Seasoning for roast sweet potato wedges?

[dfrostnh]

Finally, I tried a recipe from an old issue of Cooking Light magazine for roasted sweet potato wedges. We loved them and loved using the same seasoning with 1/2" wedges of butternut squash. The seasoning was an unusual combination: cumin, salt, pepper, ground cloves, olive oil. I actually thought it was a little too spicy but I'll roast sweet potatoes/squash again. What I would like, however, is something my elderly FIL and 2 YO granddaughter would like. Neither likes very spicy food. What seasonings do you use?

[nelgie123]

Lots of good ideas-I love the previous combinations too! The other night I made salmon with a soy ginger sauce and roasted red peppers with a wasabi vinagrette. I didn't want to do my usual cumin/cayenne/s & p, so I tossed them with olive oil, S & P, and a generous sprinkling of black sesame seeds. Simple & delicious and they complimented the rest of the meal perfectly.

[Notorious EMDB]

lemon pepper seasoning and some garlic

or

penzey's singapore seasoning (spicy asian curry)

[personalcheffie]

Smoked Spanish Paprika! Don't be shy now!

[chef chicklet]

if i were to put anything on them it would be butter and a little brown sugar, or crystalized ginger chopped fine...

[lollya]

i thought i'd share my favorite way to eat acorns - with butter and honey. never did like squash with the brown sugar and marshmallows. now i love it!

[jfood]

I make these all the time. Cut the wedges and place in a bowl. Add some EVOO and toss to coat. Place on a baking sheet and sprinkle salt, pepper and a touch of garlic powder, that's it. Bake in 425 oven for 20 minutes. Flip to another side (the bottom should have carmelized a little) and back in the oven for another 20 minutes.

There are never any leftovers on these and not spicy at all.

[MVNYC]

A little Mace works wonders if you have it.

[rednails]

I just brush on a little bit of melted butter, then sprinkle on some sage. Add a pinch of salt if you must, but that's it. No pepper. I really don't want to overpower the sweetness. If you're going lo-cal, use cooking spray instead of the butter.

[dfrostnh]

Thanks everyone for your ideas. I look forward to trying them. Buttercup squashes are our favorite for taste and sweetness but it's easier to find butternut this time of year and we think they can be very bland. Roasting one really made a big difference. And I'll have to try sweet potatoes with just salt, pepper, and olive oil as well as the other suggestions. I love variety!

[pralinepatty]

I just remembered, I used to bake acorn squash halves in a pan in the oven, unpeeled, scoop out seeds, add a pat of real butter and a slice of lemon and a little salt. I think i used to add a little water to the pan but cannot remember for sure.

[Nyleve]

Finely chopped garlic, olive oil and salt. Sometimes a sprinkle of thyme, herbs de Provence or chopped rosemary.

[litchick]

my two favorite ways to do roasted sweet potato wedges:

1) with ground chipotle (I prefer penzey's), lime juice, kosher salt, and olive oil; sprinkle with finely chopped cilantro when you take them out of the oven. In this case, given your requirement of not spicy, I'd advoacate for just the barest addition of chipotle powder -- such that the smokiness comes through without the heat, which will really complement the inherent flavors of the sweet potato. I haven't tried doing this, but I'd imagine that if you combine a dash or so of chipotle powder with a tbsp or two of kosher salt, mix well, and use that as the mix you sprinkle onto the wedges, you'll get the right proportion of chili to salt.

2) with olive oil, kosher salt, and sweet (not hot!) smoky hungarian paprika. lots of paprika. ;)

[lollya]

I second the chipotle spice on sweet potatoes (and I use Penzey's as well) - you just need a little for the smokiness - too much will eventually become hot like any other pepper.

[julesrules]

Ancho powder, cumin, S & P

[IndyGirl]

cayenne/cumin/sea salt

[pralinepatty]

I love spicy foods, but i think that any seasoning on sweet potatoes is gross. I loved baked sweet potatoes with a little butter and salt or sauteed or baked sweet potato slices. I hate sweet potatoes with seasoning ever since i was in the hospital last year for three weeks, very ill, and seasoned mashed sweet potatoes were on nearly every meal, good at first, but finally really nauseating, cannot yet eat sweet potatoes.

I think any kind of squash tastes really good with no seasoning other than a little butter and salt or grape seed oil, love them, i like to use grape seed oil instead of olive oil sometimes to toss veg slices for baking for a lighter flavor.

[Kagey]

You can really do what you like with these and experiment.

Jamie Oliver has a delicious recipe for roast butternut squash wedges in his first Naked Chef book. I think it would work well for sweet potato too. It calls for garlic, coriander seed, salt, dried chili, fennel seed, and oregano. You can leave out the chili if you want it less spicy.

[oakjoan]

I've posted this recipe several times. It's one of my very favorites. We have this all the time.

I like the roasted sweet potato recipe I got from the Border Grill Cookbook - I changed it a bit.

Roast sweet potatoes, slit open, squeeze lime juice into the cut, add s/p and top with yoghurt. They also add butter and honey, but I find the sweet potatoes are sweet and rich enough as is. It's really delicious.

[hotoynoodle]

clove is very strong, and i'm not a big fan of it on vegetables.

you can toss the pieces with pineapple or orange juice. i sometimes make a big dish of sweet potatoes, white potatoes and carrots roasted that way. i put chili powder on there too, though!

[ginqueen]

sage, thyme, rosemary, or some combination of the three go very well with roasted sweet potatoes or butternut squash, with a little nutmeg. also you can put whole smashed garlic cloves in the mix--they will roast alongside the potatoes and give a mellow, sweet-ish garlicky taste.
i sometimes also add a tiny bit of maple syrup with the olive oil to coat the slices as well (i am from new england so i put maple syrup in pretty much everything) which really brings out the sweetness without becoming too too sweet.
also, if you are making the sweet potatoes, you could just toss them with lots of sea salt and black pepper. well-salted sweet potato wedges are simple and yummy on their own without any seasoning. i wouldn't recommend that for butternut squash though--squash usually seems to need a little help, in my opinion.