Tuesday, November 06, 2007

A Marriage Made...in the Oven

This past Sunday, my Sunday School class - dubbed the GAP class for Graduates And Professionals - had a lunch after church. Because I'm not very picky about what I take, I decied to tell the hostess to let me know what she needed. I was told to bring a vegetable. Hmmm...green bean casserole was already coming, there were going to be salads...I need to take something that's not green. I've taken roasted squash before plus that costs too much right now to take a lot of fresh squash (yellow, mind you!). What's in season, I ask myself. The only thing I can think of is winter squash and sweet potato. Well, I've recently discovered that, although I CANNOT eat a baked sweet potato, I do like roasted sweet potatoes. So, at the grocery store, I picked up a HUGE sweet potato. Honestly, I felt a little bad for the thing. It was going to end up being picked up and thrown to the side because it was so big...too big to bake and, honestly, that's what most people get fresh sweet potatoes to do. Anyway, I brought the little guy home, chopped him up, and put him in the roasting pan. But he looked a little lonely. What can I put with Mr. Sweet Potato. Ah HA! I think the he would very much like to spend his last days with Miss Fuji Apple. So, out came Miss Apple (actually two)...they were chopped and mixed with Mr. Sweet Potato. It was a beautiful marriage melded together with some cinnamon (the spice of their lives), thyme (what marriage survives without that!?), and allspice (um...a little twist to make things interesting?). I think all the flavors worked well together. My class members enjoyed it as well. In fact, I told several of them the "recipe." I think the apples added a lot. Because of the health benefits from sweet potatoes AND apples (they're a healthy couple too!), this is my entry to Sweetnicks' ARF-Tuesday. Check by and see all the other wonderful recipes. Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples
1 LARGE sweet potato, cubed
2 medium Fuji apples, cubed (probably could add one more)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme (not rubbed)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
sprinkle all spice
1 Tablespoon olive oil
cooking spray
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Put potatoes, onions, and apples in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil (probably 1 Tablespoon) and then "top off" with some cooking spray. Toss this around the pan. Sprinkle the thyme, cinnamon, and allspice over the veggies and toss. Place pan in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. Check at 10 minutes to stir. After 20 minutes, be sure the potatoes are tender...if not, keep going.

9 comments:

gail@more than a song said...

I LOVE roasted sweet potatoes! One of my all time favorite things....do them just a tad differently, these look great.

Charise said...

I've been doing roasted sweet potatoes or winter squash quite a bit these last few weeks, what with the cold weather and all. I will have to try it with apples, since I have an overabundance of those lying around too!

Ana said...

I love all roasted vegetables and lately I am having fun with the root veggies in the oven!
I love the idea of sweet potatoes and apples together, I can almost taste it just thinking about your dish, sounds like a great combination of flavors, I will try it soon!
Thanks for sharing your recipe and idea!
Ana

Anonymous said...

LOL Love your commentary today. :)

Roasted veggies are *so* good. In fact, we're having roasted sweet potatoes tonight too.

Erika W. said...

Lol! That was too fun to read. :-) I haven't made fresh sweet potatoes in a while, I think I need to get on that.

Unknown said...

Gail - I'm just learning that I like them certain ways!

Charise - The flavors really work well together, especially if you use an apple with a strong or tart flavor!

Ana - Roasting is my favorite. Hope you like the combo!

Alisha - Thanks. I know you're having a great dinner, then!

Erika - I had fun writing it! It didn't really start in that direction but kind of migrated that way. :-)

Anonymous said...

That's such a cute post, and so true about marriage!

Roasted vegetables are so wonderful, and the roots make for such a great combination. I love to do yams and sweet potatoes, Yellow potatoes, parsnips, carrots and sometimes rutabaga. Of course, any of the above with the addition of apples would be fabulous.

Dee Dee said...

Claire - sounds so good. I'm always looking for new ways to serve veggies to my sometimes picky little ones. Thanks for the great idea!!

Anonymous said...

I love roasted anything. This looks really good...perfect for this time of year!