I'm scared of sweet potato!
 

b/c I don't know how to cook it. I believe I roasted some whole in the oven once but wasnt impressed with the outcome. I keep reading how they are healthier and better for weight loss than regular spuds so I want to try again.

Could any one tell me simple ways to cook sweet potatoes? Ideas for recipes would be good too - preferably nut-free recipes b/c of allergies.

TIA :carrot:

I like to slice sweet potato, steam it (Yes, that's right! Steam it!) along with some kale and then serve it tossed with a umeboshi-soy-ginger sauce.

i make baked sweet potato fries. Just slice them like you would french fries, then spray them with pam or something, sprinkle grill seasoning and bake until they are done/tender. YUM with burgers or cookout food.

I also microwave them, peel them, then smash them. Add a little light butter, ff sour cream, cinnimon, a touch of brown sugar and you have a great side dish. (sometimes i omit the brown sugar and add crushed pineapple, it is suprisingly good that way too).

Oooh, crushed pineapple, I bet that's good! I like to make sweet potato fries as well, great with cayenne sprinkled on for some kick. I like them in soups too, either in chunks or pureed for "creamy" soup.

Yum! I've got 5 on my counter right now and I had one for dinner tonight. Today I had a microwaved sweet potato -- 7 minutes in the microwave, then slice it open and eat with a spoon! I had it on the side with a teriyaki shrimp and veggie stir-fry. They're great on their own without any toppings.

I also sometimes make sweet potato fries in the oven. I found the recipe on this site. Sliced sweet potatoes with a little PAM or olive oil plus sprinkles of salt, black pepper, cumin, and cayenne pepper. They are the best -- taste just like the sweet potato fries at a restaurant near my last apartment -- just healthier!

I just nuke mine too, like a regular potato. Stick it with a fork first. Then I cut it in half, scoop out the insides and add a little lime juice to it. Yum!

I cut them up into chunks, spray with a little cooking spray and drizzle on a little olive oil. I then add garlic and onion powders, paprika, and salt. I bake it covered til almost tender, then uncover it till they are completely done.

I also do the french fry thing already mentioned. They are also great just baked in the oven. I wash them, poke a few holes in it with a fork, wrap them individually in aluminum foil and put in the oven at 400 degrees til tender. I also add them to some soups that I make, like chicken soup.

Hi everyone

thanks for the ideas. I tried the fries last night and really enjoyed them. I don;t think anyone else was impressed though...

But I noticed they seem to develop black spots when you peel them. Is that notmal? and is there anything that one can do about it?

I leave the skin on when I make my fries. That's the best part!!! Lots of nutrition and fiber. Plus the skin gets nice and crunchy.

say what?!
 

You can leave the skin on?? :eek: well bless my cotton socks!

I never thought of that :o b/c it always looks so gnarly and woody to me.

But I shall have to try it. I'm always up for more fibre and nutrients.

I knew I would learn things from this site... ;)

I like to chop some up with yellow onion, sprinkle with garlic salt, drizzle with olive oil, and stick it in the oven.

I made sweet potato fries for the first time today...just cut them up pretty thin and drizzled olive oil on top and baked them up nice and crispy! Mmmm...if you dip them in a little ketchup you can't even tell the difference between them and regular fries. But they are SO de-lish!

I like sweet potato fries, too. But my one of my favorite side dishes (especially along something like asian-glazed salmon) - slice up a sweet potato into wedges. Spray a baking dish with Pam, add in the sweet potato wedges, toss, and arrange in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and chili powder. Roast until potatoes are tender and the outsides have browned/crisped. Then serve with a squeeze of lime juice over the top. The lime really brings out the chili powder...mmmm.

I have a pretty easy but yummy sweet potatoe recipe, may not be the most healthy though lol. It's a casserole style, and can be healthy depending on how you prepare it.

Mash up a couple (or more depending on how many you are feeding) of large sweet potatoes in a casserole dish with 1-2T's of cinnamon. Then coat the top of it with a crushed nut of your choice (pecans are what we use). Then sprinkle a little brown sugar over the nuts, and either a) lightly coat the top of the casserole with some type of cooking spray/oil or b) do what my grandma does and cut chunks of butter over the top to melt while it's baking :D

Bake it at about 350 for 20-30 minutes (just long enough for the taters to get hot). Make sure the top doesn't burn.

I guess if you really wanted to, you could cook the sweet potatoes before you mashed them up and then just pop it in the oven until the top gets crunchy....Just whatever is easiest for you.

Here is a great way to fix the lighter ones... not sure if you are referring to those or (as is the case in some areas of the country) the darker ones which here we call yams... but for the light ones peel and chop them and get them started on the stove by boiling just a bit. Then put into a pie tin, spread them out and drizzle with olive oil. Cover with fresh salsa & chopped onion... or pico de gallo... and bake. YUM

They are also good boiled and mashed and used as topping on a shepherd's pie... in which you can use ground turkey instead of beef. This is also super.

I usually boil them or steam them. Oh & Ziploc is coming out with new microwave steamer bags, that should make it even easier

In some areas, the grocery stores sell ready-to-microwave sweet potatoes that are sealed in cooking plastic. They are all cleaned and are good-shaped, medium sized ones without woodiness; the ones I've had have all been the very dark orange fleshed kind, not my favorite but good with diet butter or buttery spray, cinnamon or Splenda. You just stick them in the micro for a few minutes and there you are, portable fast food.

Alexa makes good frozen sweet potato fries, 14 to a serving for a reasonable amount of calories. I believe there's only cold-pressed canola oil spritzed on them, but you'd have to check. (Regular canola oil isn't very healthy, IMO). There's a little seasoning type salt as well. Bake in oven, very delicious and easier for me than all that cleaning and cutting of the potatoes.

Oh I love sweet potatoes. I don't eat them every day, but as a treat on occasion. I like to bake them and they are great right out of the oven, sweet and moist, they don't need anything else IMO. If you have leftovers the next day, cut them into circles (crosswise), and fry them in a little cooking spray in a pan until browned. Also yum. I have been meaning to try the fries, but I haven't done that yet.

Sockmonkey, I make something similar to yours every Thanksgiving, the family always asks for it. Mashed sweet potatoes, butter, a little milk, brown sugar, topped with more brown sugar, butter and pecans and baked to crisp the top. If they want it this year, it surely won't be the same as usual - too much butter and sugar! But I'll have to experiment. I'm sure I could lighten it up and it would still be great.

i think there's a song lyric in that concept.
"scared of sweet potato." i like it.

here's a easy recipe for dummies. there is a microwave setting for potatoes. You can use that. Just cover your sweet potato with some olive oil and brown sugar. Cover with plastic wrap on a plate till done. Sweet and easy. You can also use a lil lite butter.:bravo::hun:

I love Sweet potatoes!! I can eat them baked, in a pie, or my favorite is roasted. I cut them up in large ( not too large pieces and boil them for a few minutes until you can put a fork in the middle( you can also steam them), then I let cool and toss with olive oil to coat, salt and pepper and roast.. yummy
cheryl

I think I will make them for my TKG potluck.. I have never actually made them before, but really should! I have a few great recipes, and I will def try one..

I love to bake'em just like a regular potato. Wash them well, rub lightly with olive oil on the outside, and bake in a 400 oven (I use the toaster oven) for about an hour or until you can poke it with a fork and it's tender.

Cut open and add a dot of butter and some salt and pepper.

Yummy.

I've never been a big sweet potato fan. I really dislike "sweet" vegetables, especially when they're cooked in a way to make them even sweeter. Blegh (no candied carrots or sweet potatoes for me).

However. I love carrots cooked with a beef roast (though I never thought to try it with sweet potatoes - well, we don't really do "hunk o' meat" meals anymore, so I probably won't try that any time soon).

I often roast veggies, and I've done sweet potatoes cut in large chunks or fries toss with a bit of olive or canola oil (a very little bit, like a tsp per large potato) and then some seasonings (I have several seasoning blends I like, one of our favorites is ranch dressing powder - like the packets, but we buy in bulk).

I also had sweet potato two different ways, from the vegan deli in our local health food grocery. I haven't tried them at home yet, so I can't really give a recipe. But tomorrow or Monday I'll probably be shopping there so I'll see if the owner can give me a few pointers.

One was a black bean and sweet potato burrito. This would be really easy to duplicate because it was just cooked sweet potato cubes (microwaved, boiled, baked or steamed would all be fine) and cooked black beans (canned would be ok, I'm sure) that were seasoned with cumin and maybe some other spices (chili powder and cumin, or even packaged "taco" seasoning would be fine, I think), and a bit of sauteed onion. Then the seasoned beans and potatoes were wrapped in a flour tortilla and served with salsa.

The other way I had it there was "jamaican jems" a crunchy sweet potato salad. The "dressing" seemed to be just garlic and "jamaican jerk" seasoning. This is the one I'm not sure I could easily duplicate at home. The sweet potato was crunchy (like raw carrot) and I'm not sure if it was completely raw or if it was blanched. The dressing wasn't noticeably oily or acidic, so I think it was just minced garlic (from a jar, I think) and the cumin and spices or maybe a jerk rub. It was a bit spicy, so I think there might have been a dash of cayenne in it. It was heavenly, and so unlike any way I've ever seen sweet potato served before.

You have got to try sweet potato fries. I wash and cut up my taters, leaving the skins on. I then season them with a dusting of cayenne pepper, kosher or sea salt, dried thyme and just a little olive oil. I bake them in one layer for 15 minutes, then flip them and bake another 10 minutes or so.

I serve my fries with Texas Pete honey mustard. The honey mustard is low fat, low calories, and not much sugar to boot. Yummy!!

For the longest time (as a kid and young adult), I thought I hated sweet potatoes. I guess they were too orange. I wouldn't even try them at Thanksgiving with sugar and marshmallows. Then I discovered that I loved Thanksgiving sweet potatoes with sugar and marshmallows. The more marshmallows the better. I could eat the leftovers cold like ice cream for days. Of course, I told myself it was at least partly healthy :-)

But now, I'm quite amazed that I like them just plain. I think at Thanksgiving this year I'll request (or make some), with just a teeny bit of sugar as a treat, maybe just with fruit. The old way doesn't even sound good. Blech. I cannot believe I like them purely plain, no sugar or salt or anything. Yum.

Yum (did I already say that :o) These are a staple now. And they honestly feel like a treat every time.

I never even like regular baked potatoes in the first place, ever.

I love love love them!

I eat them raw :)

But mostly I will steam or microwave them sometimes with some kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) or roast/bake them with various spices. I also like to mash them or use them in soups and stews - also great in tortillas instead of normal potato or in tuna/salmon patties etc.

It's great stuff!

One of my favorite things to do with sweet potatoes is to boil them until soft so you can mash them and then add salt, pepper, granulated or minced garlic, (butter if your calories allow), and chop up some canned chipotle peppers or rehydrate dried ones and chop them up. Depending on how much heat you want you could also add some red pepper flakes. I've also added half and half or milk but it's not a necessity. Try to drain the water after boiling them the best you can though, it's easy to make them too runny. You can also do this recipe with Yams.

I love sweet potatoes pretty much anyway except for with marshmellows. Whoever said they didn't like sweet veggies made sweeter hit the nail on the head.

For Thanksgiving my mom makes sweet potatoes that are mashed with the juice from a can of peaches and then put into the peach halves and baked again to warm them thru. It's sweeter but really good.

I also bake them (in toaster oven or on the grill), and roast them, and fries. I also like to do slices tossed with a little oil and seasonings and grill them. A couple of weeks ago I did mashed sweet potatoes with a little cheddar cheese tossed in, it was really good just remember they need less moisture than regular spuds (I had to cook again to dry them out, cause it was soupy).

OK I think we're going to have sweet potatoes with our roast (grilled) chicken tonight.....

-Tech

I like them very plain. Just boiled or baked and then mashed with a little salt. Anyone who wants butter just puts that on at the table. I think they're just fine that way. I don't need to "guild the lily."

You know.. I've never had a sweet potato. Not that I can remember anyway. I don't know anyone that eats them either.

A friend roasted a beef brisket and threw in some mushrooms and quartered sweet potatoes. She sprinkled a packet of Lipton Onion & Mushroom soup mix over all of it, covered the pan with foil, and baked for 3 hours at 350F degrees. It was delicious!

If you like spicy foods, they are really good mashed with a bit of broth or ff milk and one or two chipotle peppers chopped (the kind in adobo sauce.)

I cook sweet potatoes or open a can, run my immersion blender thru them until they are whipped and creamy, use the juice from the can or some added water to fresh ones to help give you a creamy texture, then I like to top with some simmered raisins and cinnamon. A spinkling of nuts is good too. You can add sugar, artificial sweetener or agave nectar to add sweetness if you like. I don't even need to use butter when I make them this way.

I LOVE sweet potatoes! I just like mine baked with a little butter and cinnamon... mm sooo good. I've been wanting some lately.. maybe I'll bake up one here shortly.

You can also make sweet potato pie;)

I make a dish like this all the time: mash up half a cooked sweet potato (stab some holes, then eight minutes on high in the microwave) and mash it onto a low-carb tortilla. Then saute half an onion and some garlic, add about a cup of canned black beans in liquid and keep sauteing 'til the bean liquid mostly evaporates. Sometimes I mash the bean mixture with a piece or two of Laughing Cow Lite herb & garlic cheese so it gets to-die-for creamy. Toss that on top of the sweet potato and oh momma, what a ridiculously delicious meal.

Seriously, this is in my desert island top three meals. Although if you're going for simple, I echo a bunch of other people on sweet potato fries -- I toss them with the bare minimum of olive oil and 2:1 ratio of paprika to cinnamon. Almost dangerously good.

As baked fries-they are awesome. Baked & mashed, ditto. My favorite is wrapping them in foil & eating them like a regular baked potato. I've also peeled and chunked them to put into crock pot chili, roasted them with olive oil & herbs.
I love sweet potatoes pretty much any way except that syrupy casserole with the marshmallows on top!

Yay for this thread :)
I was going to post a thread on sweet potatos myself, but you just saved me the hassel :)
I've never had sweet potatos, but, I'm going to buy some and try making "fries"