# What goes with Sweet Potatoes?



## pastalover15

i was wondering what goes well with sweet potatoes - meat wise, veggie wise and cheese wise?  thanks =)


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## mudbug

Hiya, pastalover (and bienvenue).

now that I think about it, I don't think I'd like any cheese with a sweet potato, thanks.

meatwise, ham is a classic pairing - the salty balancing the sweet.  But roasted sweet taters are really with with roast chicken.

veggies? probably just about anything that isn't another starch.


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## karadekoolaid

pastalover15 said:
			
		

> i was wondering what goes well with sweet potatoes - meat wise, veggie wise and cheese wise? thanks =)


 
Curried chicken. Add a squeeze of lime juice to your sweet potatoes before serving!

Green beans (or long beans) stir-fried with a little hot pepper and coconut. 

Parma or Serrano Ham and cream cheese. You could make little "stacks" of sweet potato, ham, cream cheese, a slice of pickled cucumber  and another sweet potato on top.


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## Katie H

Of course, ham is great with sweet potatoes.  So are pork chops and pork roasts.  I've also served sweet potatoes with roast Cornish hens.  Yum.  

Also, mixing pineapple, oranges, apples, brown sugar, or pecans are all great to "dress" sweet potatoes up.  Sweet potato souffle is a real company dish.  Instead of breadcrumbs to dust the souffle dish, use finely ground pecans.

As for veggies, I agree with pastalover15, stay away from any veggies with starch.  I think I would go for color.  The sweet potatoes are vibrant, so pairing them with something nice and green would be really eye-applealing at the table.

Katie


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## Barb L.

I have candied yams for all three holidays- turkey, ham,& chicken -love-em !   Really all meats -stuffed pork chops too !


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## Ellen

We use (kumara) sweet potato with fruits quite a bit.  Bananas, oranges, peaches etc.  They are lovely scrubbed, baked and stuffed with banana, kumara flesh, grated zucchini, and topped with herbed fresh bread crumbs and cheese.  The cheese goes very well with this. I use cheddar. Kumara chips, thicker than french fries, are yummy, particularly with fish.  Roasted, Baked, Mashed, you can basically do anything with them you do with a potato.  The skins are thin and very edible.  They also peel off very easily if you would rather that.  You can also boil them, but I feel they loose flavour that way.  They go with anything.  I put them in casseroles too, they melt away and thicken the cass.  And soups. Think greek yogurt.  Think bacon.  Think anything your heart desires.


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## Gretchen

Steak houses around here serve them with TBones. They are good with just about anything.


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## Shunka

I love baked sweet potatoes with a juicy steak, shrimp and a salad.


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## Constance

Sweet potatoes are great with any kind of pork. A meal of pork chops, fried apples and baked sweet potatoes served like baked potatoes, is one of my favorites. Or if you grill your pork chops, grill some sliced pineapple at the same time. It will taste wonderful with the potatoes. 
Sweet potatoes are also go well with game foods, like venison. 
If you have the taste for it, possum cooked with sweet potatoes is supposed to be a real delicacy.  

Since the lovely orange tubers are rich in enzymes causing methane gas expulsions, I wouldn't serve anything with them that would add to the flatulence.  
Once, when I was 8 months pregnant, I had a meal of baked sweet potatoes with butter (they were so good that I ate 4) and cooked cabbage.) About midnight, I called the doctor and said I was going into labor. He asked how far apart the contractions were, and I said, "Constant." He asked what I had for supper, and when I told him, he chuckled and siad it was only gas.


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## FryBoy

I particularly like them with roasted chicken. 

A bit of advice: Don't mess them up with sugar or syrup or honey or spices. Just cook them as you would a baked potato, and serve them with nothing but a little butter (they don't really need even that, IMO). They are absolutely delicious on their own, and glopping them up with marshmallows and so forth is like putting ketchup on steak. 

What the supermarkets sell as yams (which are actually just a darker red variety of sweet potatoes) are even better this way.

BTW, the skins are GREAT! Eat the whole thing.


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## Constance

FryBoy said:
			
		

> They are absolutely delicious on their own, and glopping them up with marshmallows and so forth is like putting ketchup on steak.



I agree 100%, FryBoy. I learned to eat them baked, with butter, when I lived in Louisiana, where they grow the best sweet potatoes I've ever tasted. They are so bright orange, and very sweet. 
I never did like the ones my mom and grandma made at Thanksgiving, with all the pecans and stuff on them.


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## Swann

If you ask my husband, sweet potatoes goes with anything and everything. We only eat them baked .... I dislike candied sweet potatoes/yams. esp with marshmellows...Yuck! I know 99% of people love them that way but not me. In Peru they add sweet potatoes to ceveche. Makes a great pie too.


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## pastalover15

well see the thing is, i was planning to make dumplings filled with sweet potatoes and i wanted something to fill it with something ham pieces, too and veggies, you guys think it'll be a good idea?  btw, thank you all for the wonderful replies!!!! =)


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## pastalover15

Katie, what is this dressing that you speak of?  it sounds delicious, may i have the recipe?


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## Michael in FtW

Hummm ... dumplings is a different twist .... but it gives me an idea - as a side for baked/broiled/grilled pork chops or country style pork ribs (seasoned with only salt and black pepper).

How about something simple like substituting sweet potato for pumpkin in pumpkin ravioli? For a sauce you could use a cream, cheese, or simple butter and sage sauce.

Oh - calling sweet potatoes "yams" really has nothing to do with their color - it was a marketing strategy developed by the sweet potato farmers in Lousiana to differentiate their sweet potatoes from the ones grown elsewhere some years ago.


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## Chopstix

I love baked sweet potatoes topped with cinammon, brown sugar, and melted butter, along with steak.  I had this a few times at Lonestar Steakhouse.


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## bullseye

pastalover15 said:
			
		

> i was wondering what goes well with sweet potatoes - meat wise, veggie wise and cheese wise?  thanks =)


Sweet potatoes go with almost anything, though I don't think I'd mix directly with cheese.  To upgrade a plain sweet potatoe a tad, bake 'til knive tender, split and sprinkle with toasted, crushed sesame seeds w/ S&P.  Drizzle a bit of REAL maple syrup (preferably Grade B or, if not available, Grade A Dark Amber) and broil or bake at high temp. Yum!


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## Caine

I always think of sweet potatoes with ham or roast turkey, but try julienning and deep frying, like a french fry, and serving them with turkey burgers or a ham and turkey club sandwich.


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## SharonT

I have done a spicy pork tenderloin with a blue cheese sauce served with a "sweet potato ratatouille"  -- it was very compatible.


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## kimbaby

baked ham...


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## In the Kitchen

*Difference*

Does someone know what the difference between yams and sweet potatoes?  Don't they both taste the same?  They sure look the same.  Thanks


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## Katie H

Actually, pastalover15, I wasn't referring to any kind of sweet potato dressing per se.  What I meant was that I combine any one or a combination of the other ingredients I mentioned with sweet potatoes to make a nice side dish.

For example, you could mix crushed or chunk pineapple, drained, with some brown sugar and the sweet potatoes.  Or you could alternate slices of Granny Smith apples with slices of sweet potatoes, drizzle with honey and sprinkle chopped pecans on top.

You get the idea.  Sweet potatoes are wonderful when married with apples, oranges, etc.  Just let your imagination and taste buds be your guide.

Katie


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## karadekoolaid

In the Kitchen said:
			
		

> Does someone know what the difference between yams and sweet potatoes? Don't they both taste the same? They sure look the same. Thanks


 
a true yam is NOT the same as a sweet potato, although they are both root vegetables. 
I've been puzzling over this for 25 years, because here in the markets you can find :

Yam
Sweet potato ( orange and white versions)
Apio ( a native root veg with a taste between celery, swede and sweet potato)
Yuca (Cassava or manioc root)
Ocumo ( Basically a type of Taro root: there is native _ocumo_ and _Chinese ocumo._)
No problem here; all of these are used in the traditional chicken, fish or meat "Sancochos" - something like a soup. We use Yuca to accompany BBQ'd meat. You can grate the ocumo and make some delicious little fritters.


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## Caine

Try *Pork Stew with Chickpeas and Sweet Potatoes* 
 or *Curried Pork-and-Sweet Potato Stew* 
from Cooking Light magazine - 
http://food.cookinglight.com/cooking/recipefinder.dyn?action=searchResults&keywords=pork+stew&x=14&y=8


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## marcushuxtable

Hi there, first post 

What can I serve with sweet potato, bacon and feta cheese? I was thinking maybe something like pasta or rice? 
I have only started cooking for myself within the last month. I had found a recipe for sweet potato and bacon, but I had altered it because I didn't like the way the recipe was and I enjoy doing my own thing with cooking.


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## Zhizara

marcushuxtable said:


> Hi there, first post
> 
> What can I serve with sweet potato, bacon and feta cheese? I was thinking maybe something like pasta or rice?
> I have only started cooking for myself within the last month. I had found a recipe for sweet potato and bacon, but I had altered it because I didn't like the way the recipe was and I enjoy doing my own thing with cooking.


Welcome to DC!

Since sweet potato is a starch, I wouldn't serve it with another starch like pasta or rice.  

How about ham?  it goes well with sweet potato.


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## marcushuxtable

Zhizara said:


> Welcome to DC!
> 
> Since sweet potato is a starch, I wouldn't serve it with another starch like pasta or rice.
> 
> How about ham?  it goes well with sweet potato.



Is it really a starch? I have heard that it isn't...?
Would the ham not conflict with the bacon in the combination?
Is ham sweet in any way? I have made a whole dish of the sweet potato, bacon and feta cheese and ate all of it. I found that it was very sweet (I did add sugar).


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## CarolPa

Sweet Potato Fries are very popular these days.  You can cut up the potatoes, coat them in olive oil, put them on a baking sheet with salt and pepper and you have sweet potato fries without deep-frying.  

I would not eat sweet potatoes until I was 60 years old.  Before that, the only ones I had seen served were candied sweet potatoes around the holidays.  Since I do not like a sweet taste I never liked them.  Finally, I saw them on a menu, baked, and loved them.  My family still likes them candied for the holidays, but I stick with plain for myself.  I think they are sweet enough the way they grow.


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## Zhizara

Try Googling: "Is sweet potato a starch?" and make your own decision.  Consensus is that it is.


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## CWS4322

This is one of my favorites. I use quinoa instead of bulgar. It works well as a side and as a room-temperature salad. 

Recipe Details

Grated frozen ginger and raisins work well for a twice-baked sweet potato. You want to pull them out of the oven before they get soft so the skin holds its shape.

I often bake them like potatoes and eat them with S&P, butter. Or, grated ginger and fresh thyme with a bit of butter.


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## purple.alien.giraffe

If the actual recipe is for sweet potatoes with bacon and feta (which sounds really good) I would leave out the sugar, add some green onion and serve it along side salad greens (berries optional) with almonds or sunflower seeds tossed in and a light vinegarette dressing.

The hubby and I use sweet potatoes as a starch.


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## Kylie1969

CarolPa said:


> Sweet Potato Fries are very popular these days.  You can cut up the potatoes, coat them in olive oil, put them on a baking sheet with salt and pepper and you have sweet potato fries without deep-frying.



They sound lovely, thanks Carol


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## Dot64

I have smashed baked sweet potatoes and made a biscuit dough, then added diced ham, bacon, green onion and shredded extra sharp cheddar – then added extra water so that I had a dumpling dough, that I then dropped by the ½ teaspoon into a pot of Vegetable soup ( soup contained NO meat at all). It’s very versatile as I have also used in Pork roast soup, turkey soup, pumpkin soup, and a fish stew. lol I have also used this dough as a crust for pot pies, spicy fruit pies, and muffins as well. This is beautiful way to use holiday leftovers; fantastic as muffins to go with a pork stew. Added sugar if desired – brown or white – stay away from confectioners as this weakens the dough like you added a cup of water mid-cooking. I have replaced the water with fruit juice (apple & pineapple) during mixing for muffins, just to kick it up as a breakfast food. 

Dough recipe –
3 med baked sweet potato – smashed with nothing added
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼  tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ C melted & cooled butter
¼ C milk

Just enough water to form the type of dough for the desired need (dumplings or biscuits and CHILL for use as pie crust of course 

Oven 350 / cook time 15 – 20 minutes for biscuits and muffins or until golden, for dumplings, just like any other dumpling.


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## Mad Cook

pastalover15 said:


> i was wondering what goes well with sweet potatoes - meat wise, veggie wise and cheese wise? thanks =)


I like brie with my baked-in-their-jacket sweet potatoes.

SP and butternut squash go well in soup or for a roast veg combo SPs, butternut squash, red onions, bell peppers and garlic


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