Sweet potatoes are the individualists of the vegetable world. They grow into silly shapes that defy any desire I might have for uniformity. Often, however, they have a tall humped back and when I fix them this way (my favorite way EVER), they remind me of an armadillo, but tastier and without the whole leprosy thing.
You’ll need:
A whole sweet potato, washed, dried, and poked with fork prongs several times
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Fresh cracked black pepper
Look at that crispy skin!!
I need food prep gloves for this, but you may be less squeamish than I am. Give the sweet potato a thorough rubdown with the olive oil. When it is thoroughly coated, stop, then place it on a microwave-safe plate and sprinkle on half of the kosher salt and black pepper.
Start by microwaving for four minutes. Remove the sweet potato on its plate from the microwave. At this point it should be done enough for you to cut slices about 1/4 inch apart with a sharp knife. Don’t cut all the way through the sweet potato. Treat the bottom as if it is a base, holding it all together. You just want to cut each down about 5/6 of the way down. Sprinkle on the rest of the salt and pepper. Go iwld and add another drizzle of olive oil. Place back into the microwave and microwave it for another 2 minutes.
When it comes out, feel free to eat it as is. Or put a dollop of butter on top and watch it melt into those lovely slices in the sweet potato, armadillo style.
Sometimes, we eat half the sweet potato with our meal, fixed as directed above and with a little butter on top. Then, for dessert, we put butter on the other half and sprinkle on some Splenda/sugar to which we have added cinnamon and a little nutmeg. It’s our nod to sweet potato pie!
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