I’m calling this one “Nature’s Candy” because my first thought upon tasting it was, “OMG, WHO NEEDS CANDY WHEN THIS EXISTS?!” … Yep, I thought it in all caps and everything.
This recipe comes to you courtesy of Rachelle, who wrote to tell me that this has become her go-to side dish and even her 3 year old loves it! I was immediately intrigued by the cinnamon/basil combo and I just happened to have some extra apples that I bought on sale. All of the stars were aligned…
All I can say is that it completely blew me away. I fully expected to have to sprinkle a little salt or sugar on after baking, but it needed absolutely nothing. When is the last time you made a recipe that didn’t require even a little pinch of salt? The apples are incredibly sweet after roasting and the subtle creaminess of the sweet potato perfectly compliments them.
It’s sweet enough to eat as a snack, but subtle enough to eat as a side dish to a regular meal. I think it would be awesome with any number of roasted meats, Herb Roasted Pork Loin in particular. So, I hope you’ll try this one! I don’t think you’ll be sorry! :D
Nature’s Candy
Nature's Candy
Servings 4Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash and peel the sweet potato. Cut the sweet potato into one inch cubes. Wash the apples and then cut them into one inch cubes as well.
- Place the cubed sweet potatoes and apples in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, cinnamon, and basil. Toss until everything is well coated in oil and spices. Spread the apples and potatoes out onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or foil. Make sure they’re in a single layer and not piled up on one another.
- Roast the apples and potatoes for 30 minutes, or until they are tender and begin to look shriveled. Serve hot.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
I used one large sweet potato (1.19 pounds) and two medium Gala apples (about 1 lb.). Cut both into one inch chunks. I peeled the sweet potato, but left the apple skins on for color and texture.
Put the cubed apples and sweet potatoes in a large bowl and then add the olive oil, cinnamon, and basil.
Toss until everything is coated in oil and spices.
Spread everything out onto a baking sheet covered in parchment paper or foil. Make sure they’re all in a single layer or else moisture can build up and make them soggy.
Roast in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until they are tender (particularly the sweet potato). They will also look a little shriveled. You may die a little from the amazing smell coming from the oven – just a warning.
And then you can dive in!
Thanks, Rachelle, for sending me this amazing and addictive recipe!!
Apples are not a favorite at this house. Even apple pie doesn’t get a great reception. Will be trying this using a combo of sweet potatoes or yams and butternut squash so it won’t get rejected because it has apples.
Making this tonight! Was trying to think of a potato or sweet potato dish to make with what I had on hand. Thanks-this couldn’t have been more timely! It looks very promising! :-)
Oh this is exciting. I’m going to try it today! ^_^
This is probably a silly question, but when you say “roasting,” are they baking or broiling? Or neither??
“pretty much all sweet potatoes” — by this I meant that 90% of things labeled either “yam” or “sweet potato” in U.S. supermarkets (unless they offer African or Asian groceries) are sweet potatoes.
If you saw an actual white-fleshed African or Indonesian yam in person you would not mistake it for a sweet potato. lol
Did some digging, and here is some clarity on which is which:
“In the United States, sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), especially those with orange flesh, are often referred to as ‘yams.’ In the United States, firm varieties of sweet potatoes were produced before soft varieties. When soft varieties were first grown commercially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. African slaves had already been calling the soft sweet potatoes “yams” because they resembled the yams in Africa. Thus, soft sweet potatoes were referred to as yams to distinguish them from the firm varieties. […] Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires sweet potatoes labeled with the term ‘yam’ to be accompanied by the term ‘sweet potato.'”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yam_%28vegetable%29#Other_uses_of_the_term_yam
So they’re pretty much all sweet potatoes, but if you want soft and sweet ones and you’re not in an ethnic food market, they might be called yams. The orange- or purple-fleshed, sweet, thin-skinned things that you can cook without too much trouble — I just call them sweet potatoes to avoid confusion.
(Have you ever had fufu (an African dish made of pounded yam)? It’s interesting. Not sweet at all.)
I’m with you Beth. I thought yams were the ones that were white-ish on the inside — more potato texture/conistency but sweeter, and sweet potatoes were the orange ones.
I just found your website over the weekend. It’s absolutely wonderful!I have many recipes I can’t wait to try. Thank you so much for taking time to write this blog.
This looks delish! I have roasted winter squash this way and it’s soooo good! This sounds pretty amazing too…I think I would try baking them as fries with the cinnamon and basil too. I actually have grown cinnamon basil before, hmmm, that would be fun to try!
K. Sterret – Yeah, those two names are definitely misused a lot in the U.S. I was under the impression that yams were actually a very large, white, starchy root veg grown mainly in Africa, and our orange “sweet potatoes” just started getting called yams somewhere along the way. I thought sweet potatoes came in a variety of colors, including orange, white, and purple. I’m no expert on root vegetables, though! hahah.
Wikipedia – Sweet Potatoes
Wikipedia – Yams
I know no one cares but me, but I need to post it: what you’re referencing are YAMS, not sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are purple on the outside and white-ish on the inside. There is a big big difference in flavor :)
This looks insanely delicious, I cannot wait to try it!
Sounds wonderful!
Carrots would be okay, but definitely not as creamy and delicious as sweet potatoes.
I’m not a fan of sweet potatoes – would carrots work?