The leaves are turning colors, which means we are in the midst of autumn, but more importantly, that sweet potatoes arrived at the farmers’ markets last week. This is the season for delicious roasted root vegetables. Personally, I love sweet potatoes: they’re highly nutritious and highly delicious.
The following recipe is simple and can be easily tailored to your tastes. If you love cinnamon (I do), add more. You can swap the brown sugar and honey for maple syrup, agave syrup or molasses, whichever you prefer. You can also make a large batch of this and eat it throughout the week by reheating. Roasted sweet potatoes will last for 3-4 days in the fridge.
Time: 1 hr 15 minutes, largely unattended Prep: 15 minutes Cook: 1 hr
Serves 6
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or other neutral oil such as canola or safflower) • 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced (about 4-5 medium sweet potatoes) • 2 tbsp brown sugar • 2 tbsp honey • 1 tbsp vanilla extract • 1 tsp ground cinnamon (or Apple Pie Spice or Pumpkin Pie Spice) • 3/4 teaspoon salt • 1 pinch ground pepper • 2 tbsp lemon or lime juice (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 2. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into 1-inch pieces and put in a baking dish. 3. Pour the vegetable oil over the sweet potatoes, just enough to cover the sweet potatoes. Sprinkle the brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, salt, pepper, a dash or two of lemon or lime juice, and a drizzle of honey over the sweet potatoes. 4. With your hands, mix all of the ingredients together so that everything is well integrated with no major clumps. 5. Place the baking dish into the oven and set a timer for 1 hour. 6. Every 20 minutes, stir and flip the sweet potatoes as necessary to allow them to brown evenly. 7. After 1 hour, check to see if they are tender by tasting. If they’re not as tender as you’d like, roast for 10 more minutes. 8. When the sweet potatoes are tender, take them out of the oven and serve immediately.
Happy eating!
For more delicious recipes, visit my blog at http://yangwithadashofyin.wordpress.com/
The Citizen 