We are nearing the end of our Meditate to Thanksgiving Challenge that means that we are also quickly approaching the holidays. My goal for this 21 day meditation challenge was to help us set about the holidays with a sense of calm. I know that it is inevitable that we are thinking about menu planning and cooking just days before Thanksgiving, but I hope we can now approach it gracefully and handle it stress free.
With that said, as we near Thanksgiving Day, I want to offer a delectable Sweet Potatoes recipe that is creamy and rich minus all the sugary goo of marshmallows and excessive calories. My Brown Sugar Glazed Sweet Potatoes allow the sweet potato to stand as the supper food that it trully is. Not only do they taste like dessert, but they provide some surprising health benefits.
These tuberous roots are among the most nutritious foods in the vegetable kingdom. They are packed with calcium, potassium, and vitamins A and C. This is why one colonial physician called them the “vegetable indispensable.” Don’t confuse sweet potatoes with yams, which are also often cooked during Thanksgiving time for the rich orange hue. Nutritionally, sweet potatoes greatly outweigh yams. Sweet potatoes contain an enzyme that converts most of its starches into sugars as the potato matures. This sweetness continues to increase during storage and when they are cooked. Some nutritional benefits from sweet potatoes simply may be easier to achieve if you use steaming or boiling as your cooking method, which we are doing with this recipe as it calls for boiling the potatoes.
This recipe is tweaked from a sweet potato dish my mother use to make all the time. In her recipe, she skipped the butter all together and poured the sugar into the pot of boiling potatoes and allowed it to cook until all the liquid was evaporated. Since this is for Thanksgiving, I have modified it a bit to indulge in a little pat of butter.
Brown Sugar Glazed Sweet Potatoes for Thanksgiving Goodness
Ingredients
6 medium sweet potatoes (2 pounds)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
Water
Method
Scrub sweet potatoes, but do not peel. Cut in half crosswise, and cut into 1/2-inch wedge.
Place potatoes in 3-quart saucepan. Add enough water just to cover. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until tender, then drain.
It is optional to let the potatoes cool slightly and slip off skins.
Heat remaining ingredients in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly. Add potatoes. Gently stir until glazed and hot.
In a 10-inch skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add sugar and let it dissolve slightly. Add potato wedges. Toss well to coat and gently stir until glazed and hot. Allow the potatoes to turn slightly golden brown.
