Moroccan Spiced Sweet Potato “Noodle” Skillet! This this flavorful one-pan wonder checks all the boxes for an easy, healthful weeknight meal. Spiralized sweet potatoes act as “noodles” and warm, fragrant spices give this veggie-packed dish an exotic twist.
At least once a week I find myself peering into my fridge and pantry and stare at the hodge-podge of ingredients, as if waiting for some sort of magical force to make them float out on their own and create a wonderful dish that everyone in my family will enjoy.
That scenario, of course, has yet to happen, but that certainly doesn’t keep me from wishing it would! Since I’m not much of a meal planner, most of the time our nightly dinners are completely off the cuff, being created as a I go along from the Roladex of flavor combos I know we enjoy/want to try/feel like eating that night and limited only by the ingredients I have on hand.
This Moroccan Spiced Sweet Potato “Noodle” Skillet came about on a night exactly like what I described. I was craving a “Moroccan-inspired” blend of spices and started cleaning out the refrigerator of any remnants of veggies that might go well with that vibe and tossing them into a skillet as I went along. The end result hit the spot and we were full and satisfied. {Well, my husband and I were, at least. My 3-year-old balks at 99% of foods at this point in time.}
The first incarnation of this recipe didn’t include any sweet potato at all, so I served it over rice or quinoa to add a filling, starchy element to the dish. After giving it some thought and researching Moroccan tagine recipes, I decided that I’d add sweet potato to the mix next time. Except… “next time” turned out to be a time when I was feeling quite lazy and didn’t feel like cooking quinoa or rice in a separate pot and having one more thing to clean. {Don’t judge.}
So, this sweet potato “noodle” skillet was born! A spice-filled tomato base makes a perfect sauce for tender zucchini, hearty chickpeas and salty olives that really makes this dish stand out. The combination of cumin, coriander and cinnamon isn’t something you might always think of as a natural trio, but the three spices work together to create a tantalizing aroma that brings all the other elements of the dish to life. Fresh lemon juice added at the end brightens it all up, and the natural sweetness of sweet potatoes creates a great balance with the dish’s savory notes.
I know spiralizing vegetables might be a bit passé {aren’t all the cool kids InstantPot-ing and Sous vide-ing these days?}, but I still enjoy my spiralizer and find myself reaching for it when I want to eat a typical food in a different kind of way to make it a bit more interesting. If you don’t own a spiralizer, you can use a mandolin or a vegetable peeler that juliennes to create strips, or save yourself the trouble and pick up sweet potato ribbons at your local grocery store. A quick tip: Spiralized Sweet Potatoes can go from “too crunchy” to “fall-apart mushy” in just seconds, so keep an eye out if you prefer to keep your “noodles” intact so that you pull it from cooking when it’s al dente and not disintegrating.
Anyway, until I figure out how to get the ingredients to levitate out of my pantry and into the pan a la the Sleeping Beauty cake scene, this is as easy as its going to get. Now you can use all that energy saved to argue over who will clean the one, dirty skillet sitting in the sink. 😉
Moroccan Spiced Sweet Potato “Noodle” Skillet
