Meera Sodha’s recipe for jacket sweet potato with smoked tofu, slaw and crispy chilli mayo | Meera Sodha recipes

No-waste cooking comes in many forms. It doesn’t have to mean cooking banana peel. To me, it means finishing a bag of potatoes before they grow eyes, and making the most of that last awkward bit of cabbage. Even finding a cheeky new way with the sauces and condiments already in the fridge. Using ingredients you’ve already got to make a new recipe is, in my opinion, the most “no waste” of them all. So here’s permission from me to make substitutes – herb for herb, veg for veg, or anything you’ve already got – to make this recipe work for you.

Jacket sweet potato with smoked tofu, slaw and crispy chilli mayo

If you are making substitutes, you could use ordinary firm tofu instead of smoked, a teaspoon of sugar instead of mirin, white cabbage instead of red, any chilli oil instead of the peanut or tofu version (use to taste, because the heat will vary) and any soft herb instead of coriander. Of course, it won’t taste exactly the same, but it will still work well.

Prep 15 min
Cook 50 min
Serves 4

4 medium sweet potatoes (1kg)
5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp fine sea salt
450g smoked tofu, cut into 2cm cubes
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
400g red cabbage (ie, half a small one)
Juice of 3 limes, to get 5 tbsp
100g mayonnaise, vegan if need be
1 tbsp chipotle en adobo
4-6 tbsp peanuts in chilli oil, or peanut, kohlrabi and tofu chilli crisp
30g fresh coriander, leaves and tender stalks, chopped

Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. Wash the sweet potatoes, put them in a bowl, then rub all over with a tablespoon of the olive oil and a half-teaspoon of sea salt. Put on a baking tray and roast for 25 minutes.

In the meantime, put the tofu in a medium bowl, add two tablespoons of oil, the soy sauce and mirin, and toss to coat. When the sweet potatoes have had 25 minutes, add the tofu to the tray and roast both for a further 15 minutes, until the tofu is golden and the sweet potatoes are crisp.

Finely slice the red cabbage, put it in the empty tofu bowl, then toss with five tablespoons of lime juice, the last two tablespoons of olive oil and a half-teaspoon of salt. In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise and chipotle.

To serve, split open the baked sweet potatoes, spoon a quarter of the tofu mix in each one, then top with a dollop of chipotle mayonnaise and a handful of slaw. Finish with a generous spoonful of peanut chilli crisp and a good sprinkling of coriander.

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