Thanksgiving Sides: The Sweet Potato

This is our friend (and meat farmer) Marcus. He has a huuuuuuge, um, root vegetable. And really small turkeys. In fact, this sweet potato weighs in at more than our would-be Thanksgiving turkey. Another day, feather-weight fowl, the smoker awaits.

This post is all about the sweet potato.

 First, some business. I was on KCUR for Halloween, and a listener called in and we were talking about how to lighten mashed potatoes and remove the dairy (hint: use vegetable stock or chicken stock). She requested the Chipotle Sweet Potato recipe from our book. It was also printed in the Kansas City Star last year for Thanksgiving recipes. I'll post the regular version with non-dairy swaps for her especially.

Honey-Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes
3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Sea salt {1/4} cup half-and-half (For non-dairy: USE ORANGE JUICE)
2 tablespoons butter (For non-dairy: USE OLIVE OIL)
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped (comes in a can)
1 tablespoon adobo sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.

2. Toss the potatoes with the oil, honey, salt, brown sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Transfer to a large baking dish or a baking sheet and roast for about 40 minutes, until fork-tender.

3. Mash the potatoes with the half-and-half and the butter (orange juice and olive oil for non-dairy). Add the chopped chipotle and the adobo sauce and mix well.

Serves 10

Or, there is Orange Basil as an alternate (you could use Sage for fall flavor here)

About 2.5 pounds sweet potatoes (2 large)

1/2 cup orange juice (unsweetened, no pulp)

1 tablespoon finely chopped basil or 1-1/2 tsp. dried basil

kosher salt to taste

Peel sweet potatoes and cut to a large dice (about 1-inch cubes).

Steam for about 20-30 minutes until fork tender.

Mix in other ingredients.

If you want more orange flavor, you can add 1/2 tsp. of orange flavor (natural) or orange zest to bump up the citrus. 

Both of these recipes are from my book, The Cleaner Plate Club.

Sweet Potato, Sage and Aged Gouda Gratin.
Now, if butterfat, cheese and dairy ARE your thing, this recipe is one of the two of my most requested Thanksgiving recipes ever.  You can skip the post ahead of the recipe, but its kind of funny if you have a few moments. Heaven. Really. Skip-the-pie-if-you-have-to-good. Hint: the other all-time favorite Thanksgiving recipe of mine IS the Sweet Potato Pie. You can also use "white" sweet potatoes here like these O'Henry ones pictured.

Sweet Potato, Kale and Farro Side
Speaking of good, if you must be good, there's no reason you should go without flavor. For you, let's get the kale back out and try this really good and healthy side with roasted sweet potato, cranberries and seasonal kale. Guilt-free nearly, I even posted the nutrition facts on this one so you can see for yourself.

Maple Sweet Potato Souffle
You can really mix it up, too, with this Maple Sweet Potato Souffle. Light and fluffy, the absolute opposite of that nasty marshmallow-laden dish that I despise.