Try These Sweet Potato Recipes With Every Meal
Cold temperatures cause carbohydrate cravings, both sweet and salty, and sweet potatoes can handle both. Not only are these babies the perfect base for all sorts of fillings, they provide slightly more flavor (and nutrients) than their paler counterparts and can be eaten in the morning, afternoon, and night.
Sweet potatoes for breakfast
Although I prefer breakfast potatoes, shredded and fried, the sweet taste of this orange tuber ultimately becomes the perfect foil for salty breakfast meats. Sprinkle on top with crispy fried egg and runny yolk and you hardly need butter (I added butter anyway). To make money for two, you will need:
- 2 small or one very large sweet potatoes
- 4 ounces breakfast sausage or sliced bacon
- 2 eggs
- 1-2 tablespoons of butter
- salt and pepper
- Green part of one green onion
Bake sweet potatoes in a 400-degree oven until tender, 45 minutes to an hour, depending on their size. When there is about 10 minutes left in the oven, cook the meat over medium-high heat in a nonstick skillet until it is brown and crispy. Remove the meat and, using melted fat, fry the eggs, sunny side up, until the edges are crispy, cover the pan with a lid to freeze the whites on top. Divide the sweet potatoes, or remove the skins completely and scrape the pulp onto a plate or bowl (my preferred method). Add butter to taste, season with salt and pepper, and top with toasted sausage or bacon. Place the egg and green onions on top.
Sweet potato lunch
The buffalo-style chicken makes this a sweet and savory dish that almost matches the territory of the bar. If you really want to enjoy the buffalo, you can sprinkle it with thinly sliced celery. (I used green onions because I don’t like celery, but I understand that I am a strange duck here.) To make this dish (for two), you will need:
- 2 small or one very large sweet potatoes
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons of Frank’s hot sauce
- 2 ounces shredded blue cheese
- About half a stalk of thinly sliced celery, or the green portion of one green onion (if celery isn’t your favorite)
Bake sweet potatoes in a 400-degree oven until tender, 45 minutes to an hour, depending on their size. When there is about 15 minutes left in the oven, melt some butter in a nonstick skillet over medium to high heat, season the chicken and cook until brown (about 10 minutes). Remove the skillet from the heat and when the oil stops sizzling and splattering, add the hot sauce, stirring occasionally, to make the sauce. Remove the potatoes from the oven, chop or scoop out the insides, and place the savory chicken on top. Sprinkle with blue cheese, sprinkle with your favorite greens and enjoy.
Sweet Potato Dinner
A surprisingly rich combination of cannellini beans and plant-based mushrooms is rib-sticking but no spruce, and perfect for a meat-free Monday. To do enough for you and one more, you’ll need:
- 2 small or one very large sweet potatoes
- 8 ounces chopped mushrooms
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 1 can cannellini beans, dried and rinsed
- 1/2 cup broth or broth
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon butter at room temperature + 1 tablespoon flour mixed into a paste
Bake sweet potatoes in a 400-degree oven until tender, 45 minutes to an hour, depending on their size. When there is about 30 minutes left in the oven, melt some butter in a nonstick skillet over medium to high heat, season the mushrooms, add them to the skillet and cook until golden brown and crispy around the edges. Add tomato paste and stir to coat the mushrooms. As soon as the paste darkens and starts to stick to your palm, remove it with red wine, scraping off the browned pieces. Let the wine turn into a thick syrup, then add the broth or broth, beans and thyme and cook until the beans are as soft as you like. Remove skillet from heat, add about half of the butter flour pasta and stir to make a thick sauce, add more pasta if you like thicker sauce. Remove the potatoes from the oven, chop or scoop out the insides and season with oil, salt and pepper as desired. Pour mushrooms and beans on top and eat.