It took a while for sweet potatoes to grow on me. I never really ate them as a child. The only time they appeared as a side on the dinner table were at Thanksgiving dressed up with either brown sugar or marshmallows. However they were prepared for Thanksgiving meals I always found them too… sweet?
And then at some point sweet potato fries became a thing. An alternative to regular fries. I’m not sure why anyone ever needed an alternative to French fries but whatever. I never really had a thing for sweet potato fries either. Why? Because they are so… sweet. And I feel like potatoes should be savory. Even potatoes bearing the adjective sweet.
The first time I had sweet potato pie I fell in love. I loved it so much more than pumpkin pie. (Incidentally, I never really got into pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving either.) I think I like sweet potato pie, in part, because it’s sweet. Sweet potato pie is also delicious. And it was my gateway into actually liking sweet potatoes.
I first made sweet potato pie in 2011 when I was making the Great Southern BBQ of 2011 with my friend before his family arrived in Portland, Ore. We cooked and baked all day and into the night and had a huge feast. After that time, I began eating sweet potato more regularly.
Aside from sweet potato pie I also like other sweet recipes such as sweet potato cookie dough bites and sweet potato pancakes. But my most favorite recipe of all is sea salt and vinegar sweet potatoes. There are times when I find an amazing savory sweet potato recipe and I could eat it over and over again and the sea salt and vinegar recipe is one of them. But so is this recipe I’m introducing to you today.
Garlic-butter smashed sweet potatoes are perfect for anyone who stays away from sweet potatoes due to their sweetness. (Like Sis!) The garlic overpowers the sweetness almost completely so you must be a garlic lover to enjoy this recipe. If you cook the potatoes too long they will be too soft and mushy and won’t crisp up really well when roasting. You will likely need to use a fork to eat these instead of your fingers due to the delicate texture of the potato.
If you have leftovers, you can reheat them in a pan with some additional butter and they will be just as good as they were the night before if not better. This is the perfect side for anyone who is eating paleo and can be eaten at breakfast, lunch or dinner as a side, snack or even a meal!
ingredients.
- two large sweet potatoes
- 3 T. butter, melted (grass-fed for paleo or sub vegan)
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- ¼ tsp. dried parsley or ¾ tsp. fresh minced parsley
- salt, to taste
directions.
- Place sweet potatoes in a large pot of salted water. Bring to the boil then lower heat and cook, covered for 15 to 20 minutes or until just fork-tender. Drain and allow the potato chunks to dry as much as they can.
- Lightly grease a large baking sheet with canola or avocado oil. Arrange sweet potatoes chunks onto the sheet and use the bottom of a glass to lightly flatten each piece. The potato may stick to the bottom of the glass. You can either grease the bottom of the glass or slide the potato off instead of trying to pull it off or it will stick in parts.
- Mix together the butter, garlic and parsley. Pour or brush the mixture over each sweet potato ensuring the garlic is as equally distributed as possible. Season with salt to taste.
- Broil until they are golden and crispy, flipping halfway between. I would start at 5 to 10 minutes a side keeping the baking sheet well below the broiler instead of right under it or your skins will burn.
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 