5 things to do with a special-offer sweet potato

Well you asked...

1. Boil it
And mash it. Peel, cut into chunks, put in a saucepan, cover with water, add a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. After about 15 minutes it should be soft enough to mash (but check by sticking a knife into it). Mash with butter, add salt'n pepper to taste and enjoy on its own as comfort food or as an accompaniment to pretty much anything.

2. Roast it
Heat the oven to about 200 degrees Celsius. Peel then cut up your sweet potato (or yam, as I think they call it in your part of the world) into shapes of your liking (chips, rounds, cubes, moons...). Then put it in an ovenproof dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper, add a glug of olive oil and stir to coat. I even added a sploosh of maple syrup for a Canadian twist. Roast for about half an hour or until browned on the outside and soft on the inside.

3. Soup it
Chop up an onion and fry gently in butter (and a saucepan, obviously) for about 5 minutes or until transparent-looking. While that's going on peel and chop up your sweet potato. Then add it to the onion, stir, fry for a minute or two more and cover completely with water. Bring to the boil and add half a stock cube. Put a lid on the saucepan, reduce to a simmer and cook until the potato is well soft (about 20 mins). Then add a couple of large dollops of cream, sour cream or crème fraîche (or a generous splash of milk).

Bring back to a simmer and cook for another 5 mins or so. It may curdle, but don't worry – it'll all recombine on blending... which is what you do next. Season to taste and add a bit of water or milk if it's too thick.

All sorts of variants are possible. You can combine with carrots and/or potatoes to make your sweet potato stretch further. You can add any herbs you want. You can even add a chopped red chilli, lime juice and (optional) coriander for a Thai twist.

4. Chilli it
Recipe to follow some other time. Suffice to say, sweet potato is brilliant in a veggie chilli or curry, because it's got enough starchiness to add substance, but not so much that you feel over-stodged eating it with rice or bread. In many ways, a yam combines the best features of a carrot and a potato – and cooks quicker than either of them. (By the way, the sweet potato is the large orange pieces in the photo – the small ones are carrots.)


5. Art it
The possibilities are endless...

In conclusion...
As so often in life, simplest is best. My expert tasters preferred their sweet potato boiled and mashed with butter. There's nothing more to say, except perhaps "My yam, my yam!" (and I used to be such a good punner in my youth).

Tip of the week
Stuck for a verb? Simply use a noun. Stuck for a carrot or a potato? Simply use a yam.