A first

If you ask me which foods I don't like, my answer is always squash and sweet potatoes. I've always been a very open-minded eater, even since childhood, but a love of squash and sweet potatoes has eluded me. I've made some progress over the years, and in adulthood I learned to love zucchini, summer squash, pumpkin, and tempura slices of kabocha, but that's about it. Every year at Thanksgiving, I give sweet potatoes another try, but I have never enjoyed them. It's frustrating, because sweet potatoes are packed with good-for-you stuff, and are super cheap, and easy to prepare.

Now, though, I am really determined to learn to love sweet potatoes. My parents love them just roasted in the oven, eaten piping hot with either butter and salt, or butter and brown sugar. I figure either of those ways is too "in your face" for hater like me, so I figured I would try to factor them in supporting roles in dishes. Today I bought one and roasted it in the oven, planning to cube it and add it to my burrito. I got sidetracked with the other dinner prep, however, and forgot about it until we had already finished eating. Woops. I turned to some friends online, one of whom gave me a list of ideas for cooked sweet potatoes. I opted for a slight variation on one of her ideas, and pureed the sweet potato with my immersion blender, stirred in some maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice, then quickly toasted some chopped pecans, and stirred them in.



And you know what? It was actually really good! This is a huge first for me: enjoying a sweet potato! It wasn't exactly healthy, what with the maple syrup, but hey...it's a start!