Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Pecans

Today my hubby suggested we BBQ for dinner...with fall turning towards winter we haven't been grilling as much as we normally do (and especially with the wet October that we've had).  So when he made the suggestion, I though- YES! Great!  Funny thing, about an hour after we decided to BBQ for dinner, my cousin (who is one of our neighbours) called wondering if we had a spare propane tank handy as she was cooking a turkey on their BBQ and was worried about running out) - guess it was a grilling kind of day!

We needed some veggies to go with our chicken, and we usually do a Grilled Vegetable Basket, but since tomorrow is grocery day, our veggies are a little thin right now!  BUT, I had a beautiful sweet potato that was calling out to me.  And then I remembered a grilled sweet potatoe recipe card that I had picked up at Safeway a while back.  Took a look at the recipe, had most of the ingredients (well, a few of them...and then improvised on the rest!).  Here is what I did:

1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes
1/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat your BBQ to medium. 

Make your glaze by mixing the lime juice, orange juice, corn syrup and cumin.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.

Peel your sweet potatoes.  Cut into 1/2 inch slices.

Lightly brush the sweet potato slices with olive oil.  Place the sweet potatoes directly on the grill.  Cook over medium heat, turning every 5 minutes.  They will take about 15 minutes to become just tender.

While the sweet potatoes are grilling, put the pecans into a single layer on foil on the grill.  Toast 2-3 minutes, stirring often.

When the sweet potatoes are cooked, remove them from the grill.  Put into a bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with the glaze, and add the pecans.  Serve, and enjoy!

VERDICT
These were really good!  And pretty easy to make. I wasn't sure about the glaze, but I really really liked it.  Nice and fresh tasting.  A hit all around (well, except for the baby, but he's not feeling well today, and he just wanted oatmeal, cottage cheese, milk and a banana for dinner).  I will totally make these again!

Baked Not Fried French Fries

My boys have been bugging me for hamburgers for dinner for what seems like forever.  I love a good homemade hamburger, but to me, they are a summer thing.  A juicy BBQ burger, sitting out on the patio, beer in hand....ahhhh...summer, come soon!

Anyways, I finally "caved" today and said yes to their request, so I made my hamburger patties for my husband to grill, and this time I decided to make some homemade fries.  Armed with sweet potatoes and yellow potatoes from the pantry, I put together a little "baked not fried" french fries.  Here's what I did:

1 sweet potato
2 yellow potatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon fresh basil, chopped
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450F.

Wash sweet potato and yellow potatoes, clear away any blemishes, but do not peel.  Cut into fry-sized pieces and put into a large bowl.

Drizzle olive oil over the cut potatoes.   Add in the red pepper flakes, paprika, garlic, chili powder, basil, salt and pepper, stir well to coat.

Spread onto a foil-lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes at 450F.  Take fries out of the oven and flip.  Return fries to the oven, reduce heat to 400F and continue baking for another 15-20 minutes, or until the fries are done to your liking.

VERDICT:
These were oh-so yummy.  We enjoyed them very much, and it was so nice to know exactly what seasonings were on the fries.  They had a little bit of a kick and a little bit of a smoky flavour, which we enjoyed.  Sure, they are a teensy bit more prep than ripping open a bag of frozen fries and baking them in the oven, but they are so worth it!  I'll be doing these again, and am already thinking about other spice combinations to try :-)

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