Monday Nutrition Tip of the Week: Sweet Potato Casserole

Ahhh, Thanksgiving week. I bet many of you are in full-on menu planning mode, breaking out those age-old recipes that only see the light of day once per year. Every year I think, "This stuff is SO GOOD! Why do we only make it once a year!" Then I eat leftovers for a week, gain five pounds, and remember why.

Anyway, we already had one Thanksgiving last Saturday, and it was tremendous. The food was great, and the only thing that went the slightest bit awry was that it was an hour and a half late. No biggie.

One of the items I was responsible for was sweet potato casserole. I have a recipe that includes pecan streusel topping that is out of this world, and I'm posting it below.

Disclaimer: this recipe is NOT healthy. But I have attempted to make it a little less unhealthy by taking out a big chunk of the sugar, removing half the recommended butter, and adding flax seed to the topping. Sweet potatoes, by nature, are sweet. So I don't really see a need to add one cup of white sugar to them, while adding another full cup of brown sugar in the streusel topping. We're going for "sweet" with this recipe, not "diabetic coma." Even with the reduced sugar, I could eat the whole pan of these things.

"A little less unhealthy." Keep that theme in mind this week, and look for ways to cut back on sugar and butter. I like to eat, and Thanksgiving is a time when we should enjoy friends, family, and food. And pie! But I think there are ways to scrimp on the bad things here and there without hurting the taste of the dish.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I did tell my sister last week that she was required to put marshmallows on her sweet potatoes for my side of the family's Thanksgiving on Thursday. But it was for her own good! I wanted to protect her from the mutinous uprising that could occur if those potatoes hit the table without toasted marshmallows on top. I'm just sayin'.)

Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Streusel Topping

 

- 5-6 medium sweet potatoes
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

(for streusel topping)
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup flour (whole wheat, if you've got it, but any will do)
- 2 TB flax seed
- 2 TB butter
- 2 TB canola oil
- 1 cup chopped pecans

(Note: this recipe can be made a day in advance, but keep the topping separate until you're ready to bake it. You can either boil or bake the potatoes. And also use a long, flat casserole dish because there is a lot of topping. If you use a smaller, round dish you'll have about an inch of streusel in each serving, and that's a little overkill.)

1. Cook the potatoes, either by baking in skin until soft, or peeling and boiling until soft. If baking, remove the skin once they are done cooking and mash the potatoes. If boiling, pour off water and mash the potatoes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a casserole dish.
3. In large bowl, mix together the mashed potatoes, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, milk, applesauce, vanilla extract, and eggs. Pour into prepared dish.
4. In a smaller bowl, mix the brown sugar, flour, flax seed, butter, and canola oil with a fork until the mixture is crumbly. Then stir in pecans. Sprinkle the mixture over the potatoes.
5. Bake for 25 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

Enjoy! These are so delicious.

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