I love fast food!
No, I’m not talking about Big Macs and Super-sized Fries that you get from the McDonalds drive-thru (although those can be tasty).
I’m talking about real food. The kind that takes very little time and preparation to cook, is loaded with nutrition, and tastes amazing!
My new favorite fast-food is microwaved sweet potatoes.
If you’ve ever wasted hours trying to peel and boil sweet potatoes, you will love me for this recipe. The entire process takes less than 10 minutes, and it tastes unbelievable!
The best part about it is the sweet potato does all the work for you. The outer skin actually retains the moisture of the potato as it microwaves, so it steams the inside of the potato to perfection every single time.
Here’s how to do it:
Ingredients:
1 Medium-Large Sweet Potato (despite what some people may tell you, size DOES matter. The sweet potato will cook best at the medium size you see below.)
¾ TBSP Coconut Oil (Butter or Macadamia oil work great as well)
1 Tsp Cinnamon (Or all-spice if you want to get a little crazy)
5-7 Pecans
1) Rinse the sweet potato to clean off any loose dirt from the skin
2) Using a fork, stab the sweet potato 8-10 times to puncture through the skin (this will allow just enough steam out to prevent the sweet potato from exploding in your microwave.)
3) Place on a microwaveable-safe plate or dish, and microwave on high for 6-8 minutes. (My dorm-room-quality microwave takes 7-8 minutes but I’m sure it could be done in less time in most standard microwaves.)
4) Take out of the microwave and allow it to sit for 2-3 minutes. The sweet potato will be very hot so don’t bother trying to cut into it right away. Also, the steam that remains trapped inside the skin will continue to cook the middle of the sweet potato to perfection.
5) After its cooled down, cut the sweet potato in half length-wise with a knife. Then use a fork to scrape the orangey goodness out of the skin. This should only take a few seconds since the skin should be peeling away from the potato. (Note: If the potato is still hard in the middle, you will need to cook it for longer next time. Once you slice the potato in half, cooking it more in the microwave will only make the potato dry, instead of steaming it like before.)
6) Separate and discard the skin from the rest of the potato and add the Coconut oil and Cinnamon. Use the back of the fork to mash all 3 ingredients together, until you have a consistency similar to mashed potatoes. (Note: The sweet potato can also be eaten right out of the skin, but I prefer the smooth flavor that comes from proportionally mixing in the cinnamon and coconut oil.)
7) Chop or use your hands to break up the pecans and spread across the top of the mashed sweet potatoes. (you can even microwave the pecans for a minute on their own for a nice oven-roasted flavor!)
8) Pair with a delicious steak and cauliflower rice and enjoy!
