Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Last spring, I was talking with a friend about having sweet potatoes with dinner.  She eagerly asked how I made them.  "Uh, throw them into the oven until they're cooked.  Peel the skins off and eat 'em."  She seemed perplexed.  "No marshmallows?" At Thanksgiving, but otherwise no.  "Brown sugar?"  Sometimes, if I make a mash out of them, but not always. "Maple syrup."  I might give it a try sometime, but generally we just eat 'em naked.  Oh, the kids generally add butter, but they're pretty much flavorful enough for us already.

Since the weather's cooled down, I've been planning to make sweet potato fries, but haven't gotten to it. I read an idea online somewhere to try roasting them with Asian flavors.  So for lunch today, I peeled and cut up a sweet potato.  I mixed up a tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce, a teaspoon of brown sugar, a clove of garlic, and about a teaspoon of fresh grated ginger. In a pinch, I'm sure I could have used powdered garlic & ginger. I mixed it all together, spread the pieces of sweet potato on my Silpat, sprayed them with cooking spray, and put it all in a 350 degree oven.  After about 20 minutes I tossed them around a little.  Then I decided they weren't cooking fast enough and turned the heat up to 400 degree for another 15 minutes.

I couldn't weigh anything (scale needs a new battery), so the stats are approximate, but it's about 350 calories, 65 carbs, 4 g fat, 13 g protein, and 10 g fiber. 

It turned out pretty good, but there's room for improvement.  The ginger was a little strong, and I'd like to throw in some other flavors, like lime zest or Chinese five spice powder. Also, some additional oil wouldn't hurt, as they were a little dry.