Success: Cooking Sweet Potatoes

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

As we're still on the no grains/dairy at home thing, I figured we might as well take a closer look at potatoes. For consistency's sake, we're just looking at sweet potato preparations mostly inspired by a discussion thread on NerdFitness, but you could drop the cinnamon/nutmeg and use plain old white potatoes for pretty much all these recipes. The nerd rebellion seems to think that sweet potatoes have a lower glycemic load, but that nonsense is never black and white. PrecisionNutrition has a whole thrilling article about this debate, and pretty much shows that preparation, age of the potato, etc. etc. has some influence on the final figures. Basically, potatoes are okay, so long as you don't eat too many of them because they tend to be high in carbohydrates.

I'm thinking these Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with White Beans and Kale from TheKitchn are next on the todo list. But if you want something that uses, say, actual dairy or sugar, TheKitchn has a nice roundup of sweet potato dishes.

Quick Cinnamon Sweet Potato Slices

The speediest, most convenient way.

1. Slice sweet potato into 1/4" rounds.
2. Poke a couple holes in each slice.
3. Microwave on microwavable plate under a moist paper towel for approximately 5 minutes.
4. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.

Alternatively, one could put the sliced rounds into a bowl, top with olive oil, rosemary, and lots of thinly sliced garlic. Then microwave until tender (~6 mins).

Quick Once-nuked Sweet Potatoes

Takes the twice baked sweet potato concept and makes it super speedy.

1. Poke a few holes in the sweet potato.
2. Cover with moist paper towel.
3. Microwave until soft (approximately 5 minutes).
4. Cut the sweet potato lengthwise, but not all the way through.
5. Scoop innards into a bowl and add a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, fat of choice, and a bit of water (to get mashed potato consistency).
6. Mash potato innards until it reaches a consistency of mashed potatoes.
7. Return the mashed mixture into the potato skin.
8. Done.

Sweet Potato Steak Fries

Pretty much just a redo of roasted potatoes, but with sweet potatoes.

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cut sweet potato into desired shape (coins, bite-sized wedges, steak fries, etc. etc.). The thicker the cut, the longer they'll have to cook!
3. Spread potatoes onto cookie sheet, sprinkle with salt & spices.
4. Drizzle olive oil over potatoes and toss so that all potatoes are covered in seasonings and oil.
5. Roast in oven for 20-40 minutes, until cooked through. I like to wait a little longer to get some crispy bits. Be sure to flip potatoes halfway through baking time.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Like regular mashed potatoes, but not.

1. Boil a large pot of water.
2. Peel 2lbs sweet potatoes, and chop them up into bite-sized cubes.
3. Add potatoes to boiling water and boil until soft (20-30 minutes).
4. Drain potatoes and add to a bowl with 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 Tbsp butter, and cinnamon or nutmeg.
5. Mash until smooth.

Sweet Potato Hash Browns

You can go veggie, like below, or add bacon a la Emeril Lagasse.

1. Sautee 1 cup diced onions in some olive oil with salt and pepper until translucent (2 minutes).
2. Grate the sweet potatoes (or food processor).
3. Add sweet potatoes to the onions, along with 2 cloves chopped garlic and sautee for 10-15 minutes until crispy.
4. Serve under some eggs.