Though sweet potatoes are am American institution at the holiday table it is not everyone that likes it. It is a vegetable with cloying sweetness and there is something wrong even when it I covered with marsh mallows. I avoid this dish as a plague when I was a child after tasting it first.
As an adult I observe that many agree with me in spite of the apparent popularity of this side dish. However there is a sweet potato recipe if you dislike this nutritious vegetable. People who have tasted this orange vegetable recipe prepared as usual have given rave reviews about this delightful variation. This sweet potato recipe strikes the liner as a gourmet upscale take on the plain dish.
Orange juice and orange zest are two additional secret ingredients though the basic preparation is similar to the traditional sweet potato recipe.
As usual mash and cook sweet potatoes smoothly. Add one cup of orange juice and a table spoon of orange zest for serving eight people after the mashing is over. Mix thoroughly, add marsh mallows and pop it in the oven for the usual time when the result will be delicious.
Orange juice should be fresh squeezed not the pulp variety sold in the carton. A significant gourmet taste is added on to the sweet potato recipe thus. If you use frozen orange juice dont dilute it as per the directions given. Peel your zest from the orange freshly for the best taste. Only the zest should e used not the white pith of the skin which will give a bitter taste to the finished dish.
In another variation sweet potato recipe uses a tea spoon full of freshly grated ginger thrown into a mix along with orange juice and zest. This makes it more piquant and mysterious. This addition transforms the recipe completely. The taste transcends a bare sweet potato flavor, which is the aim of one like myself.
When you plan a holiday menu next time give a try to this sweet potato recipe. You may give it a new name also. Sweet potato a la orange with more imagination.