Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Oil and Maple

Healthy and delicious all in one dish? 

Some say it can’t be done.

But I have found out differently over the years.

Take sweet potatoes and coconut oil. They’re both “good for you” according to most recent findings. Put them together and what have you got? More than bibbedy bobbedy boo, that’s for sure.

Like this recipe I tried yesterday. These sweet potatoes are lightly sweet — I added just one tablespoon of maple syrup — they don’t need more really. I remember my Mom made candied sweets using an entire stick of butter and about a half box of brown sugar for a large can, including liquid, of cut up sweet potatoes. Yes, it was dee-lish. But also loaded with fat and calories. So if you are looking for a recipe that’s lighter, healthier and with lower fat and calories, try this one.

It’s pretty too, don’t you think?

Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Oil and Maple

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup

3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into julienne

2 scallions, chopped

1 large clove garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary or parsley or use thyme leaves

sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat the coconut oil and maple syrup together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat for about one minute or until the coconut oil liquefies. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the scallions, garlic and herb on top. Pour the coconut oil-maple mixture over the vegetables and toss the ingredients to coat the vegetables. Sprinkle with sea salt. Roast for 22-24 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and lightly crispy. Makes 4-6 servings

Healthy and delicious all in one dish? 

Some say it can’t be done.

But I have found out differently over the years.

Take sweet potatoes and coconut oil. They’re both “good for you” according to most recent findings. Put them together and what have you got? More than bibbedy bobbedy boo, that’s for sure.

Like this recipe I tried yesterday. These sweet potatoes are lightly sweet — I added just one tablespoon of maple syrup — they don’t need more really. I remember my Mom made candied sweets using an entire stick of butter and about a half box of brown sugar for a large can, including liquid, of cut up sweet potatoes. Yes, it was dee-lish. But also loaded with fat and calories. So if you are looking for a recipe that’s lighter, healthier and with lower fat and calories, try this one.

It’s pretty too, don’t you think?

Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Oil and Maple

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup

3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into julienne

2 scallions, chopped

1 large clove garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary or parsley or use thyme leaves

sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat the coconut oil and maple syrup together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat for about one minute or until the coconut oil liquefies. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the scallions, garlic and herb on top. Pour the coconut oil-maple mixture over the vegetables and toss the ingredients to coat the vegetables. Sprinkle with sea salt. Roast for 22-24 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and lightly crispy. Makes 4-6 servings

Easy Sweet Potatoes

I have to congratulate myself.

For two reasons.

First. because my husband came home from a meeting with a client recently (the client is in a health-related industry) with some great news (I am using quotation marks even though I can’t remember the exact words, but they’re close enough):

"Wow, I just read a newsletter at (so-and-so’s) office and it listed all the best, healthiest foods to eat and guess what? We eat all those things!"

No kidding.

I never told Ed we were cutting down on beef, that I was serving smaller portions, that we were going to eat more fish, chicken and turkey. That I would make sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes. That I would serve more leafy greens and whole grains, dried apricots, avocados and bananas. And whatever else was on the list.

I just did it.

And he is such a good soul he just went along, never realizing. Of course, this was all very gradual. But somehow he had the idea that our diets were not particularly healthy.

Of course we go off now and then. And make pigs of ourselves. And eat things like franks-in-blankets and chocolate covered raisins and taco chips and sugar-coated jelly half moons.

Not usually though.

But he sometimes mentioned to me that we should should start eating in a healthier way, to which I always said “we actually do.” But you know how people are. People always assume what they have always assumed unless something comes along and changes their minds.

Like that newsletter I mentioned.

So my second reason for congratulating myself is that I still haven’t said “I told you so.”

Here is one of the healthy recipes for sweet potatoes. I always buy organic dark orange “yams” (which are really sweet potatoes). 

Easy Sweets

2 medium sweet potatoes

2 teaspoons butter or margarine

1/4 cup orange or pineapple juice

cinnamon

salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pierce the sweet potatoes with a sharp knife and place them in the oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until tender. Cut the potatoes and scoop the flesh into a bowl (you can eat the skins separately). Add the butter and mash the potatoes until fairly smooth. Pour in the juice, sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly and serve. Makes 2 servings

Sweet Potato Latkes

My life is holiday-ing by. Wasn’t it just Hallowe’en? And Thanksgiving is already gone. Here it is only a day after and in addition to thinking about turkey leftovers I’m thinking about latkes because Hanukkah is next week, starting at sundown December 1st. Before you know it it will be next summer and I’ll be making lemonade for the fourth of July.

Foodwise, leftover Thanksgiving and Hanukkah actually go very well. Turkey sandwiches with old fashioned potato latkes is something special. Turkey and sweet potato latkes may be even better.

If you’ve got a couple of sweet potatoes left here’s an easy latke recipe (a riff on the recipe in my book, Hip Kosher) you can make to accompany your turkey leftovers and you can also make these next week for Hanukkah:

Sweet Potato Latkes

2 medium sweet potatoes

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

vegetable oil for frying

Shred the sweet potatoes in a food processor. Place the potatoes in a strainer and press down to extract as much liquid as possible (or squeeze the shreds in a kitchen towel). Put the shreds in a bowl. Add the flour and toss the ingredients. Add the eggs, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking powder. Heat about 1/8-inch vegetable oil in a large sautepan. Scoop enough of the sweet potato mixture to form a pancake about 3-inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick. Fry the latkes for about 2-3 minutes per side or until the pancakes are crispy and golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Makes 4 servings

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

Is it a yam or a sweet potato? This question comes up every year and, true to form, my sister-in-law and I talked about the very subject yesterday.

The answer is: unless you go to a special, local market or grow them yourself, you are not going to be able to buy yams. You will be buying sweet potatoes, no matter what the supermarket or greengrocer calls it. Yams are not grown commercially in the United States.

There are many varieties of sweet potato. Some almost white, some yellow, others are dark, rich almost burgundy-orange.

They’re all sweet potatoes.

As is the stuff in the cans.

Centuries ago some sweet potato varieties were called nyami by American slaves, who thought the vegetable looked like the African yam, a completely different plant species. And that’s how the confusion all began.

No matter. Whatever you call them, most people love them and will be making some sort of sweet potato dish for Thanksgiving.

If you need a really quick and easy recipe without all the sugar and butter and other stuff, here’s the simple way I make yams, er — sweet potatoes: I buy the dark orange organic sweets, roast them and when they are cool I spoon the flesh into a bowl. I grate the rind of a fresh orange over it, sprinkle in a few shakes of cinnamon and mix. Then I stir in enough orange juice to get the texture I like. That’s all there is to it.

This recipe is less caloric, less fatty. So that if you have any leftovers you can make an awesome, not-so-low calorie cheesecake for the rest of the weekend. Here’s a recipe:

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

• ground toasted almonds (about 2 tablespoons), optional

• 1-1/2 pounds cream cheese

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 cup white sugar

• 1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1 teaspoon grated fresh orange rind*

• 1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 4 large eggs

• 3/4 cup pureed sweet potatoes

• 1/2 cup dairy sour cream or plain yogurt

• confectioner’s sugar, candied ginger, etc. for garnish, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter an 8-inch or 9-inch springform pan (or cheesecake pan). Sprinkle with the toasted almonds and twirl the pan to lightly coat the sides and bottom with the nuts. Beat the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium for 2-3 minutes or until smooth. Add the brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, orange rind and vanilla extract and beat the ingredients for 2-3 minutes or until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time beating after each addition. Mix in the sweet potatoes and sour cream, blending thoroughly.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Place the pan in a larger pan. Fill the larger pan with enough water to come up about 1-inch on the sides of the springform pan. Bake for about one hour or until set. Remove the springform from the larger pan and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before removing the cake from the pan to cool completely. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar or candied ginger if desired.

Makes one cake, serves 8-10

*if you use leftover mashed and seasoned sweet potatoes, cut down on the orange rind by half.

All-American Thanksgiving World Cup Dinner

I’m making an all-American World Cup dinner today to send good vibes to the team. They play Ghana today. Go USA!!!!

Here’s the dinner — Thanksgiving! I’m roasting a turkey. I made stuffing, Baked Cranberries (and added Grand Marnier), Mashed Sweet Potatoes and later will roast some asparagus. Dessert will be a Blueberry Crumb Cake with ice cream.

Here’s a recipe for the Mashed Sweet Potatoes. Takes almost no time. No  sweetener in these. If you have a sweet tooth you can add some honey or maple syrup. But even someone on a diet can eat these. Sweet potatoes are healthy. No need for the butter either.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

• 4 large sweet potatoes

• 2 tablespoons butter, optional

• 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange peel

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 cup orange juice, approximately

• salt to taste

Roast the potatoes in a 400 degree oven for about one hour or until tender. Cut the potatoes in half and scoop the flesh into a bowl. Add the butter, if used, and stir it in. Add the orange peel, cinnamon and the juice. Mash the ingredients and blend them thoroughly. Add more juice if needed to make the sweet potatoes fluffy. Taste for seasoning and add salt to taste.

Makes 6-8 servings

Ask Ronnie a question: http://ronniefein.com/ask

To comment: http://ronniefein.com/submit