Although sweet potatoes are most popular around the holidays, several recipes for sweet potatoes can be enjoyed all year long. Not only do sweet potatoes give you an alternative to russet potatoes, but they are also incredibly healthy. In fact, they're much healthier than white varieties.
Sweet Potato Recipes
Pancakes Loaded with Sweet Potatoes
It happens to everyone. You think you're going to need six sweet potatoes, and it turns out you only need four. What do you do with the leftovers? Why not use them in recipes? You can use them to make casseroles, twice-baked potatoes, or even decadent pancakes.
Ingredients You Will Need:
1 ½ cups milk
2 eggs
1 cup of leftover baked sweet potatoes, peeled and mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups pancake mix
Combine the milk, eggs, sweet potatoes and vanilla, and stir thoroughly. Add cinnamon to the pancake mix, and combine. Stir the pancake mix into the wet ingredients until just combined. Don't overstir the mix, or your pancakes won't be fluffy.
Pour ½ cup of the mix into a nonstick skillet, and cook until bubbles form on the top. Flip and cook until the pancakes are golden brown and cooked through. Serve with cinnamon butter, maple syrup and toasted pecans.
Sweet Potato Chips
If you're looking for ingredients for healthy recipes, look no further than sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are loaded with fiber. This recipe allows you to enjoy the decadence of potato chips without the guilt. Not only is this recipe baked, but the result is a healthy alternative to white potato chips.
Ingredients You Will Need:
2 to 3 large sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar substitute (Splenda is recommended)
Butter-flavored cooking spray
Using a mandolin, slice the sweet potatoes ⅛-inch thick. The thinness of the sweet potatoes allows them to bake quickly and become extra crisp.
Combine the cinnamon and sugar substitute. Coat the sweet potatoes with the butter-flavored cooking spray, and sprinkle with the cinnamon mixture. Don't worry if you have extra; it can be saved for later use on cinnamon toast.
Spray a cookie sheet with butter-flavored cooking spray, and spread out your sweet potatoes. Bake at 425 degrees until the sweet potatoes are crisp.
For added flavor, serve with a low-calorie dip made with fat-free cream cheese, cinnamon and brown sugar substitute.
Praline Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are perfect for mashing, but people often end up boiling them to death. The following recipe gives you perfect mashed sweet potatoes with a delicious kick.
Ingredients You Will Need:
4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup butter
½ cup pecans, toasted and chopped
Steam the sweet potatoes until tender. Boiling the sweet potatoes will cause them to overcook and become gummy.
Mash the potatoes with the cream, brown sugar and butter. Fold in the pecans and serve immediately with ham or turkey, or on their own.
Tips for Adding Sweet Potatoes to Recipes
Canned sweet potatoes can be used anywhere you might use canned pumpkin, or even fresh pumpkin. For example, sweet potatoes make excellent pies and bread. You can even use them to make ice cream. If you have leftover sweet potatoes, save them for recipes. You can quickly peel leftover sweet potatoes and use them in waffle recipes or casserole recipes. If you want an easy way to steam sweet potatoes, you can use steam bags found at the grocery store. These bags allow you to quickly steam foods in your microwave without having to wash a large steamer. Just look at your regular recipes, and see which ones would benefit from the flavor of sweet potatoes.
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