I have been on a quest to find the easiest way to prepare sweet potatoes. For some reason, they always take forever when I cook them or bake them. I used to cook them in the microwave, but I am trying to move away from microwave usage.
Once upon a time, a friend of mine was eating a Paleo diet. For those of you that aren't familiar with the Paleo diet:
"The Paleolithic diet consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils"
There is a lot that I appreciate about the Paleo way of eating. I like the emphasis on eating more raw foods. There are a few things I don't agree with, but for the most part, I think it's a great place to start for finding out what works for your body.
Anyway, my friend who had changed her way of eating to the Paleolithic diet turned me on to this recipe blog for people who eat Paleo diets. It's called PaleOMG (pronounced pay-lee-O-M-G). I've found a lot of good recipes on there. For me, that is the hardest part, finding recipes that work for us or that I can change to work for us. Example, the woman who writes the cooking blog doesn't eat potatoes. So, anywhere you would find potatoes, you see sweet potatoes. TC does not enjoy sweet potatoes, so I intend to substitute some of the sweet potatoes out for baby reds or yukon golds.
Back to the sweet potatoes. I had some sweet potatoes lying around and I needed to use them, so I tried this recipe. I didn't take pictures because I just didn't feel like it. I'm sorry if that makes it more difficult.
Ingredients:
3 Sweet Potatoes
1/4 c. Duck Fat (or other oil, like coconut or olive)
1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Paprika
3-4 tbsp Fresh Minced Dill
Directions:
Notes:
I would have loved to make these with duck fat. Mmmm... I love duck. Anyway, I used olive oil instead.
The amount of spices in this recipe is not much. You really can't taste them at all. I have no idea why the paprika is in the recipe. For color?
I laid a few of the wedges on a piece of parchment paper and baked those for half the time and flipped them (they were burned after 20 minutes), and just took them out. They were the best ones. The other I put in my roasting rack and they ended up all soggy. Maybe they weren't in long enough, but I had mine in for about 45 minutes.
When you cut the wedges, they will be huge. You will look at them and say "No way will that be edible like a fry". They bake down and end up smaller, but yes, they will be huge.
The ice bath for the potatoes is to make them crispier. Didn't work for me.
Review:
With duck fat, I imagine I would give these a 12. Thank goodness I started with olive oil. So, the recipe is sound. I ate at least a whole potato last night... if not more. Like I said, the ones on the pan got crispier and I liked those best. I would give those a 5 even though I burned them. The ones in the roasting pan get a 3. But the recipe is not at fault here. They could have cooked longer (I don't have the patience for recipes that take 2 hours longer than they say they will). So, overall, I think I would give them a 4. I choose this number because they still require a lot of prep, and only some of them worked out. The taste was excellent. The dill was optional.
Total Score:
4
Once upon a time, a friend of mine was eating a Paleo diet. For those of you that aren't familiar with the Paleo diet:
"The Paleolithic diet consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils"
There is a lot that I appreciate about the Paleo way of eating. I like the emphasis on eating more raw foods. There are a few things I don't agree with, but for the most part, I think it's a great place to start for finding out what works for your body.
Anyway, my friend who had changed her way of eating to the Paleolithic diet turned me on to this recipe blog for people who eat Paleo diets. It's called PaleOMG (pronounced pay-lee-O-M-G). I've found a lot of good recipes on there. For me, that is the hardest part, finding recipes that work for us or that I can change to work for us. Example, the woman who writes the cooking blog doesn't eat potatoes. So, anywhere you would find potatoes, you see sweet potatoes. TC does not enjoy sweet potatoes, so I intend to substitute some of the sweet potatoes out for baby reds or yukon golds.
Back to the sweet potatoes. I had some sweet potatoes lying around and I needed to use them, so I tried this recipe. I didn't take pictures because I just didn't feel like it. I'm sorry if that makes it more difficult.
Ingredients:
3 Sweet Potatoes
1/4 c. Duck Fat (or other oil, like coconut or olive)
1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Paprika
3-4 tbsp Fresh Minced Dill
Directions:
- Cut potatoes in half, lengthwise.
- Cut each half into 4-5 wedges
- Put the wedges in a bowl
- Cover with water and add ice (about 2 cups)
- Let sit for 30 minutes
- Preheat oven to 450°F
- Remove from water and pat dry
- Put wedges into a large, dry bowl
- Add melted fat (or oil), garlic powder, salt, and paprika
- Toss to coat
- Place wedges on a cooling rack and place cooling rack on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until cooked through and browned
- Let cool for 5 minutes
- Toss with dill in the same bowl you tossed the wedges in the oil.
Notes:
I would have loved to make these with duck fat. Mmmm... I love duck. Anyway, I used olive oil instead.
The amount of spices in this recipe is not much. You really can't taste them at all. I have no idea why the paprika is in the recipe. For color?
I laid a few of the wedges on a piece of parchment paper and baked those for half the time and flipped them (they were burned after 20 minutes), and just took them out. They were the best ones. The other I put in my roasting rack and they ended up all soggy. Maybe they weren't in long enough, but I had mine in for about 45 minutes.
When you cut the wedges, they will be huge. You will look at them and say "No way will that be edible like a fry". They bake down and end up smaller, but yes, they will be huge.
The ice bath for the potatoes is to make them crispier. Didn't work for me.
Review:
With duck fat, I imagine I would give these a 12. Thank goodness I started with olive oil. So, the recipe is sound. I ate at least a whole potato last night... if not more. Like I said, the ones on the pan got crispier and I liked those best. I would give those a 5 even though I burned them. The ones in the roasting pan get a 3. But the recipe is not at fault here. They could have cooked longer (I don't have the patience for recipes that take 2 hours longer than they say they will). So, overall, I think I would give them a 4. I choose this number because they still require a lot of prep, and only some of them worked out. The taste was excellent. The dill was optional.
Total Score:
4
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