Sweet Potato, Fennel & Olive Salad with Crispy Kale & Quinoa

This bowl has been my lunch for the last four days… I may have even eaten it for lunch and dinner yesterday! It’s just that good.

The idea of sweet potatoes mixed with olives, fennel and kale may not seem totally conventional, but it’s really one of the best combinations of flavours and textures that I’ve found in a while. The sweet, tender nature of the potatoes contrasts perfectly with the salty, ever so slightly chewy olives, the crispy kale and the crunchy, lime infused slithers of tangy fennel. Once everything is mixed together with the quinoa it’s just heaven, so unbelievably delicious.

Serves 3

– 1 large sweet potato

– 1 cup of quinoa (200g)

– 2 fennel

– 5 kale leaves

– 1 cup of pitted black olives (180g)

– 2 juicy limes or lemons, 3 if they’re not super juicy

– olive oil

– cinnamon

– paprika

– rosemary

– salt

The night before marinate the fennel, Start by slicing off the spiky top and the very bottom edge, then cut the rest into slithers. Place it in a big tupperware box and cover with the juice of two limes, salt and olive oil – there should be enough liquid in there from the juice and oil to ensure that each fennel slice is coated. Then leave the box in the fridge to soften.

Heat the oven to 180C. Then cut the sweet potato in half, into slices and then into bite sized cubes. Place these in a baking dish with olive oil, salt, cinnamon, paprika and rosemary – stirring everything well with your hands to ensure that all sides of each cube is coated in deliciousness. Then bake for 60 minutes, stirring them once or twice during this time.

While the sweet potatoes bake cook the quinoa.

Chop the kale leaves into bite sized pieces and two or three minutes before the sweet potatoes are cooked add the leaves to the top of the baking dish with a little extra oil and salt.

Once the kale is crisping up remove the baking tray and mix everything together with the quinoa, fennel and olives. Enjoy!