No marshmallows required: Natural sweetness shines in Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Shallots

Roasting sweet potatoes and shallots with rosemary, garlic and cayenne pepper creates a naturally sweet/savory side dish that packs a satisfying kick. Recipe below.

SWEET POTATOES DESERVE BETTER. As a kid, I thought sweet potato casserole was a waste of perfectly good miniature marshmallows. Now I think that saddling sweet potatoes with pie ingredients—brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg—and calling them a side dish masks their delicious natural sweetness. Again, a waste. Continue reading “No marshmallows required: Natural sweetness shines in Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Shallots” →

A little something on the side: Three potato recipes spice up dinner

Three different ingredients—cayenne pepper, wasabi powder and, in the case of Marion’s Asian-inspired “poison gas potatoes” below, Sriracha hot sauce—add kick to three different potato side dishes. Recipes below.

Potatoes are pretty versatile as sides go. Even the everyday treatments we all rely on—baked, mashed, roasted, fried—show their flavorful flexibility. But add a little heat and things get really interesting.

This week, we’re featuring three potato recipes that do just that. The results range from subtle, with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes, to semi-serious spiciness, with Spicy Roasted Potatoes and Marion’s delicious [if frighteningly named] Poison Gas Potatoes. We’ll start with the one with the most intriguing name.

Poison Gas Potatoes

There’s nothing that will clear the kitchen faster than when these potatoes are cooking and the Sriracha hot sauce hits the pan. Continue reading “A little something on the side: Three potato recipes spice up dinner” →

A little something on the side: Simple, Spicy Roasted Potatoes

Baking and sweet potatoes join forces with cayenne pepper for a lively side. Recipe below.

First things first. I’m doing two postings today—so after you read about this easy, tasty side dish, be sure to check out the cool tool I found at Ikea.

This roasted potato dish is roughly based on one I found on epicurious.com. That recipe used only sweet potatoes. As you can see from the photo, I used both sweet potatoes and baking potatoes. I started doing this because one of my daughters, the antithesis of picky eater by just about any measure, for some reason doesn’t like sweet potatoes. Now I use both because I think the dish looks and tastes more interesting with both. You can use just sweet potatoes or just baking potatoes, if you like.

I like these roasted potatoes for a few reasons. First, when I’m jonesing for some french fries, these will kind of satisfy that craving without all the frying evils. That said, I do indulge my fries desires on occasion, but only on occasion. As Oscar Wilde said, “All things in moderation, including moderation.”

Second, the kick of a little cayenne pepper and the mixing of sweet and baking potatoes actually makes them more interesting than fries, I think. More versatile too. You can pair them with burgers, roast chicken, salmon… or pan seared, bone-in pork chops, as I did the other night.

And finally, after a few minutes of simple prep work up front, you’ve got about a half hour to pull together the rest of the meal while the potatoes roast. Continue reading “A little something on the side: Simple, Spicy Roasted Potatoes” →