Prep Time

　　15 minutes

　　Active Time

　　15 min

　　Total Time

　　15 minutes

　　Talk about convenient! Baking a whole sweet potato takes about an hour, but sautéing the grated potato takes only fifteen minutes from start to finish — and you end up concentrating the flavor to boot. This recipe dresses up your potato with Southwestern ingredients, but there's no reason not to go Asian (add ginger and soy) or Italian (add sage, brown butter, and pine nuts) as the mood strikes you. For that matter, you could swap out the sweet potato and use butternut squash instead.

　　

Ingredients

Makes 4 to 6 servings

　　2 large sweet potatoes (about 24 ounces total), peeled

　　3 tablespoons vegetable oil

　　1 teaspoon ground cumin

　　1/2 to 1 chipotle in adobo sauce, finely chopped

　　1/4 cup pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)

　　Kosher salt and freshly milled black pepper

　　

Step 1

1. Coarsely grate the sweet potatoes, preferably using the grating disk of a food processor. (You should have about 5 cups.)

　　

Step 2

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat until hot. Reduce the heat to medium-high; add the sweet potatoes and cumin and sauté, stirring constantly, until the potatoes are almost tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chipotle, pepitas, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 2 minutes more or until the sweet potatoes are tender.

　　From From Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals by Sara Moulton Copyright (c) 2005, by Sara Moulton. Published by Broadway Books.A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Sara Moulton currently hosts the Television Food Network's brand-new series Sara's Secret's as well as Cooking Live with Sara Moulton. She also serves as executive chef for Gourmet and food editor for Good Morning America, appearing on the show frequently. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.