Thanks for your patience over the last week and a half as I’ve been a little slow at answering emails and comments. We returned Monday from our excursion to the glorious West coast. It was wonderful and I’m having a hard time adjusting back to real life (read: cleaning my own toilets and making my own dinners).

These sweet potato skewers are just the answer for a quick, weeknight side dish and are perfect served with anything from a grilled burger to marinated chicken or even pork. And let’s face it, you could just devour them all by their lonesome and still be extremely satisfied. They are that good.

The concept is ultra-simple and the sweet potatoes need only a quick burst in the microwave to soften up enough to thread on skewers.

Let your inner chef go crazy with the spice combinations you could use on these babies.

Any way you flavor them, they are absolutely sure to cure the returning-from-vacation-blues. Trust me, I know.

One Year Ago: Cheesesteak Subs
Two Years Ago: Moo Shu Noodles

Grilled Sweet Potato Skewers

Yield: 4-6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 24 minutes

Total Time: 34 minutes

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Ingredients

• 4 medium sweet potatoes/yams, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Bamboo skewers

Instructions

1. Place all of the sweet potato chunks in a large microwaveable bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for three minutes. Remove from the microwave, stir, recover with plastic wrap and microwave 2-3 minutes more, until the sweet potatoes are just tender enough to thread on skewers (but not overly soft – they will cook through on the grill).
2. Thread 5-6 pieces of sweet potato on each skewer. Place all the skewers on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, rolling the skewers back and forth to evenly distribute the oil. Sprinkle the skewers with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat a charcoal or gas grill to medium or medium-high heat. Grill the sweet potato skewers, flipping every 5-6 minutes, for a total of about 20 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender. If desired, finish the hot sweet potatoes off with a quick brush of olive oil mixed with a little salt.

Notes

The key to this recipe is cutting all the sweet potato pieces as close to the same size as possible that way they cook evenly. Also, feel free to add other spices to fancy them up a bit. Chili powder and cumin for a southwest kick anyone?