These goat cheese and spinach mashed sweet potatoes are the perfect healthy side dish for dinner.

Yesterday while starring at a PowerPoint presentation about capital spending on college campuses, I started thinking about sweet potatoes.

Because obviously there’s a correlation between $/gross square foot spent on college buildings and my side dish for dinner.

Duh.

There are certain things that I always have on hand.

Wrinkly sweet potatoes on the verge of going soft (ha!), baby spinach (which my little Asian produce market spells “spinage” on the plastic box it comes in), goat cheese and this plastic baggy of dried thyme that I’ve had well over a year for the sole reason that I have severe issues throwing things out.

I eat them all individually, but why not mashed together to make a creamy, veggie filled side dish?

Add in some sautéed shallots for some extra flavor and this was the perfect side to the filet mignon we ate last night for dinner.

Basically, I did a Valentine’s dinner a day late and I think it tasted even better than it would’ve on Valentine’s Day simply because I spent 24 hours dreaming about it after seeing too many pictures of other people’s delicious filet dinners.

A juicy, medium rare filet (or balsamic dijon crusted tenderloin) is exactly why I could absolutely never be a vegetarian.

It’s all that’s right in this world in one perfect forkful.

These mashed sweet potatoes are creamy from the goat cheese and yet sweet from the shallots.

You don’t even know the spinach is there except for it’s texture so it’s a great way to sneak in some extra greenery.

Could you eat this alongside tofu or tempeh?

Sure…I guess.

But if you eat meat, go splurge on the best cut you can find and get this on your dinner table with it.

Or, go the comfort food route and serve this alongside the best bomb meatloaf recipe.

Wine is mandatory optional.

Prefer white potatoes? These garlic Greek yogurt mashed potatoes are excellent too.

How about purple potatoes? Try these stunning mashed purple sweet potatoes with the easy herb butter sauce that comes with them. Delicious!

Or, mashed rutabaga, creamy cauliflower pumpkin mash and carrot parsnip puree are all great lower-carb options with the same mashed comfort food vibe.