Healthy Alternative to Sweet Potato Casserole
Christmas does not have to be the most fattening time of year. You can easily cut down on the sugar, fat, and calories by changing up a few of your dishes, like sweet potato casserole for instance. Sweet potatoes are tasty and rich in flavor without all of the marshmallows and added sugar. Clean Eating features a great recipe that makes a healthy alternative to traditional sweet potato casserole.
Healthy Alternative to Sweet Potato Casserole
This recipe makes about 10 servings and takes a total of 75 minutes to make.
Ingredients
Pecans:
- 11/2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp organic unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
- 1/4 tsp each sea salt and ground black pepper
- 2 pinches ground cayenne pepper
- 1 cup raw unsalted pecans
- 3 lb sweet potatoes, halved lengthwise and cut into 2-inch-thick wedges
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp organic unsalted butter
- 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
- 1/2 vanilla bean
Directions
1. Up to 3 days in advance, prepare pecans: Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small saucepan on medium, heat maple syrup, butter, rosemary, salt, pepper, and cayenne, stirring, until butter melts. Next, place pecans on a parchment-lined baking sheet and drizzle with butter mixture, then toss to combine. Bake, stirring once until pecans are toasted and sugar has caramelized, which will take about 10 minutes. Cool completely, chop and store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
2. 1 day in advance, bake sweet potato wedges: Preheat oven to 425°F. Arrange sweet potatoes skin side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then, brush with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake 35 minutes or until tender. Cool completely and store in an airtight container in a single layer
in the refrigerator.
3. 2 hours before serving, remove sweet potatoes from refrigerator and arrange, skin side down, on a parchment-lined baking sheet and set aside. Then about 45 minutes before serving, preheat oven to 425°F.
4. 10 minutes before serving, glaze and reheat potatoes. In a small bowl, combine maple syrup, butter, and rosemary. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape out seeds, and then add to maple syrup mixture. Brush sweet potatoes with maple mixture and bake until heated through and glaze is bubbly for about 10 minutes. Then, transfer sweet potatoes to a serving dish and sprinkle with pecans.
5. Lastly, enjoy this healthy alternative to sweet potato casserole at Christmas dinner!
