BBQ Sweet potatoes

Happy Independence Day everyone! Can you believe it is July already? I’m having some trouble wrapping my arms around it. The pace of the days is supposed to slow down in the summer, isn’t it? I think that expectation must be a hold over from summer vacation in my school days (which were a very long time ago but left a lasting pattern in my subconscious). Anyway, the pace of this summer seems to be speeding up instead. To my disappointment, I have only had time to post once or twice a week and I miss it.

I’m not trying to “sell” my blog and I am not a food photographer. The photos and recipes here are a diary of a sort, a snapshot out of time. If you enjoy the recipes and my ramblings, it makes me happy. It’s interesting to see how Spades, Spatulas, and Spoons has evolved over the past year. I love the community of other bloggers and visitors. I’m getting to know you, through the comments you leave and the links to your own blogs. It’s a virtual dinner party and I love a good party. I wish I could meet more of you in person. And yet, I enjoy reading about what is happening in Minnesota, and Louisianna, and Texas, and Australia, and South Africa, and Dubai, and Alaska, and places even further away. As I have written before, the world is not so huge!

“In my kitchen” is part of a community, this one started by Celia of the blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. Use the link to explore the world of food around the globe, you will get a snapshot of what is happening in July.

Now, on to what’s going on in my kitchen.

The Saturday Farmer’s Market was crowded today. I snagged three varieties of sweet potatoes to take to a BBQ we are attending this evening.

Yams

White Sweet Potatoes

Japanese Sweet Potatoes

You will find the recipe for BBQ Sweet Potatoes with Miso-Sesame Sauce here.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Miso-Sesame Sauce

Roast Sweet Potatoes with Misa-Sesame Sauce

BBQ Sweet Potatoes with Misa-Sesame Sauce

We are coming to the end of the berry season and they are super sweet. I ran around the market tasting the organic strawberries at every stand before deciding where to buy a flat of six pint baskets. We ran out of last year’s batch of strawberry jam a couple of months ago and I haven’t had a chance to preserve some more. The time was right.

Organic Strawberries

I was surprised to see raspberries as well and purchased enough to make a batch of raspberry jam.

Organic Raspberries

Homemade jam is so much better than even the best commercial brand. Only three ingredients…berries, sugar, and lemnon juice.

Raspberry and Strawberry Jam

I had the idea to add a leaf of lemon verbena to one batch of strawberry jam before processing. We’ll see how it turns out, an experiment.

Strawberry Jam

My eye was caught by this wonderful bowl Made by Craig and Sylvie Telles at one of the stands.

The glaze is the exact shade of blue as the front door at our cabin up the coast. Even my husband said we had to have it.

The pattern on the edge even looks like kelp floating upwards.

Until we get a chance to visit the cabin, it looks wonderful with some heirloom tomatoes and the first “dry farmed” Early Girls.

And that is what’s going on in my kitchen this month.

Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite vegetables, and they are super good for you as well. They lend themselves to many cooking methods but I’ve been on a search to find one that suits the grill and can be (mostly) made ahead. This recipe fits the bill. You can do the pre-baking earlier in the day (when it is cooler), and then pop them on the grill to brown at the last-minute. This would be a perfect side dish for your BBQ on the 4th.

Here is a bit of background on the healthiness of sweet potatoes. They are ranked as one of the top nutritional vegetables by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Amazingly the sweet potato has been found to contain between 100-1,600 micrograms of vitamin A in every 3.5 ounces. It could be possible to meet over 90% of your daily vitamin A needs from this single food.

Eat the skin and you get more fiber than a single serving of oatmeal.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Miso-Sesame Sauce

Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Miso-Sesame Sauce

¼ cup of mild white or yellow miso
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons of organic peanut oil
1 sweet potato per person, scrubbed well and sliced ½ inch thick
Chopped cilantro and a couple of tablespoons of seedy mix for garnish

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk together the miso, soy sauce, sesame oil, and peanut oil.
Place the sliced sweet potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet. Brush the exposed side with the sauce.
Roast 20 minutes.
Turn, brush with the sauce and return to the oven for another 20 minutes.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and leave at room temperature until ready to roast.
Grill until toasty brown on each side, this should only take a couple of minutes on each side.