This little piggy is a Super Star! Around our house we have the 80/20 Rule. 80% of the time we eat very healthy, tasty foods consisting of mostly vegetables and chicken or fish with lots of flavor! Not boring little piles of things you are supposed to eat. Oh, but when that 20% of the time rolls around we are very naughty! OK….for us very naughty is tacos, french fries, pizza, ice cream/sweets of any kind and real BACON! Pork fat rules on these days!
I flipped when I ate my first one! You are definitely going to want to make these succulent little morsels!! But when you go to the market you’re not going to get a lot of clues about sweet potatoes. So what is the difference between sweet potatoes and yams, you ask?
Yams are native to Africa and Asia, with the majority of the crop coming from Africa. Compared to sweet potatoes, yams are starchier and drier. You are also not going to see real yams much in the U.S. The “yams” we get in our local markets are really sweet potatoes. The firm, golden skinned sweet potato came first and then when the copper skinned sweet potato was developed, the marketing guys decided to call it a yam to avoid confusion with the original sweet potato. It really did the opposite and now people don’t know what the heck they are eating!
There are many varieties of sweet potatoes, which come from the morning glory family. Skin color can range from white and yellow to red, purple and brown, while the flesh can be white, yellow, orange or even orange-red. These vegetables have an elongated shape with tapered ends.
From the vast variety of sweet potatoes grown in the U.S. there are two major types you will commonly find in the market:
1. Firm sweet potatoes have golden skin and paler flesh.
2. Soft sweet potatoes have copper skin and orange flesh.
These two types of sweet potatoes also cook up differently. After cooking, the firm sweet potatoes will still remain firm and a little waxy, while the soft sweet potatoes will be creamy, fluffy, and moist.
But I digress…..back to the bacon. I’m pretty good at math but don’t know how to figure out the % when a food falls into both categories. It’s a vegetable with some sugar and spice (everything nice) wrapped in BACON! What I do know is this appetizer defies math! Go figure or don’t, but do try these sweet potato cubes wrapped in bacon! Even my ultra conservative, “I don’t eat that kind of stuff” friend Nancy had 4 of these smokey, sweet, crunchy, spicy bits of piggy veggie heaven and wanted more!
Bacon Wrapped Sweet Potato Bites
Amazing how a few simple ingredients, that you typically have on hand, can yield such extraordinary flavors! Since I am not generally a sweet potato eater, I must say I have finally found a spectacular way to eat sweet potatoes and love them!!
Preheat oven to 375. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into 1 inch cubes.
Melt butter over low-heat and stir in chipotle chili powder, cinnamon and sea salt.
Cut the bacon slices in thirds. Stretch each piece of bacon a little before wrapping around the sweet potato cube. This little piggy came from market….
Wrap each sweet potato bite with a slice of bacon, overlap the bacon ends and use a toothpick to hold the bacon in place. This little piggy found a friend…..
Dip the bacon wrapped sweet potato in the spice butter to coat. This little piggy had a spicy facial…..
Place brown sugar in a shallow bowl. Dip each side of the sweet potato bite in brown sugar. This little piggy had a sugar scrub….
Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes, turning once at 25 minutes. Bake for another 20 minutes. And this little piggy was done! Yum!
The bites are done when the bacon is crispy and the sweet potatoes are fork-tender. Let the sweet potato bites cool slightly before serving.
These savory nibbles aren’t just for pre-dinner bites! Add a Brussels Sprout Salad and risotto and you have a restaurant quality dinner perfect for any special occasion!
- 2 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 pound bacon
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- Preheat oven to 375. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into 1 inch cubes.
- Melt butter over low-heat and stir in chipotle chili powder, cinnamon and sea salt.
- Cut the bacon slices in thirds. Stretch each piece of bacon a little before wrapping around the sweet potato cube.
- Wrap each sweet potato bite with a slice of bacon, overlap the bacon ends and use a toothpick to hold the bacon in place.
- Dip the bacon wrapped sweet potato in the spice butter to coat.
- Place brown sugar in a shallow bowl. Dip each side of the sweet potato bite in brown sugar.
- Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes, turning once about at about 25 minutes.
- The bites are done when the bacon is crispy and the sweet potatoes are fork-tender. Let the sweet potato bites cool slightly before serving.
- Entree ~ These savory nibbles aren't just for pre-dinner bites! Add a Brussels Sprout Salad and risotto and you have a restaurant quality dinner perfect for any special occasion!
