Grilled Sweet Potatoes

 It's officially grilling season!  Officially declared by me, that is.  We only have a charcoal grill at our house, so if we are going to grill something, it takes a decent time commitment.  That's why if we're going to go through the trouble to get the grill ready, I usually want to cook as much of the meal on the grill as possible, not just the meat.  We also grill potatoes, vegetables, and even dessert sometimes.  Foil pack potatoes are a definite go-to at our house.  They are an easy grilled side dish that you can mix up with different flavors to go with your meal.

I've talked before about my obsession with sweet potatoes.  Well, when we were grilling the other day, I decided to throw some sweet potatoes in the foil pack potatoes.  I am someone who likes the savory taste of sweet potatoes as well as the sweet, and I especially like them flavored with thyme.  I was already using thyme and parsley for my meat marinade, so I used them in the potatoes as well to tie the flavors together, but also to use up some more of the herbs so they wouldn't go to waste.  Just seemed like a logical thing to do.You can certainly use this method with all regular, white potatoes, and you can flavor them up any way you like.  This is something you can pretty much kitchen sink - just reach up into your spice cabinet, pick some things that work together, and go to town.  Throw in some onions and garlic, and viola!I was making enough potatoes for six people, so that's how this recipe is written, but you could easily reduce it down to feed the number of people you need.  The thing about making foil pack potatoes is that you can't make the packs too thick or the potatoes will take forever to cook.  So, I broke this up into two packs.Foil Pack Grilled Sweet PotatoesIngredients:

• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
• 3 red potatoes, sliced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 T fresh thyme, chopped (or 1 T dried)
• 2 T fresh parsley, chopped
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions:Put sliced potatoes in large bowl and add some olive oil just to lightly coat the potatoes.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Take two long sheets of aluminum oil (about 24 inches each) and lay one on top of the other to make a cross.  Pour half  of the potatoes in the center of the cross in an even layer.  (Here's your chance to add any extra seasonings if it looks like it needs it.)  Fold the foil over to create a tight seal.  If you feel like it's not tight enough, get a third piece of foil, put the pack on it seam side down, and close it up tightly.Repeat process with remaining potatoes.These take a while to grill - about 25-30 minutes depending on how hot your grill is.  Usually, we put them on the grill ahead of whatever meat we are cooking.  When we put the meat on, we move the potatoes to a less hot area of the grill while the meat cooks so they get done about the same time.