Tasty Tuesday: Sweet Potato Madness!

When we were heading back from Myrtle Beach a few weekends ago, we stopped along the road and picked up a bag of sweet potatoes from some nice guys on the side of the road. I told Brett to try and get a small bag and low and behold we get a huge bag. So, I've been trying to find some good sweet potato recipes to use these up before they go bad. Here are the ones I've tried thus far.

We still have a few more left so send me any of your favorite sweet potato recipes for us to try!

 

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

 

 Ingredients:

• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons chopped pecans

Scrub and pierce sweet potatoes. Bake at 375° for 1-1/4 hours or until tender. When cool enough to handle, cut a thin slice off the top of each potato and discard. Scoop out the pulp, leaving thin shells. (my shells were donzo after baking them so I just threw them out and made the rest in small baking dishes)

In a small bowl, mash the pulp with cream cheese. Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon. Spoon into potato shells. Sprinkle with pecans. Place on a baking sheet.

Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 2 servings.

Overall I thought these were really good. I especially loved the individual portions. However, I typically like my sweet potatoes SWEET so I might add a little more brown sugar or maybe even a tad of regular sugar next time.

Sweet Potato Pie



Ingredients:

• 2 (1-1/2 lbs) sweet potatoes
• 2 tbsp light butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup 1% milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp ground pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 50 to 55 minutes, or until soft. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin. Blend potatoes in a blender and pulse for about one minute to remove all fibers.

 

Place sweet potatoes in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well. Using an electric mixer, mix in sugar, milk, eggs, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve with cool whip and enjoy!

This recipe is so good! Tastes just like pumpkin pie and is a lot better for you! Highly recommend!

 

Sweet Potato French Fries



Ingredients:

• Sweet Potatoes
• Corn Starch
• Olive Oil

Cut potatoes into stripes (not too small but not to big either). Let soak in water for an hour (we skipped this step which may be why they didn't turn out perfectly). Preheat Oven to 425. Put corn starch (about a tablespoon or two) into a bag and shake in potatoes to get them all coated. Lay out evenly on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil (enough to coat). Then using your hands, toss so that everything is evenly coated. Bake for 15-30 minutes. Just keep watching them and tossing them until they are at your desired crispiness.

Ours didn't turn out perfectly but even the blogger who I got the recipe from said it takes a few tries to perfect it so we may try again soon!

Now, we also made several dipping sauces to try out with the fries (one was included in the above recipe and the other 2 I got from my friend Lauren):

Honey Mustard 1/4 cup low-fat mayo (can also use fat-free or olive oil based)

1/4 cup dijon mustard (whole grain dijon is good too)

2 tablespoons honey

  

Siracha Mayo*

Mix together 1/2 cup of mayonnaise with 1 teaspoon of Sriracha sauce and 1/4 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper. (I sometimes don’t add the pepper and will add salt and lime)

 *If you can get over the fact that you are basically eating straight mayo, this one was my favorite!

 

Chipotle ketchup:

1 cup ketchup

2 to 3 tablespoons pureed canned chipotle in adobo (depending on how spicy you prefer it)

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper