Last Saturday my sister-in-law and I went to a county extension agent's experimental plot. They were trying to see how well certain crops grow in our area so they could make recommendations for local farmers. As such, they weren't selling the crops they grew, they just grew them.
We were given the go-ahead to glean as much as we wanted for free.
Typically, gleaning is hard work because you get a little produce here and a little there... the leftovers from a large-scale harvest. But because the crop was entirely unharvested, it could hardly be called gleaning!
In a rich haul, I scored 40+ pounds of sweet potatoes, 20+ pounds of onions and a few hot peppers. I could've gotten a lot more, but was limited by time, energy, containers, and lack of a root cellar.
So because I've got enough sweet potatoes to feed a small village, I looked up what to do with them. I enjoy making sweet potato pies and soufles, but I wanted a few savory ideas.
Here are some of the delicious recipes I found:
Baked Sweet Potato Fries (I made these for dinner last night with salt, pepper, and garlic, and dipped in some ketchup they were delicious!)
Gingered Sweet Potato Carrot Soup
Spiced Sweet Potato Chips (I made these on Saturday, and would recommend making them on parchment paper or a silpat -- a little hard to turn on a lightly greased cookie sheet, but crispy and delicious!)
Spicy Black Bean Burgers
The Mother Lode: 100 Recipes to Make with Sweet Potatoes (about 1/3 of these recipes look amazing, another 1/3 look interesting to try, and the final 1/3 look a little gross to me)
What is your favorite way to prepare sweet potatoes?
What a haul! I love to chop sweet potatoes into small bites, drizzle them with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic salt, and roast at 350 for 45 minutes, flipping halfway. Kind of simple, but way yummy. :) I hope y'all enjoy the bountiful sweet potato/onion/pepper harvest! :)
ReplyDeleteI like to pan fry them with regular potatoes, onions, garlic, and salt in butter or olive oil. They're pretty tasty this way!
ReplyDeleteI usually just do over-baked fries or bake them and serve them instead of mashed potatoes- those other ideas seem delicious
ReplyDeleteI know what we're having tomorrow night :-D. Simple = good these days.
ReplyDeleteOh goodness that sounds good! For some reason I never think to mix them with ordinary potatoes, but your combo sounds amazing. I've got to try that.
ReplyDeleteI had some bad experiences with sweet potato fries as a kid and haven't had the courage to try them again until last week. I can't believe what I was missing out on all those years!
ReplyDeleteMom and I bake them whole then use them as a substitute for pumpkin in pies- best 'pumpkin' pies ever! My dad didn't notice the difference for three years when he watched up make them one year...
ReplyDeleteWe preserve sweet potatoes by baking, peeling the skin and freezing.
All those sound really good. Someone recently sent me this Indian sweet potato recipe: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/96608/sweet-potato-spinach-and-lentil-dahl
ReplyDeleteWe either make Roasted Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup...
ReplyDelete...or....
we just slice them up and toss them in olive oil and minced garlic with a sliced onion and then make tin foil packets of them and throw them on the grill.