It’s that time of the winter when we’re all feeling the drabness and can’t wait for warmer, sunny days and some color to come back into our lives again! Am I right? Until then, it’s time to revel in the gorgeousness of this easy, delicious and deeply hued Sweet & Tangy Sweet Potato Puree. Loving that orange!!

I don’t know why the end of February/beginning of March feels so-o-o-o endlessly long but it really does. I keep finding myself looking for little ways to keep each day from feeling like less of a grind. Part of me just wants to bake decadent treats to keep things fun but the other part of me—the part that knows that spring and summer (aka known as shorts and bathing suit season) are just around the corner, knows that I’ll really regret it if I don’t keep things healthy most of the time around here. Making what feels like an indulgent side but is actually good for us, kinda kills two birds with one stone.

Plus these are super easy to whip up. Not much more effort than making baked sweet potatoes. It almost feels like cheating to devote an entire post to them but I want you all to be happy and happiness right now is bite after bite of this silky smooth concoction.

There’s a little bit of maple syrup, a little bit of apple cider vinegar, a dash of hot flakes for some kick and some salt, which lets the winning sweetness of the sweet potatoes shine through. No matter how ordinary your main dish (or life is right now) I guarantee that this’ll liven things up. And hey, it’s only 3 more weeks until the official start of Spring! Hang in there!

Sweet & Tangy Sweet Potato Puree

Makes 4 servings

It’s handy to have a food processor for this but you could old school it and just whip it by hand with a whisk.

Prep Time: 15 minutes, plus the time it takes to bake the potatoes

Ingredients

• 4 medium sweet potatoes, baked and cooled a bit

• 1/4 cup maple syrup

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

• 1-2 shakes red pepper flakes

• Pinch or two of kosher salt

The Recipe

1. Scoop the insides of the sweet potatoes into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse for a few seconds to get the potatoes smooth and creamy.

2. Combine the maple syrup and vinegar in a measuring cup and add in the red pepper flakes and salt. Pour half of the mixture to the potatoes. Process until almost fluffy and taste. Add more of the vinegar mixture or salt or both as needed. Serve immediately. You could totally make this a day ahead, cover and chill and reheat before serving or make the sweet potatoes a day ahead and keep chilled and then just put this together right before you’re ready to eat and heat it up in the microwave or on top of the stove in a saucepan.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from Eat A Little Better by Sam Kass.