Even when I’m the one having people to my home for a repast, I’ve changed the way I cook, what I cook, and how we entertain. I’m coming more and more to appreciate the long table meal, potluck, covered-dish supper, carry-in dinner, whatever they’re called in your area of the world. With the festive season nigh and large family and office gatherings imminent, perhaps it’s time for all of us to think about revamping our dish to pass from something that used to wow to something we can afford, both in time, energy, and funds.
Is It Time to Update Your Signature Dish?
I have a chicken dish that used to be my go-to. It’s wonderfully flavorful, and the marinating and cooking parts are a breeze. But with my compromised fine motor skills and occasional tremor of intent, cutting up four chickens into eight pieces each isn’t the straightforward task it used to be, making this dish not the best way for me to feed my part of the crowd anymore. Besides, the older we get, the more I find that people are looking for simple, tasty, and healthful foods at such occasions — things that they can bring into their home meal repertoire. To that end, I’m bringing back a recipe I first posted way back in 2008. It’s a four-ingredient dish — two of which are salt and pepper — that requires but a knife, cutting board, and bowl for preparation, and it’s even baked on a foil-lined pan, so clean-up is easy. I also love this recipe because it starts in a cold oven so I’m A) not using extra energy to preheat the oven, and B) not overheating my kitchen — and thus me — in the process. It’ll feed five to eight people as a side dish and can easily be doubled or halved depending on your needs.
Simple Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
6 medium sweet potatoes2–3 tbsp vegetable oil1 tsp kosher or flaked sea salt½ tsp fresh black pepper
Directions
Simple, Good, and Easy to Transport
There it is. That simple. That good. They may take a little extra time in the oven, but that’s time I can use to recover (or do a bit of entertaining), and they are easily carried to another location when a dish to pass is called for. Wishing you and your family the best of health. Cheers, Trevis
