There are two ways of thinking about foods we used to hate. First, regret — for missing so many years of oysters or chunky peanut butter or what have you. Second, gratitude that there is still something new to be discovered at the table, foods that were waiting in the wings to come on stage and take us by surprise. I take the second path with sweet potatoes, the tragic victim of marshmallow-topped sludge in my impressionable childhood, but now one of my chief food loves.
