Healthy Side Dish (See Jane Cook)

I made this dish last weekend as an accompaniment to meatloaf.  What can I say, when I have company, I bring out the big guns.  The company was actually my sister and she, along with Eric, love my meatloaf, so I take a teensy bit of pride in that; it's not like grade school cafeteria meatloaf, which is most likely full of preservatives and eraser remnants.

I had green beans I needed to make and I was about to make some sort of garlic bean dish when I spotted sweet potatoes out of the corner of my eye.  I had totally forgotten about them so I decided to stick with the cafeteria lunch theme and make a side dish that looked similar to peas and carrots.  Instead, I present to you:  green beans + sweet potatoes.  I rolled them around in olive oil, salt, pepper, and fennel seeds and baked them around 40 minutes (I suggest cooking the sweet potatoes first in the oven, then simultaneously boiling the beans and adding them to the potatoes with about 10 minutes left on the timer).  Et voilà!  Meatloaf plus vegetables equate a balanced meal fit for a 3rd grader...or me and my loved ones.