Ingredients
• a sweet potato or yam
• 1 tbsp canola oil (precision measurement is not required)
• 1/2 tbsp butter or margarine (precision measurement is not required)
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger (more or less as desired to taste)
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (more or less as desired to taste)
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (more or less as desired to taste)
Gear
• a large-ish skillet (frying pan) with a lid or something that will work as a lid, like a cookie sheet
• spatula
• vegetable peeler
• cutting board
• knife
• a gallon size zipper bag
• stove
Making It
Step 1:
Wash your sweet potato in cold running water and scrub off dirt with your hands.
Step 2:
Using your vegetable peeler and your amazing powers of concentration, peel your sweet potato.
Step 3:
Put your clean and peeled sweet potato on your cutting board. If there black bits, cut them out as you work. Slice the potato in slices that are about 1/2 inch thick. Lay the slices flat on the cutting board and cut them in a grid to make cube-like shapes that are about 1/2 inch on each side. You are trying to make pieces that are all approximately the same size so that they will all take about the same amount of time to cook. You don’t have to be anywhere near perfect with this. Just have the pieces all mostly around the same size.
Step 4:
Put 1 tbsp of canola oil into the zipper bag.
Step 5:
Put the sweet potato pieces into the zipper bag. And… Zip That Bag! Shake to coat the pieces in the oil. Dance a little.
Step 6:
Calm down. That’s enough dancing. Put your skillet on the stove and set the heat to medium. Okay… Feel free to dance for a minute while the pan heats.
Step 7:
Dump the sweet potato pieces out of the zipper bag into the skillet. Use the spatula to move them around so that they are all in a single layer in the pan.
Step 8:
Cover the pan with the lid.
Step 9:
Every 3 minutes or so, remove the lid and stir/flip the potato piece around with the spatula, then cover the pan back up.
Step 10:
After about 20 minutes the cooking will be done. You can check by sticking a fork in one of the biggest pieces. If that piece is soft, cooking is done.
Step 11:
Turn off the heat under the pan and add in 1/2 tbsp of butter or margarine and stir/flip the pieces around with the spatula to coat them with the melted butter.
Step 12:
With the sweet potato pieces still in the skillet, sprinkle on the ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon and stir/flip the pieces around with the spatula to coat them with the spices.
Step 13:
Eat your sweet potato.