Most people think that cooking vegan takes a long time and can cost a lot of money: two phrases that horrify college students. However, there are endless yummy, filling vegan options. One of my favorites when I am in a rush is to cook up a sweet potato. While cooking a sweet potato in the oven can take 45 minutes, pros know to cook one in the microwave; this hack only takes five minutes and produces the perfect sweet potato! You can do this with a normal potato but I prefer sweet potatoes because of the Vitamin A and C you get from the vibrant color. They’re also a great source of fiber so you will stay full all night, no matter where your adventures lead you.
To cook a sweet potato in the microwave, you have to first put it on a microwave safe plate. Pierce it six-seven times with a fork all around it and then place in your microwave for two minutes and thirty seconds. Once this time is up, flip it and cook for another two minutes and thirty seconds. Be careful flipping it because it will be very hot. Like magma hot. I suggest flipping it with a fork; I use the same one I used to pierce it so I don’t have to wash more dishes. When your sweet potato is done cooking, take it out (again, carefully!), and cut it lengthwise down the middle and then width wise a few times so that when you push together the ends, you have lots of little spaces open to put your toppings.
While the sweet potato is cooking, gather your toppings to save time. I always like to top mine with cubed avocado because of the benefits it provides for my skin and hair. I rarely eat more than half an avocado at a time; a hack to keep your leftover avocados from going bad overnight is to store the half with the pit remaining in plastic wrap. The pit prevents it from browning quickly. I also used hummus for creaminess to replace sour cream, any leftover veggies in the fridge, and nutritional yeast. If you haven’t tried nutritional yeast yet, pick yourself up a container. It has a cheesy flavor that tastes good on toast, pizza, and pasta and boasts an insane 8 grams of protein per two tablespoons.
The final step is to pile everything on and enjoy! Once you learn how to cook a sweet potato in the microwave, you will start using this technique all the time. Other ways I’ve used my sweet potato once it was cooked was mushed into a quesadilla, cubed in tacos, mixed into pasta with spinach, and served plain with vegan butter on top.