A Sweet Potato, But Not in the Thanksgiving Way

The perfect recipe for one, not twelve, that toes the line between brunch and pragmatism.

Observing the onslaught of Thanksgiving-season media content triggers in me a wave of forgotten stress. It is no longer my job to create new ideas for what a former boss once called “our Super Bowl”, and for that I am grateful. I no longer have to work holidays, answering “user questions” or crafting tweets about cranberry sauce, and I have not been in a single meeting about stuffing. Over the past two weeks, opening up YouTube, or Instagram, or the NYT Cooking App—the three distractions I reach for during my lunch breaks or snack breaks or fidgeting breaks—has left me repeating I ain’t reading that / I’m happy for you though / or sorry that happened. The Ina video was cute, I guess! Watching Bon App and NYT simultaneously roll out their Ina Thanksgiving Content feels like watching the world’s most low-stakes Battle of the Bands. (The winner of course is Ina, who has been at the top of the best-seller list for three weeks now.) But I’m mostly uninterested in the never-ending onslaught of options and twists and casseroles.

Next Thursday morning I’ll take a train to Amsterdam and let Shay and Tom feed me. The most stressful kitchen decision I’m currently facing is what to cook for next week’s potluck; I’m taking suggestions in the comments. My first two attempts were lackluster to my standards, and if everyone at this residency doesn’t know I’m an amazing cook, I will die.

All of that is to say, I am opting out of Thanksgiving Idea Generation this year, and will continue to tell you about the small things I am feeding myself, which right now includes a sweet potato, free from the tyranny of casserole. 

I am always thinking, I should get back into sweet potatoes. They were once—back in my coconut oil-rubbed vegan days—a big part of my life. People are always roasting them whole and then doing stuff with them, but somehow I am not. I think of Sarah Jampel as our great modern sweet potato evangelist, and as always want to emulate her. You can’t argue, after all, with a vegetable whose whole thing is “what if a plain potato tasted good?”.