Way back when I first started cooking, before I had even discovered food blogs, I was completely enamored by Epicurious.com. I would go through all of their menus and recipe lists, taking notes and writing down all the recipes I wanted to try. What started out as a few post its has now expanded to include 26 pages of recipes that I have found that interest me, including many from all of you out in the food blogging world.
The problem I’ve encountered after more than three years of cooking is that I no longer want to follow a recipe by the book, and I have very little will power, even when telling myself that it would be a good idea to, just once, try it the way that the writer intended it.
This recipe for Grilled Sweet Potato Salad is one that has been on my list for a long time, but it was only a few weeks ago that I finally decided to try it. Except that I don’t have a grill. And I didn’t feel like parboiling potatoes. And why have raw scallions when you can have them roasted? Suddenly, what started as a simple recipe to follow was becoming my own. Which is how I moved from the sweet potato dish I had marked so long ago to this roasted sweet potato dish. It’s delicious too, especially when topped with a little crumbled goat cheese and feta, but I doubt the scared 18-year-old rookie cook ever expected marking this recipe to spawn this dish.
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, chopped into chunks
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 scallion, white parts only
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
Combine all ingredients in a baking dish. Roast at 400 degrees until caramelized, tossing once or twice if necessary. Serve with feta or goat cheese if desired.