Getting fancy with a side dish has never seemed worth it to me. It takes enough work to get the main dish on the table. A bowl of steamed green beans would just have to do.
But lately, my inspiration for the main dish has waned — toward baked chicken breasts, grilled pork, for example — and I’ve been wanting something special to look forward to. Sometimes that entails something like microwaved small chunks of potatoes with parsley and olive oil. Nothing fancy, just breaking the pattern.
These Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes might make an appearance on the table while I’m on vacation next week.
TWICE-BAKED SWEET POTATOES
5 medium sweet potatoes, about 3 pounds
1/4 cup tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
4 ounces goat cheese
Coarse salt and ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup bread crumbs or panko
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prick potatoes all over with a fork. Place potatoes on a large piece of foil on a baking sheet. Fold foil around potatoes to form a packet. Bake until tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour. Leave the oven on.
2. When cool enough to handle, halve sweet potoatoes lengthwise. Scoop out all but 1/4 inch flesh from inside the skins. Arrange 8 skins in a single layer in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Discard remaining 2 skins.
3. Place flesh in a food processor along with 2 tablespoons butter, goat cheese, salt and pepper. Process until smooth, 2 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons finely chopped chives and pulse to combine. Spoon into skins.
4. In a small bowl, stir together pecans, breadcrumbs, remaining butter and season with salt and pepper.
5. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over sweet potatoes and bake until topping is golden, 10 to 12 minutes.
Serves 8
Everyday Food magazine