Cheap & Healthy Recipes: The Sweet Potato Edition

It's time for another round of tasty recipes using cheap ingredients and simple preparation. We want to encourage students to start cooking because if you learn to cook delicious food you'll be less likely to resort to dining out. There are all sorts of social benefits to learning how to cook-- you'll impress your friends, your family, and perhaps that cute guy or girl in your Econ class.
We're featuring sweet potatoes because of their superior nutritional quality, the variety of ways in which they can be prepared, and their constant low price. Check out the wiki entry for more info on the amazing nutrition contained in these lovely root vegetables.
Try these recipes to get the most out of your cheap bag of sweet potatoes:

1) Candied sweet potatoes are delicious for dinner or dessert. They can be prepared with or without the marshmallow topping (though it certainly adds a little something). Prepare it for dinner and eat the leftovers cold with a bit of whipped cream for dessert the next day.
2) Sweet potato fries are delicious, but frying means mess, oil stains, and the added expense of buying a bottle of oil. Chop your sweet potato into wedges, bake them, and sprinkle them with paprika or brown sugar or whatever spice you're craving. This recipe will give you some basic instructions for making your baked sweet potato wedges.
3) Try this comforting minestrone to warm you up during harsh New England winters. Soups are perfect for reheating because you can freeze chunks of it in bags and defrost it under a stream of warm water whenever you want it.
4) Grill up some sliced sweet potatoes for an excellent addition to your barbecue. A great recipe is this one, which includes cinnamon and apples.

Sweet potatoes will keep in a cool, dry place for much longer than most other vegetables, so you can buy them in bulk. Try preparing the dishes above in bulk and storing them in the fridge or freezer. You'll always have something nourishing on hand to eat when you'd rather not cook a full meal.

Enjoy,

Savvy Student