As exam time approaches, I begin to lack all motivation to cook. And clean, but that’s beside the point. Like many of you, I basically refuse to do a big grocery shop this close to going home for the holidays. Partly this is because I don’t want the food to go bad while I’m home for the holidays, and partly because I barely have time to go grocery shopping while studying for exams. Instead of living off canned soup and Itchiban noodles like I did during midterms, I decided to buy yams in bulk and, well, live off yams. Yams are basically GOLD in my mind. They’re pretty “sweet” if you ask me (ha ha).
Yams/sweet potatoes (don’t exactly know the difference) can be cooked in so many different ways, are healthy, flavourful, fill you up, and can be added to almost anything. Shout out to all the yams.
This yam recipe was inspired by a longing desire for home-cooked comfort food (and laziness). It’s easy, tender, and seriously satisfying. Most likely, you’ll already have all the ingredients on hand.
Ingredients:
- Sweet potato or yam
- Italian spices
- Parmesan cheese (I used a vegan cheese substitute)
- Butter (I used a vegan butter substitute)
- Egg (I used egg whites)
- Oregano
- Salt and pepper
Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 400°F
- Poke holes in yam with fork
- Bake yam in microwave for 5 mins (turning over every 2 mins)
- Cut yam in half
- Slice yam three ways down and five ways across (but do not cut all the way through)
- Carefully pull apart sections of yam (while still fully attached)
- Brush with butter
- Brush with egg whites (making sure to get into crevasses)
- Sprinkle generously with parm
- Sprinkle with Italian spices
- Put in oven for 15-20 mins (or until completely soft and slightly golden on top)
- Garnish with oregano and a pinch of salt and pepper
*****
The only negative thing I could say about yams is that they take too long to cook and I am left constantly peeking inside the oven every five minutes to see if their finally done. But I’m working on my patience and the end result is so worth it.