There are certain vegetables that I bring home and stare at for a while before cooking them.

Sweet potatoes top that list, partly because they will last forever, so the staring contest can go on for quite some time. And partly because they have eyes. Oh, yes, you are right, I am so funny.

I love sweet potatoes simply mashed with butter, milk and not much else, but that can be boring. In my quest for different, for savory, and for not a lot of extra thinking, I picked roasted garlic as the newest uncomplicated addition to sweet potatoes.

I’m fairly certain this recipe is going to wiggle its way into the regular rotation. Start with about 8 cloves of the roasted garlic, which will give the dish a nice but not too intense garlicky flavor, and add more if you want a more pronounced hit of garlic.

I tested this recipe with an organic sweet potato that has a very pale cream-colored interior (kind of the color of Yukon golds). Next time I might look for orange sweet potatoes, since I am a sucker for the color and it makes a holiday table feel right to me.

If you’ve never tried making roasted garlic, it’s stupidly, stupidly easy. Start the garlic before you start the potatoes, so the garlic will be roasted when you are ready to mash. It’s such a simple way to change up the flavor of everything from a crostini topping to a sauce to a chicken dish.

MASHED SWEET POTATOES WITH ROASTED GARLIC

• Coarse or kosher salt, to taste
• 3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup whole milk or half-and-half (or a combo), warmed
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• >> Roasted garlic
• 1 head garlic
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Generous pinch salt

To roast garlic: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Slice top off head of garlic so the tops of the cloves are exposed. (You can do as many of these as you want at the same time.) Place head on a square of foil, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and wrap up well in the foil. Bake about 45 minutes, until garlic is very soft.

When cool enough to handle, squeeze out garlic from papery wrapper, pressing up from the bottom.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add potatoes, let water return to a simmer. Adjust heat so water keeps simmering until sweet potatoes are soft, 20 to 25 minutes.

Drain potatoes. Return them to the pot with about 8 cloves of roasted garlic, or more to taste, and mash with an immersion blender or a potato masher (or put potatoes through a ricer or food mill with desired amount of garlic). Add olive oil, butter, milk, more salt and pepper; stir to combine. Serve hot. Serves 8.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 229 calories, 8 g total fat, 4 g saturated fat, 14 mg cholesterol, 344 mg sodium, 36 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 8 g sugar, 4 g protein.