If You Even Remotely Like Sweet Potatoes, You’ve Gotta Try These!
Sweet potatoes can be so boring. Or so sweet they make my teeth hurt. Or they can also be one of the best things you’ve ever tasted. I’ve been on a sweet potato kick lately and these are my favorites.
I’ve grown to really like roasting them by first slicing them in half, brushing them with oil, seasoning with salt and pepper, covering them with foil and letting them roast until they’re almost tender. Then I remove the foil and let them continue to roast until they’re so soft they’ve turned silky and have started to caramelize on top. When prepared in this manner, the skin is also delicious.
They’re really delicious eaten as is, but they’re much better if you take a little time and make this spread out of butter, lime juice and zest, a chipotle chili in adobo sauce ,* a little brown sugar, and soy sauce.
After you beat this altogether and taste it, you’ll see what I mean. This is one of those deals where the sum of its parts really doesn’t speak to the end product. This is the best compound butter I’ve ever tasted. And when you combine it with the roasted sweet potato you’ve got something really special.
And here’s a tip for dealing with a whole can of chipotles in adobo sauce .* I remove each chili individually and place it on a square of plastic wrap. Then I spoon on equal amounts of the adobo sauce until I’ve emptied the can. I wrap up each square, place it in a ziploc bag and store it away in my freezer. That way I’ve got them on hand when I need them. I don’t think I’ve ever needed an entire can for anything I’ve made.
I made these sweet potatoes once and we had to have them again the following week. We couldn’t stop talking about them. The combination of the Lime Chipotle Butter, roasted sweet potatoes, and nigella seeds * sprinkled on top has to be tasted to be fully understood. For instance, I have a family member who is not at all fond of sweet potatoes. Well, there wasn’t one morsel of these left on his plate and he was very happy to eat them again a week later.
The nigella seeds * play an important roll here. Their onion-like flavor is perfect for the sweet potatoes and the crunch they add is highly welcome. That little bit of extra texture adds a lot of interest to the finished dish. If you’ve yet to get on the nigella seed band wagon, this would be the place to start. You’ll fully understand why I use them so frequently in my recipes.
The first time around I served them with sausages and a quick orange and onion salad. The next time it was pork tenderloin and an apple salad. The sweet potatoes were excellent with both. My son and I both agreed that we’d eat these with a simple green salad as a full no meat meal and be very happy and fully satisfied.
Even if sweet potatoes aren’t really your thing, I think these could change your mind because they are that good.
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Sweet Potatoes with Lime Chipotle Butter
4
servingsSweet potato halves are roasted until they are creamy and caramelized on top. Then you top them with a compound butter made with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, fresh lime juice and zest, a little brown sugar, and soy sauce. Sprinkle the tops with plenty of nigella seeds and you've got an extraordinarily delicious dish!
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Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, cut in half lengthwise
Vegetable oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper
1 stick (4 ounces) salted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Grated zest of 1 lime
1 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce ,* minced, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
4 teaspoons nigella seeds *
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400° with a rack in the center. Line a sheet pan with foil and place the 4 potatoes halves in the pan. Brush with oil, and sprinkle with kosher salt, and black pepper. Cover the pan with another sheet of foil, sealing the edges and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil lid and continue to bake until the potatoes are tender and soft, about 30 - 40 more minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes.
- In the meantime, combine the butter, lime juice, lime zest, chipotle and adobo sauce, light brown sugar, and soy sauce in a medium bowl. Beat with a hand held mixer on high for 3 - 4 minutes, until the ingredients are homogenized and the butter is fluffy. Spoon into a small bowl and set aside.
- Place the sweet potatoes on a serving platter, run a fork over the surface, top with 2 tablespoons of the Lime Chipotle Butter, and sprinkle a teaspoon of nigella seeds on top of each potato. Serve and Enjoy!
3 Responses
I cannot wait to try these. Always looking for new ideas and these look so flavorful. Regarding the chipotle peppers in sauce, I’m going to use your idea so I can have them on hand. But I’ve used them for anything else I can think of. I made a mild cabbage curry from a recipe online and added them for a kick. I put them on cream cheese and a savory bagel. And finally, mixed them into pizza sauce. Then they were gone.
I have more than a passing interest in sweet potatoes, and I have all the ingredients here already, except for limes and sweet potatoes—but the vegetable guy half a block away has those. In a moment we’ll discuss nigella seeds.
Thank you for the tip on saving chipotles in adobo. I’m apprehensive to open the can because I know I won’t use the whole thing, and I wouldn’t use the rest soon enough to make it worthwhile to store them in the fridge.
Nigella seeds. Ah, nigella seeds. I promise to get on that wagon with you, but I’m not going to wait till I have them, before making this recipe. Which will likely be tomorrow.
In Ye Olden Tymes, they whipped by hand, right? I can only find severed limbs of my hand mixer—I’m still looking for his chunky old body. Do you think it will come together with a freakishly small wire whisk?
You can definitely use a whisk for this. Or even a wooden spoon. Get the butter nice and soft first and it will be no problem. You’re very welcome regarding the chipotle freezer tip. They’re really handy to use when you’ve got them stashed in little packets. Hope you enjoy these sweet potatoes!