CHILE SWEET POTATOES

Chile Sweet Potatoes image

The chef Rick Bayless offers a wonderful recipe for sweet potatoes glazed with an ancho chile paste in his book "Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen." Instead of making the paste, I make a thinner glaze with canned chipotle and some of the adobo they're packed in. The glaze makes a spicy contrast to the sweet potatoes. You can make this recipe vegan by using light brown sugar instead of honey.

Provided by Martha Rose Shulman

Categories weekday, side dish

Time 1h

Yield Serves six

Number Of Ingredients 14

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Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, green shoots removed
Salt to taste
2 chipotle chiles in adobo, seeded
2 tablespoons adobo sauce from the chiles
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground cloves (1 clove)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth or water
1 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons honey (or use light brown sugar)
1 tablespoon finely chopped orange zest
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 large sweet potatoes about 3 pounds, scrubbed
Chopped cilantro for garnish optional

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 2-quart baking dish. Place the garlic, salt, chipotles and adobo sauce, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, broth, orange juice and honey in a blender. Blend until smooth. Strain into a large, wide bowl, and stir in the orange zest.
Cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 4-inch lengths. If the sweet potatoes are fat, cut the pieces in half lengthwise into wedges. Add to the bowl, and toss with the adobo mixture until coated. Transfer to the baking dish, then pour on the liquid from the bowl. Drizzle on the oil, and cover tightly with foil.
Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven until tender. Raise the heat to 425 degrees, uncover the sweet potatoes and baste with the liquid in the pan. Continue to bake, uncovered, until the sweet potatoes are thoroughly tender and glazed and any sauce remaining in the pan is thick. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 190, UnsaturatedFat 4 grams, Carbohydrate 35 grams, Fat 5 grams, Fiber 4 grams, Protein 3 grams, SaturatedFat 1 gram, Sodium 491 milligrams, Sugar 15 grams, TransFat 0 grams