Sweet Potatoes with Your Cumin

When I was a childless, carefree twenty-something in Seattle, I lived a couple blocks away from the food co-op.  At that time in my life, I was fairly undisciplined, and thought nothing of jaunting over to the co-op deli counter and spending five bucks for a small container of cumin roasted sweet potatoes. How I loved those sweet potatoes. The key to their fabulousness lay in the heavy-handed application of cumin. No light dusting for these sweet potatoes. No, on first bite you had to think, "Whoa, cumin." Then, "Oh, sweet potatoes!" And I also loved their chicken salad, which had purple grapes sliced lengthwise, and chunks of walnut in it. I would still pay good money for that. It was the perfect blend of sweet and savory, with nice big chunks of chicken. Not too mayonnaisey, either.

But back to the sweet potatoes. My thirty-something self wants to give my twenty-something self a sharp rap on the knuckles for paying that much for something I can buy for $0.79 a pound, and cook without even batting an eyelash. I am unfortunately still relatively undisciplined, but my lack of discipline currently expresses itself through buying half-off baked goods after 6 pm at the local bakery/deli/meat shop. But then again, it's a lot harder to make a Faux-stess cupcake (Hostess cupcake copy-cat) than it is to make these cumin roasted sweet potatoes.

These make a good side dish with Mexican food, or would be good as sweet potato tacos served in soft corn tortillas with crumbled cotija cheese and avocado sauce* drizzled on top. (And kids seem to love them.)

*By avocado sauce, I mean avocado, sour cream, garlic, and lime juice blended together, with a little salt.

Cumin Roasted Sweet Potatoes
5 or 6 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in rounds about ½ inch thick
one onion, halved crosswise and sliced, cutting along the root/top axis
a few glugs of canola oil
approximately 2 tablespoons ground cumin
salt

Preheat oven to 425°. Place your sweet potatoes and onions on a large sheet pan, then pour a good amount of canola oil on them. Use your hands to mix the oil so that it fairly evenly coats the sweet potatoes and onions. Add the cumin and again use your hands to mix, so that it is evenly distributed. Spread the sweet potato mixture evenly over the sheet pan, and sprinkle salt over it all. Place on the center rack of the oven and  bake for about 40 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are soft and lightly browned, and onions are soft and caramelized at the edges.

And now, because I can, I ask you to go and listen to this. You might want to be up on your feet first.