There's a reason I don't bake.

I love when totally new recipes work out, especially cause I'm incapable of following directions. We like spice, and we like garlic. So one or both of those are almost always added/multiplied. Sometimes I substitute ingredients, sometimes I toss them completely. So I never quite know what something "should" taste like...I just know when I like it.

Tonight we tried a South African inspired sweet potato. So. good. The husband and I both love sweet potatoes, but we always seem to do them the same-either baked or as baked fries, with sea salt, fresh pepper, cumin, and chili powder. So this was a nice change while still staying on our end of the sweet potato spectrum. Keeping the rest of the meal simple was key, I think. We did grilled boneless pork chops and broccoli. We're well balanced like that.


Baked Sweet Potatoes with African Peanut Sauce
Sweet Potatoes, about 3 pounds (aim for 8oz per person)
canola oil
1/2 cup roughly chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 inch of ginger, roughly chopped
cumin, about 2 round teaspoons
red pepper flakes
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup reduced fat peanut butter
1 tsp sugar
salt
chopped cilantro

Cook potatoes at 400 for about an hour. Remove and let cool enough to handle.

With an immersion blender or food processor, chop up the onion, garlic and ginger til finely chopped (it's not cheating, I swear). Heat a splash of oil over medium, add onion mix. Saute a couple of minutes, and add cumin, red pepper, and a small handful of cilantro for another minute or so, then add water, tomato sauce, peanut butter, salt(1/4 teaspoon or so) and sugar. Simmer a few minutes til it thickens up a bit.

Take the potatoes and slice in half, then slice down the middle of each half to make a slit. Open it up a bit, and pour a scoop of sauce over the top. Sprinkle more cilantro on top. Should serve 6.
(About 230 calories, 6g fat, 6g fiber, 39g carbs, 6g Protein)