[Week 19] Three More Quick Wins

Because I know how well they keep, I often save cooking the farm share sweet potatoes till the end of the week. Or till the end of the next week. Or, well, you get it.

Sweet potatoes keep for an astonishingly long period of time and as a result, I never feel in a rush to cook them. Moreover, they require washing, peeling (depending on the preparation), and elbow grease to slice and dice, and while they are not the fussiest of vegetables to prepare, I find myself reaching for the less demanding ones first, namely cauliflower, cabbage, and kale in the case of the recent weeks’ shares.

But last week, remembering an old Melissa Clark recipe that calls for roasting sweet potatoes with coconut oil and spices, I got straight after them. I washed them:

I peeled and diced them. And I tossed them with melted coconut oil (about 1/4 cup), a generous amount of kosher salt, and a big pinch of silk chili (told you I loved this one).

Per Melissa’s recipe, I roasted them for 1 hour at 350ºF (actually for a little bit longer), and I was so pleased with the result. Melissa says it best: “The coconut oil deepens the natural caramelized flavor of roasted sweet potatoes, and it adds a delicate coconut essence.” I find the brown sugar in the recipe to be unnecessary, but I do love the inclusion of some sort of spice, and I like the long cooking time — some of the commenters note that the sweet potatoes are done cooking after 30 minutes, which is true, but if you give them the full hour, the texture improves.

This was quick(-ish) win #1 this week.

Out of the oven, I squeezed some fresh lime juice over the top and sprinkled them with a pinch of flaky sea salt. We ate most of the sweet potatoes just like this…

… and what remained went into a salad with the farm share greens, toasted pine nuts, honey goat cheese, and apple cider vinaigrette.

This was Quick Win #2 this week: Leftover Roasted Sweet Potato Fall Salad:

I love this roasted cauliflower recipe with onions, garlic, thyme and parmesan, but sometimes I just don’t have time for it. Cauliflower tossed with olive oil and salt alone, roasted at 425ºF (convection if possible) for about 40 minutes, tossing once after the