Sweet Potatoes Rock!

Amy Ephron and One for the Table rounded up a half dozen sweet potato recipes for a contest held by “The North Carolina Sweet Potato Association’s Food Bloggers’ Recipe Contest." The recipes she submitted take sweet potatoes from savory to sweet.

I contributed a recipe for Sweet Potato Inari Suishi.

By definition sweet potatoes bring a deep sweetness to any dish. If anything, sweet potatoes are so strongly flavored, they must be used with a deft hand. Sweet potato pie is great, but sweet potatoes work as well as a savory ingredient in beef stews, chicken pot pies, and simply sauteed as a side dish.

You can read the recipes Amy submitted to the contest on One for the Table.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes

Yield: 4 servings
Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes, washed, peeled, thinly sliced into rounds
1/4 cup olive oil
Sea salt and pepper

Method

Taking a tip from Japanese robata grilling, first steam the potato slices for 5 minutes in a covered pan in lightly salted water (1 teaspoon to a quart of water). Drain and let cool.

Put the olive oil on a plate, season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Dredge each sweet potato round through the seasoned olive oil, both sides.

Grill for a few minutes on each side until tender. If you don't want to use a grill, then put them on a cookie tray covered with a Silpat sheet or piece of aluminum foil. Roast in a 350 degree oven, turning once, for 5-10 minutes or until tender.

Serve as a side dish with grilled chicken breasts or julienne the rounds and saute with garlic and parsley and toss with pasta.