Decadent yet healthy loaded sweet potatoes topped with tangelos, avocado, and haloumi, and drizzled with a tangy ginger-citrus vinaigrette. This post is sponsored by Knowledge Universe. Jump to recipe.
Every week there’s a night where my deadlines combined with Brian’s work and an avalanche of homework or playdates or projects converge, and we don’t make it to the kitchen. Pizza is the easiest food to procure in a pinch, but we change things up by adding sushi or Mexican food to the mix. Recently, in a moment of rare lucidity, Brian and I discussed how much better it would be if we just planned to eat out once a week, instead of making the same desperate decision each Wednesday night at 6pm. We know there’s going to be a night when things are just too hectic, so why not plan for it and take away some of the stress and guilt involved?
A pizza confession may be an unusual way to begin a post about healthier families, but I think it raises an essential point: no parent is perfect. Though we do our best to sit down to a healthy family dinner every night, sometimes, it’s just not possible. And whether we face a night of missteps or a week of them (hey, it happens), we just have to do our best to jump back in wherever we left off, and keep giving things our all.
It’s also important to note that the rules for what make your family healthy are entirely individual, based on everything from allergies to activity levels. For us, daily trips to the playground, brown bag lunches, and family dinners are the rules we try to stick to. On the weekends, we try to fit in an long outing or just a family walk. Recently, Brian and I have decided to really limit sweets, so we’ve reserved Friday nights as dessert night and skip it the rest of the week. But for each of our goals there are exceptions that pop up regularly, so maintaing flexibility, or just an understanding that doing our best is sometimes all we’ve got, is important to our parenting philosophy.
You were all so wonderful in this post about food waste and I’d really love to hear your tips, tricks, and struggles in keeping your own family healthy. If you’re looking to build on your momentum or get kids more involved in some of the decisions that go into healthy living, try this handy health Goals Tracker from Grow Happy. It’s brimming with simple, do-able ideas for making each day a little healthier for everyone in your family one step at a time.
Decadent yet healthy loaded sweet potatoes topped with tangelos, avocado, and haloumi, and drizzled with ginger-citrus vinaigrette.
- 4 garnet sweet potatoes, 6-inches long (also called garnet yams)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons minced red onion
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon citrus zest (lime, tangelo, or whatever you have on hand)
- 1 tablespoon minced cilantro
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne (optional)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt and pepper , to taste
- 2 tangelos , peeled and broken into segments
- 2 avocados , peeled, pitted, and chopped
- 1/2 red onion , minced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 1/2 cup haloumi , crumbled (optional)
- lime wedges
-
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
-
Wash sweet potatoes well, dry, and then poke all over with a fork. Wrap tightly with aluminum foil and set on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake 50 - 60 minutes or until sweet potatoes are fork tender.
-
To make dressing, whisking constantly, add each ingredient one at a time.
-
Set each roasted sweet potato on a plateWith a sharp knife, cut a slit down the center. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Drizzle with vinaigrette. Pile on your preferred toppings and finish with 1 - 2 teaspoons more vinaigrette and a squeeze of lime. Serve immediately.
This post is sponsored by Knowledge Universe. Thanks for supporting Brooklyn Supper’s sponsors!
first, before I get to what I was actually going to say, mmmmmmm…haloumi.
I ALWAYS plan a takeout night into our weekly meal plan, along with a leftovers night, and I usually decide which nights those will be based on our busiest days. you’re right, it really does take the pressure off and the guilt away. it’s funny, since we’ve been back from vacation I haven’t been able to get to the grocery store until this morning and we literally had no food in the house – so we ended up eating out and a lot of cereal. last night as I was picking up some takeout right around bedtime and feeling really frustrated and stressed, I just had to take a breath and tell myself it was OKAY. 🙂
I think for me the biggest thing we do to eat healthier is just to cook our dinners! cooking is key, if we’re prepping the food at home we automatically eat so much healthier! we also try to go homemade whenever we can – like now we make all our granola bars at home, for example.
enough rambling from me. thanks for being a great inspiration for feeding our families well!
Jane, I LOVE this. For me, seeing “take-out night” as part of your weekly menus on This Week for Dinner was a big part of my inspiration to just embrace it. And you’re so right, homemade almost always equals healthier. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!
We don’t have children but my husband and I try to have only 1 day per week where we eat almost whatever we want without going overboard. That’s usually the day we eat out too.
I’m loving these potatoes. I love all the fresh flavors involved.
I love to feed my kids sweet potatoes, but haven’t recently because I got bored with them… but – Oh! – this looks amazing. The acid and onions and everything make it sound so bright!
First time on your blog…love it!
When I was in college and cooking for myself, I vowed never to order take-out or buy frozen things for my family. Haha, flash forward a few years and things have changed! Now I aim to prevent unhealthy (and expensive) ordering out by keeping the pantry stocked with healthy soup. It sounds a little lame, but it’s a great quick-fix for a weekday dinner. I love your plan to eat out once a week! 🙂
Cheers,
Miachel
P.S. This recipe sounds amazing! What a great idea to stuff sweet potatoes.
I am a beginner in the kitchen and this recipe still turned out perfectly! I forgot ginger at the store but the vinaigrette still tasted great!
Hi Bonnie, I am SO glad to hear that! Thanks for sharing your experience with the recipe!
How many calories would each serving be