Thursday, June 27, 2013

Paleo Baked Diced Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon Recipe

I've been cooking a whole bunch of delicious Paleo food at my family reunion in North Carolina. 


It's given me a great chance to share what I've been doing with my relatives (many of whom are surprised to see me in the kitchen!) and to work on some new recipes with my dad. Just one year ago I weighed about 100 lbs more and was just getting ready to embark on my quest for weight loss and wellness while I was here with my family. I think they're all pretty shocked at the change but everyone has been very supportive and encouraging. To give you an idea, here's a picture from last year.



/shudder.

Aside from helping me map out and film my 20k run (which I'll report on soon!), Dad did a lot of shopping to make sure I had all sorts ingredients at the ready so I could stay on track this week. As a caterer he often has a lot of great ideas to liven up my dishes. In honor of Lord Caldephron (his D&D Druid alter ego) and his much appreciated assistance, today's recipe deals with a new way to enjoy sweet potatoes (my very favorite tuber treat!). It's a great side or even a tasty desert depending on how you look at it. So without further ado, here's the recipe for:

Caldephron's Roll for Crit Diced Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients



  • Sweet potatoes (About 1/2 lb per person you're cooking for. For one person, I tend to use one hand sized sweet potato)
  • Fresh Ground Sea Salt
  • Fresh Ground Pepper
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cooking Spray
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Ground Cinnamon
  1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Peel or not according to preference. If you are not peeling, give into the dark side and scrub sweet spuds aggressively. 
  3. Cut into approximately 1.5 inch cubes.
  4. Spray an oven safe baking dish with extra virgin olive oil cooking spray and deposit your sweet potatoes.
  5. Fresh ground sea salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Carefully sprinkle a light dusting of cinnamon evenly across the potatoes. 
  7. Drizzle a teaspoon (per potato used) of extra virgin olive oil on the seasoned potatoes and toss the cubes till they are all glistening and coated evenly.
  8. Put baking dish into the oven for 15 minutes.
  9. Remove baking dish and re-toss potatoes. 
  10. Put baking dish back into the oven for 10 minutes. 
  11. Remove from oven and serve like a boss!
Note: You may need to adjust your cooking times based on how thick your potato cubes end up being. Stick a knife in after the first round in the oven and you can adjust time more or less based on whether they seem cooked through.

5 comments:

  1. Definitely doing this the next time I make sweet potatoes! The cinnamon might just be the trick to getting my oldest to eat them :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do it! I made a batch for this reunion to add to my meals in place of the starch side everyone else was eating every night and it's kept really well. Reheated great after a short zap in the microwave. Everyone was so jelly that they kept trying to steal them off my plate! <3

      Delete
  2. I've been doing sweet potatoes in the airfryer (best appliance I've bought) - I just chop them, add curry powder, garlic powder, and a little salt and pepper and chili, and eat with fresh guac. Guacamole and sweet potatoes are an amazing combination and pretty much my staple dinner (along with air-fried chicken). No oil, lots of deliciousness

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never heard of an airfryer before! I'll have to look into that. ALSO I've never thought of guac and sweet potatoes together... BUT NOW! Now I feel like you've opened a magical door for my taste buds! That sounds super yummy!

      Delete
    2. It's a super good combination.

      The airfryer isn't cheap, but it's not prohibitively expensive either (I bought it for my boyfriend for Christmas - ours iss a Phillips one). While it doesn't make french fries and things EXACTLY like an actual fryer would, I find it works much better than an oven - and is also faster, more energy efficient and doesn't make the apartment unbearably hot while it's on. Plus, throwing some skinless chicken breasts in there for 20 minutes crisps them up really nicely. We also make banana spring rolls (won ton wrapper with a banana and a teeny bit of nutella), steak, fish (the mackeral turned out CRAZY good)...loads of stuff with no oil. I can't recommend them enough. /commercial

      Delete