I picked up some sweet potatoes a while back and keep not quite getting around to actually cooking them. Luckily sweet potatoes keep pretty well and I managed to get it together enough to do something with them before they went off.

This is a very simple dish. Just a handfull of ingredients tossed together with no complicated prep or cooking. And, while the results aren't spectacular, it does give a nice result.

That said, I did make a few adjustments. The original recipe called for 3 Tbsp. of oil and 1 Tbsp. of molasses for 450g of sweet potatoes. I thought that sounded like a lot of oil, so I scaled it back to only 2 Tbsp. for a scant 900g of potatoes. I also decided to swap out the oil for bacon grease. We had a bunch in the fridge and I thought the savoury-salty notes would go nicely with the other elements of the recipe. I definitely think that scaling back the oil was the right choice! Honestly, it still seemed like there was quite a bit of fat and I might have been able to scale it back even further. I've given a range in the recipe below. Use your judgement.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Molasses and Chili

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 900g sweet potatoes
• 1-2 Tbsp. bacon grease or canola oil, melted
• 2 Tbsp. molasses
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F) and line a rimmed baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
2. Peel the sweet potatoes, halve them lengthwise, and then cut crosswise into 1-1.5cm thick pieces.
3. Combine bacon grease and molasses in a large bowl. Warm them up slightly if they're difficult to mix.
4. Add the sweet potatoes and toss to coat.
5. Sprinkle with chili powder, pepper, and salt and toss to distribute evenly.
6. Spread out in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
7. Bake at 230°C (450°C) for 20-30 minutes, flipping/stirring once.