Recipe: Sausage and Sweet Potatoes

The Family really dug this the last time I made it.
I'll do the recipe as service for 5 since our tribe is so large.


One pound of sausage or kielbasa
Four medium-large (not gigantic) sweet potatoes
Two tablespoons butter or margarine
Two tablespoons pancake syrup or brown sugar
One chopped onion (or 1/2 tsp onion powder)
Salt and pepper to taste.

Slice sausage at an angle into 1/4 to 1/2 inch ovals.
Cube sweet potatoes into medium-large squares. Generally it's a half inch slice that I cut into 4 or 6 pieces depending on the diameter of the potato. Don't bother peeling them.
Cut onion into decent sized chunks or if the family is anti-onion sneak in some onion powder.

Melt butter in a medium sized pot, add sausage then add potatoes and onion. Drizzle syrup or brown sugar over everything. Cook covered on medium setting, stirring every 5 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender. Keeping it covered helps steam the potatoes, the more you stir it the longer it takes to cook, but the more the flavors merge. Add a little salt and pepper when it's near done. Once the potatoes are done, give it a taste. What does it need? More sweet? More salt? Make it yummy.

Choose a side vegetable or two. I like green beans and diced tomatoes with a touch of onion powder. Carrots aren't a best choice because they taste similar to sweet potatoes and it's too much root food.

Can't do sausage? Personally, I hate the stuff. I appreciate the savory nature of it, but my tongue says Nope. Try tossing in a cubed chicken breast. Use a little chicken boullion instead of salt. Have some of that pork loin end sitting there? Use that instead.

It makes a really pretty plate and sweet potatoes have so many fab vitamins it's totally worth a try.

Cost analysis:
Sweet potatoes: $4
Sausage : $2.50
Onion : .50
Green beans can x2: $1.00
Tomatoes can: .50
Seasonings : negligible
Total: $1.75 per serving