A different way with sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a great alternative to plain old white potatoes.
While I often prepare them in the traditional way with butter and honey, I think there are a lot of different ways to make them that play up and complement the flavor of the sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes are often called yams, but the two are competely different.
Although it is sometimes called a yam, the sweet potato is not in the yam family, nor is it closely related to the common potato. The first Europeans to taste sweet potatoes were members of Columbus' expedition in 1492. Later explorers found many varieties under an assortment of local names, but the name which stayed was the indigenous Taino name of batata. This name was later transmuted to the similar name for a different vegetable—the ordinary potato, causing confusion from which it never recovered. The first record of the name "sweet potato" is found in the Oxford English Dictionary of 1775.
Regardless of the agricultural or botanical differences, the "potatoes" are a versitile, yummy treat that allow ou to make dishes that are as varied as your imagination will allow. The other day, I wasn't sure if I wanted sweet or savory, crunchy or smooth. With this dish, I got all of the above.
Sweet Potatoes with Pineapple and Onion
2 sweet potatoes, baked until tender
2 teaspoons of butter
2 thick slices of fresh pineapple, chopped finely
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of hot pepper sauce
1/4 of an onion, chopped finely
- Cut the baked sweet pototo in half, going only 3/4 of the way through the root, leaving it like an open book.
- Spread a teaspoon of butter on both sides of each potato.
- Press half of the pineapple chunks into one potato and half into the other.
- Mix the sugar and the hot sauce in a small dish and stir until the sugar is absorbed into the sauce. Pour this over the pineapple.
- Top with the onions.
- Pop the potatoes under the broiler for about 2 minutes, just long enough to meld the flavors together.
Vegan.
