweet potatoes. Seriously, if you like sweet potatoes, do yourself a favor and roast some with coconut oil. You can send me a gift card to Target as payment. Lord knows my ass will spend it.

I also accept cash, and gift cards to Anthroplogie, and Nordstrom. I am willing to solicit other forms of gratitude, but I feel like that will get you started. Back to dinner.

One silicone mat for the sweet potatoes, a large pan for the kale and beans, and the tale of not so woeful dishes is complete. I like things clean, but its not like I truly enjoy cleaning. And that is especially true of dishes at the end of a long day after dinner. I have enough on my plate, trust me.

Although they vary quite a bit from this dish, I have a few dishes that have similar profiles. Sweet potatoes, black beans and goat cheese are totally friends. In fact, I have cooked a number of dishes with them in the past. If I didn't cook them together in this dish, they probably would have found a way to get together anyway. And then I would be left out. My feelings would be hurt. It would be a sad situation. Sadder than the fact that I am making up a scenario in which the ingredients in my kitchen are leaving me out of a social situation. So before this gets anymore pathetic, lets get into the food...

Serves 4

Ingredients/Instructions:

For the Sweet Potatoes:

2 lg sweet potatoes

1/3 to 1/2 cup coconut oil

salt and garlic powder, sprinkle generously to taste

cayenne, light sprinkle

1. Scrub your potatoes.

2. Cut them into wedges. I halve mine (lengthwise), then halve them again (lengthwise) and then cut each quarter into 2 or 3 wedges.

3. Place the potatoes on a silicone mat on top of a baking sheet.

4. Generously brush the sweet potatoes with the melted coconut oil.

5. Sprinkle with salt and garlic powder. Lightly sprinkle cayenne as well.

6. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes, flipping half way through at 15 minutes.

For the Kale and Black Beans:

2 bushels kale

2 1/2 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper

1 lemon or lime

15 oz black beans

1. In a large wok style pan, brown the minced garlic in some coconut oil (about 2 minutes).

2. Remove the kale from its stem, and coarsely chop.

3. Add your salt and pepper, and saute for 4-5 minutes.

4. Add a can of black beans.

5. Juice them lemon or lime and give it another stir. Cooking for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Other ingredients:

4 oz crumbled goat cheese

1/2 cup pepitas

Plating:

There is no real science here. Add however much of each element that you like to a bowl or a plate. Hell, eat it out of a mug if you want. I am not going to stop by and judge you.

Don'f forget to add some crumbled goat cheese and pepitas.

Enjoy!