I got really inspired by the sweet potato fries I made last week, and I’ve been rocking the sweet potatoes ever since. I have to be careful, though, because my sweet potato-hating family will not go for obvious recipes, and I hate most sweet recipes anyway, so I shy away from things that have syrup or marshmallows or other sweeteners.

On Monday night I had a sick kid and not much time to cook, but I wanted to have a nice amount of food in the fridge if I or a sitter were going to have to stay home with him, so a big pan of oven mac and cheese sounded like an easy and appropriate solution.

As I started the water boiling, I spied a couple of sweet potatoes lounging in the produce bowl, and thought, “Why not?” I am here to tell you: There is no reason why not. To be honest, I didn’t tell anyone it was in there, and no one noticed. So yeah, here’s a way to hide some vitamins and fiber in that gooey mac and cheese, and then we all feel a little better about the whole thing.

Hidden Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese
1 box elbow macaroni
1 large block cheddar cheese, cut into cubes (about 2 cups)
1 cup cheese of your choice (I used mozzarella)
1/2 stick butter, cut into cubes
3 eggs
2/3 cup milk
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
Salt and pepper

Boil and drain your macaroni. I reserved the hot water and boiled the sweet potatoes in it. Cut your cheese into 1 1/2 inch cubes and set aside.

When the the sweet potato pieces are cooked through, mash them with a potato masher. In a large bowl, mix them together with the noodles and toss in the cheese and butter as well. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Pour it into the potato/cheese/noodle mixture, and salt and pepper fairly liberally.

Move it all to a 9 x 13 casserole pan and bake at 350 F until it’s melty and a little brown and crispy on top, about 25 minutes.