Tasty Tuesdays: recipe #14

Welcome to the 14th edition of abundant life's Tasty Tuesdays! It is a dreary day outside with considerable chill, but I have one of my hands-down favorite recipes to warm you up from the inside out.

In all honesty, this is hardly a recipe. In fact, it's really not a recipe at all, but rather a method of preparation. Fall brings us all things orange (pumpkins, squash, sweet potatoes, candy corn, autumn leaves), so being that it is the official first day of fall (sob), I think it's only appropriate I highlight one of the stars of the autumnal season.

While I do not in any way advocate for the fall season (as it signifies the departure of my beloved summer), I do LOVE the flavors that accompany the unwelcome weather. I appreciate all things pumpkin, squash, cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread and so forth, but I absolutely adore the perfection of the sweet potato. I find it to be a crying shame that many reserve this root vegetable for their Thanksgiving spread and do not delight in its goodness on any other occasion. Now don't get me wrong. I love a good sweet potato casserole laced with butter and brown sugar and crowned with a beautimous bevvy of toasted marshmallows, but the beauty of the sweet potato is it doesn't need all that razza-ma-tazz to taste positively brilliant. It can (and should) be enjoyed on a regular basis using the most simplest of preparations.

This is what I bring you today, the secret to preparing an amazing sweet potato.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Prick holes in your sweet potatoes using a fork.

3. Individually wrap each potato in foil and place on a baking sheet.

4. Bake potatoes for a minimum of 1 hour and 30 minutes.

5. Remove from foil and enjoy.

The roasting brings out the sweet potato's natural sweetness and is divine on its own. However, my sister likes it with a brown sugar butter sauce I make by melting butter and brown sugar together in the microwave. For a quick and budget-friendly meal, top your potato with baked beans or black beans. Add a salad and you have protein, veggies, carbs and TONS of vitamins.

I cannot say enough about the simple goodness of a baked sweet potato. I could easily eat one every day. I hope you take advantage of this preparation method and begin to enjoy sweet potatoes on occasions other than Thanksgiving.

Reader question: what's your favorite fall flavor?