Ham & Sweet Potatoes

Friday night for dinner I made a ham dinner for Steve & I. It was really a pretty basic meal - ham, potatoes, and peas - but I used my thinking cap to come up with two different "recipes". While I'm sure there are tons of ideas/recipes on the interwebs for both of the things I made, these I did without consulting that or a cookbook.

First things first...

Grill Pan Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients (Serves 1):
- 1 large sweet potato
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (in small bowl or cup - for brushing)
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, & paprika (to taste)

Method:
- Cut the sweet potato into 1/2-inch discs (skin-on) and par-boil (bring to boil and cook until fork-tender, about 7 minutes).
- Heat the grill-pan over medium-high heat.
- Drain the potatoes and place on grill pan. Brush with vanilla extract and sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, and paprika.

- Cook for about 5 minutes, then flip and repeat the flavor-adding on the other side.
- Cook for about 5 more minutes, flip and cook for 2 minutes, then flip & cook for 2 minutes again.
- Remove from heat. Serve with a dipper of warm maple syrup.

Those were for Steve since I am not a big sweet potato fan, and he said that they were pretty good. I made myself a regular potato in the same way (par-boil and on the grill pan), but just used a McCormick spice blend I had in my cabinet.

Of course, with only two of us there were plenty of ham leftovers. Having never made one before, I decided to try my hand at a ham salad for sandwiches during the week (waste not, want not right?).

Leftover Ham Salad

Ingredients (Serves 8):
- Roughly 1 pound leftover ham
- 1 tbsp of your favorite mustard
- 3 tbsp of your preferred mayonaisse
- 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Fresh ground pepper, to taste

Method:
- Put all ingredients in food processor. Combine until it looks like ham salad.
- Store in air-tight container in refrigerator. Serve on your favorite bread with your favorite sandwich side.

These are simple recipes that can easily be added into a weekly rotation. The sweet potato will go with just about anything and with hams available in smaller portions these days it's easy to get something that won't dwarf the Christmas ham. I'm looking forward to enjoying my sandwich today!