Baked Yams

I decided to give a go at baking a yam today! On the menu was also SIMPLE CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS, which needed to bake in the oven as well. Cooking the yams and the chicken at the same time and in the same oven worked out beautifully. It also helped that both recipes call for pretty much the same seasonings. Made my life easier. 🙂

Candied yams. Marshmallow yams. Yum!

(or should I say “Yam!”?)

But if you want to make a healthier choice that is still very delicious, you can opt out for plain ol’ baked yams without any added sugar. That’s what we did tonight.

Baked Yams Recipe

Ingredients (3-4 servings):

• about 1.5 lbs. of yam
• about 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• salt and pepper
• a little butter (for serving)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and get out an 8×8 inch glass baking dish.
2. Wash and dry the yam(s).
3. Cut into chunks (about 2×2 or 2×3 inches) and place in baking dish.
4. Drizzle olive oil on top. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Rub the oil, salt, and pepper onto all sides of each chunk of yam.
5. Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour-1 hour and 15 minutes. Yams are done when they are tender.

The peels come off easily once the yam is cooked, so don’t worry about peeling it beforehand. After I take my peels off, I usually mash up the yams with my fork and add a dab of butter and a little sprinkle of salt.

In case you’re wondering about cooking the yams and chicken at the same time, here’s what I did: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare both the yams and chicken in their separate baking dishes so they are both ready to go into the oven. I put the chicken on a lower oven rack and the yams on a higher rack. Cooked them both for 1 hour and 15 minutes and they came out perfect. Just check that the chicken is cooked thoroughly and the yams are tender enough to easily put a fork through them.

My kids sometimes ask me to snap pictures of their food too. 🙂

*Inspired by THIS recipe.