The New Sweet Potato Casserole

I'm not sure if it's the fact that Hallmark has been playing Christmas movies in July this week or what, but I've been in the mood for cold weather and festive holiday foods.  Maybe these temperatures that keep soaring into the high 90's keep me dreaming of a cold, white Christmas.

One of my favorite side dishes at the holidays, or any time, is sweet potato casserole.  Sweet potatoes are such a wonderful food on their own.  They are packed with calcium, potassium and vitamins A and C, just to name a few.  Traditionally, this amazing food is converted into a casserole side dish that probably has more fat and calories per serving than you need for an entire meal.

This recipe was an accidental discovery. During the first few weeks of my clean eating journey, I decided to begin incorporating more sweet potatoes into my diet.  The only way I was used to eating them was in casserole form, or as a loaded sweet potato piled high with butter, brown sugar, and toasted marshmallows.  Despite all my efforts, I simply did not like them plain.

One day, I felt like I was getting into a rut with my lunches.  I didn't have any leftovers from dinner the night before other than a baked sweet potato.  I stared aimlessly into the refrigerator several times, thinking a delicious healthy meal was going to magically appear.  I knew I needed to balance out this sweet potato with some protein, but nothing was appealing to me.  Suddenly, I got this crazy notion to add an egg and baked the mashed sweet potato like a casserole.  It turned out really good, but I still felt like it was missing something.  After playing around with a few combinations, I saw some fresh almond butter sitting on the counter.  Since a lot of sweet potato casseroles have a crunchy nut topping, I thought, Hmmm......

And just like that, a new favorite was born.

I have to tell you, the crunch of the almonds made me feel like I was having the traditional casserole with the almost candied topping of butter and brown sugar.

This is one of those recipes that make you say, if this tastes this good, why do I need to even bother with the unhealthy original?

The New Sweet Potato Casserole

I bake this as 1-2 servings, depending on the size of the sweet potato.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

1 medium size baked sweet potato, mashed

1 egg, beaten

1 tbsp of maple syrup or honey (or more or less to taste)

1-2 tbsp of natural, crunchy almond butter

couple dashes of cinnamon to taste

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (totally optional but it really takes it up a flavor level)

coconut oil to grease the ramekin

Mix all the ingredients until completely combined.

Pour into a greased ramekin

Bake at 375 for 20-25 min

Yes, I think I will convert you. Even my husband liked it.  That's saying a lot because have I mentioned he is my most hard to please critic?

I'm also happy to say, that after several months of clean eating, I really love a plain sweet potato.

I still really love them this way too.

I've conquered sweet potatoes....maybe next we will try for beets. Maybe

What are some foods you've waned to incorporate into your diet, but are struggling to like?

Any suggestions on how I can begin to like beets?