Sweet and Savory Sweet Potatoes

Sweet and Savory Sweet Potatoes Are A Quick and Easy Side Dish.  Delicious Hot or Cold They Are Perfect For Both Picnics And Formal  Dinners Alike.

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Sweet and Savory Sweet Potatoes

Sweet and Savory Sweet Potatoes are a change from the side dish most of us are used to.  Long associated with Thanksgiving, sweet potatoes are typically served at that meal mixed with brown sugar and topped with pineapple or marshmallows. No pineapple to be found here! This tangy rub packs some heat and  is also delicious on meat and tofu.  Try sprinkling a little on your next batch of deviled eggs to give them a little extra spice and beautiful color.

Sweet potatoes are the virtuous sibling to white potatoes.  Packed with fiber, they are extremely nutritious, with high levels of Vitamin A and carotene for maintaining eyesight.  For a lower-fat dish, spray lightly with cooking spray instead of using olive oil.

What is turbinado sugar?

Turbinado sugar is often considered raw sugar because it comes from the first pressing of the sugar cane.  The crystals are larger than typical processed sugar and it has a stronger molasses flavor.  It is used mostly as a topping or drink mix.  It is not a one for one substitute for brown sugar because it has larger crystals. If you would like to use it as a substitute  in baking it is better to weigh it using a kitchen scale, than measure it by volume.  If you don’t have any turbinado sugar, brown sugar or coconut sugar are good substitutes.

What is the difference between a sweet potato and a yam?

Actually a lot.  Yams and sweet potatoes are actually two different plants.  The confusion comes about because there are two kinds of sweet potatoes and one of them tends to be called a yam.  Not always the same one.  It depends on the grocery store.  True yams are grown in Africa and are rarely sold here, except possibly in some specialty markets.  The two types of sweet potato are (1) Firm, which has a golden skin and pale flesh and (2) Soft, which has a copper skin and orange flesh.  Instead of just calling them Firm and Soft (or even A and B for that matter), someone decided that one looked kind of like a yam and called it that to differentiate between the two types.  Perhaps they thought people would not want to buy a soft sweet potato.  Over the years, this usage has continued. So what you see called a yam in the grocery store is actually a kind of sweet potato. Since there is no labelling standard for yams, grocers are free to call anything they want a yam, but mostly they stick to sweet potatoes instead of say, broccoli. There are minimal differences between the two types of sweet potatoes and either will work for this recipe.  True yams would probably work as well.  If anyone has experience with African yams, I would love to hear what they are like.

Popeye:  “I yam what I yam” and I am not a sweet potato except in the United States where it is due to  a case of mistaken identity.

Can I bake the potatoes whole?

Yes.  I like them cut up because there are more surfaces for the rub, but it will work well on whole potatoes.  In that case, wrap the potatoes individually in foil and place on oven or grill rack.

Products Used in Making this Recipe:
Bellemain Heavy Duty Aluminum Half Sheet Pan, 18″ x 13″ x 1
Zenlogy 12×16 Unbleached Parchment Paper Baking Sheets (100 Pcs) – Exact Fit for Your Half Sheet Pans …
Reynolds Wrap Non-Stick Aluminum Foil (95 Square Foot Roll) . This is good for covering the top of the pan, and can also be used instead of parchment paper.