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Food for Thought Friday: Want to cook while you work? I’ve got a hack for that 🍠
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Hello there!
Today I want to tell you about one of my favorite hands-off intuitive cooking hacks… and it’s one you’ll want to master while you’re still working from home!
It’s super easy - literally 5 mins MAX of "active" cooking - and will help you get ahead on your cooking game for the week by giving you an awesome BASE to turn into a variety of tasty meals/snacks all week long.
The hack is: roasting potatoes whole (while you work or do something around the house)! It works amazingly for sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. Let me give you the low down.
GPJ Guide to Whole Roasting Potatoes
- Quickly wash your potatoes. (I recommend doing a batch to eat throughout the week, but you can do as few or as many as you'd like.)
- Use a sharp knife to make two shallow slits in the shape of an X in each potato.
- Place on a baking sheet, x’s up. (Parchment suggested for sweet potatoes - in case some sugary-goodness oozes out, this will make for easier cleanup.)
- Roast while you work, at a temperature somewhere between 275-425 fahrenheit, until potatoes are very soft in the center, which you'll determine by sticking a fork in. Depending on the size of the potatoes and what temp you pick, this will take between 1-3.5 hours. (You can put the potatoes in the oven while it's heating up, don't worry about preheating.)
- How to decide what temp? If you're in a rush, go as high as 425. If you're not, try somewhere between 275-350 for more of a slow roast. Check every 35-50 minutes for doneness by sticking a fork in. You'll be able to detect changes in softness as time goes on. Once you get a feel for how long potatoes take in your oven, you can check less often!
- Some time frames: for mini sweet potatoes roasted at 425, they may be done in 1 hour… for larger potatoes cooked at 275-300, they may take more like 3 hours. I usually go for 325-350. Roasting whole gives you some leeway on timing, so don't worry too much, but do check them regularly if you're new to slow-roasting.
- When they're done, simply turn off the oven if you want to keep them warm for a bit before eating, or remove them and allow to cool before storing in the fridge. They'll last about a week in the fridge.
- Pro-tip: start these in the mid-late afternoon if you want them ready for dinner!
Now the fun part...
Suggestions for eating Whole Roasted Potatoes
Sweet potatoes:
- Straight out of the oven, slathered with salted butter - SO GOOD, especially butter on the crispy skins!! If you're not into butter, try any and all (non-sweet) sauces - green sauce or pesto is a particular favorite.
- If you have kids/babies, scoop out part of the centers and make a mash/feed to kids - adults eat the skins and a little flesh with salted butter or a sauce or spice mix.
- If you make a big batch and store in the fridge - I enjoy eating them cold as a snack throughout the week. Sounds weird but I often eat them (cold) dipped in a simple lemon vinaigrette (lemon juice, dijon, olive oil, pinch of sugar, shake it up) - so good bc the tanginess from the lemon + mustard balances out the sweetness of the sweet potato. The small Japanese sweet potatoes (purple on the outside, white on the inside) are GREAT for snacking like this.
- Make a meal out of it by serving a whole sweet potato stuffed with spiced beans, a hearty cabbage slaw/salad (see pic below), or even spiced ground meat (awesome with avocado on top)!
- To warm them up again in the oven, you'll probably need about 30 mins at 350. Try to open them up a bit so they reheat faster.
- To make crispy sweet potatoes later in the week, smash/break apart into pieces and pan-fry/saute in some hot oil for FAST crispy sweet potatoes that are super soft inside.
Regular potatoes:
- Straight out of the oven, slathered with salted butter - again, yum.
- Smash and pan-fry/saute in some hot oil for FAST crispy potatoes!
- If you do dairy, try #2 AND THEN top with funky/good-melting cheese for cheesy crispy potatoes - so good!
- Smash, rub with a little oil and roast in the oven for crispy edges later in the week.
- Chop into pieces and add to a salad for some heartiness.
- Chop into pieces, add to a saute!
- Later in the week - make potato salad, potatoes are already ready to go!
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While sweet potato season is technically in the fall/winter, sweet potatoes + potatoes can be stored for long periods and are generally available year round. I think this method is great for any time of year, and it's one of my favorite low-effort cooking ahead strategies in my intuitive cooking arsenal.
If you try it out, I'd love to hear what you think - email me back! And if you later want to get a bit more fancy with it, see some other slow-roasted sweet potato ideas here on Smitten Kitchen.
That's all for today! Happy Friday!
love,
Jess
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All photos are taken by me and recipes written by me, unless otherwise noted.
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Hi, I'm Jess! I help health-conscious, busy people transform their cooking from chore to lifestyle through intuitive cooking, which I teach through online classes, free content, coaching and more. This is my newsletter, Food for Thought Fridays, where I share highly actionable tips and inspiration to help you cook more intuitively (which makes cooking feel easier and SO much more fun!). Once a month, I share a recipe that's really worth making, and I only share those with my email subscribers. Sometimes the text above may include affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I get a commission if you click through and make a purchase. This helps me to continue to share free content, so I would love it if you buy through my link! Thank you for supporting Garlic Press Jess!
I currently work + live on land that is the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone. And I can't wait to eat at Cafe Ohlone! Check out this article about them.
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