Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I meant to post this recipe in December, but December was more than a little busy. It was a month when I needed easy recipes that would taste good and feed my family, without taking much time to prepare. Since it was getting colder outside, I was also craving foods that are cooked in the oven. Roasted sweet potatoes fit the bill. I started with a Cook's Illustrated recipe from Fall Entertaining 2011, but I tweaked the cooking method so that the sweet potatoes would turn a nice roasted brown color. I would have a picture for you, but my camera died at the beginning of December. So instead, you can look at pictures on this recipe of similar roasted sweet potatoes. I have not yet tried their recommendation of topping the sweet potatoes with pecans, goat cheese, and celery, but it looks quite tasty.

You can double this recipe and the sweet potato rounds will all still fit on one baking sheet. If you like a bit more kick to your sweet potatoes, you could try sprinkling some spices or cayenne pepper onto the potatoes before roasting.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes
serves 2 adults and 2 small children, or about 3 adults

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb. sweet potatoes (about 3 medium or 2 large)
• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Instructions:

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into 1-inch rounds. (If in doubt, err on the thicker side for the rounds. If they are less than 1 inch thick, they get too cooked and mushy inside.) Transfer the sweet potato rounds to a medium bowl. Toss them with the canola oil and sea salt. Place the rounds in one layer on a baking sheet. **If your baking sheet is not non-stick, you might want to coat it lightly with 1 tablespoon of canola oil.

Then put the sheet in an unheated oven on the lower-middle rack. Turn the heat to 425 degrees and set the timer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, if the bottom of the rounds are not quite browned enough for your taste, put them back in for 5 more minutes. Then flip the rounds over and return the baking sheet to the oven for 10 more minutes. Remove the sheet from the oven and let the sweet potato rounds sit on the sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a dish and serve immediately.