Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Finger Food: Baked Sweet Potatoes

My son's always loved sweet potatoes.  In fact, they were one of the first foods I offered him!  So, when making the transition to finger foods, these seemed a natural choice for a jumping-off point.  After all, the texture of baked sweet potatoes isn't that different from the pureed version!

Baking sweet potatoes is super easy!  You might recognize the picture above from an adult-version I made my my husband and me (separate recipes also posted today!).  And yes, that is rosemary on my sweet potatoes; along with introducing texture to my son, I'm introducing fresh herbs and spices and flavor so that eventually my little one will be eating the exact same menu as my husband and me!  Fingers crossed, of course!

Preheat an oven to 375.  Pop a chunk of butter (a couple tablespoons or so) and perhaps a drizzle of olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet.  Let that melt while the oven preheats.  Once melted, use a fork to ensure the entire sheet is coated.  Sprinkle a tiny bit of salt and pepper over the melted butter if you'd like.  Add other seasonings, like rosemary, too, if you want.

Wash two sweet potatoes.  Cut them in half length-wise (be careful; this is harder than it seems).  Leave the skins on!!  Place the sweet potatoes, cut side down, on the baking sheet. If you used other herbs, you may need to press them into the flesh of the potato to make sure it stuck!

Bake 30-35 minutes, or until a fork easily pierces the skin of the sweet potato.  Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet.  Once cool to the touch, if the potato is cooked enough, you can pick up the potato in one hand (kinda like you're holding a football) and squeeze the "meat" right out of the skin!  Cutting each half into thirds or fourths, depending on the size of your potato, should be good for one serving.  I store these large chunks in a Beaba food storage tray, and when ready to serve, I heat one chuck at a time for about 30 seconds and then cut into smaller bite-sized pieces for my son to pick up and feed himself.

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