How exciting! Superbowl Sunday is upon us. Time to gather around the television, get loud and eat all of those potato chips, fries, and salty snacks. Right?

While nobody is suggesting you forgo all the traditional Superbowl food, and certainly not the potatoes, you might want to consider this tasty alternative combo. With ingredients primarily from the Winter DCFM this treat is easy to make. It's as flavorful as anything we've ever eaten in front of a three-state-wide television screen while sharing a TV tray with family, friends, and neighbors who are screaming as if possessed in a language we don't understand.

Oven Baked Sweet Potato Spears

• Two pounds of sweet potatoes
• 3 tbsp of oil (We used a 50/50 combination of sunflower oil from Driftless Organics and olive oil)
• 1/2 tsp salt (kosher or your choice. We used Zalta Green Garlic from Crystal Infusion, LLC)
• 1/4 tsp pepper (We used summer peppers we dried from Out of Our Gourd, who will be back at market this spring)
• 1/4 tsp paprika (We used smoked paprika.)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with a tablespoon of the oil (more if necessary). Wash and scrub the potatoes then slice long ways into spears around 1/2 inch thick. (Peeling is not necessary nor encouraged.) Place spears in a large bowl. Drizzle with the oil. Add the seasonings and mix by hand until coated. Place in a single layer on the baking sheet. (More than one sheet may be necessary.) Bake approximately 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn over. Put back in the over for from 6 to 10 minutes, depending upon how done when you turned them. Remove potatoes from the oven and add more seasonings, if desired. Serve warm or cold.

Potato-Tomato Smear

This is an unexpected treat. It goes well with the sweet potatoes, balancing their sweetness with its tangy, savory flavor. Interestingly, we made our batch using dried hot peppers. It was quite hot on its own but mellowed right out when eaten with the baked sweet potato. Seasonings below are suggestions. Use what you enjoy.

• 1 large baking potato or equivalent
  
• 1 medium tomato
• 1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)
• 4 dill pickles, drained and roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup onion, roughly chopped
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• Dash of salt (if desired).

We baked the potato in a covered dish with a little water at the same time as the Sweet Potato Spears, then gave it a few more minutes until easily entered by a fork. Allow to cool for 8 minutes and then roughly cut and place in a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Adjust seasonings if desired. Serve warm or cold.

Our Sweet Potato Spears ended up a little on the soft side so the smear worked well when applied with a knife. We also tried it on baguette rounds, which worked well. While the breads from all of the Winter DCFM vendors will work well, that of Sylvan Meadows and Cabibbo's Bakery come to mind as a good size and shape to cut into party food.