I was really excited last night when I made dinner and announced to my KISA that sweet potatoes are my favorite vegetable. He decided to stomp all over that excitement over vegetable love by telling me sweet potatoes are a starch, not a vegetable.

This was my recipe inspiration. I decided that two sweet potatoes and two shallots were too much, so I only did half that. Oh, and I didn’t peel it. Who has time to peel a sweet potato? And, I definitely didn’t grate the sweet potato. Ever tried to do that? It’s not easy. Even my KISA with his big muscles thinks it’s a pain. No thank you. I just sliced them and then chopped them. I like things easy. I just wish I would have done it all as prep work ahead of time to make the cooking more seamless. Here’s how I’d change it.

Ingredients

• 1 pork tenderloin (about 1 1⁄4 pounds)
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• salt and black pepper
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 medium sweet potato
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 1 5-ounce package baby spinach, chopped

Directions

1. Cut the sweet potato into small pieces and then dice it in the chopper.
2. Turn on the broiler. Place the pork on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Mix together 1 teaspoon of the oil, the chili powder, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper and rub on the pork. Broil, turning occasionally and basting with the maple syrup twice, until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Or, if you do them in smaller pieces, it may only need 8-10 minutes to cook.
3. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and cook, tossing occasionally, until tender, 7 to 9 minutes more. Add the spinach and cook, tossing, until just wilted, 1 to 2 minutes more.

I was so excited about how delicious dinner was that I almost forgot to take a picture for y’all.