Sweet Potato Casserole

I guess you can sense a theme to the past few posts: Orange Autumn-inspired dishes!  'Tis the season for me to go overboard with wonderfully comforting vegetables such as butternut squash and pumpkin.  Another favorite is sweet potatoes, especially when they've been baking in the oven to the point that they are super sweet and need no butter (yet I still must use butter!).

I was a little bit too excited when I stumbled upon roasted, mashed sweet potatoes in the freezer section at Trader Joe's.  I was even more excited after reading the ingredients - Sweet potatoes and nothing else.  I was expecting them to be sweetened, but they weren't.  As much as I love baking a sweet potato, I don't always have time.  And let's face it, a potato "baked" in the microwave just never tastes as good as the real deal.  Baking the potato makes it so caramelized and there isn't much that comes close to that rich flavor!

This dish came together really easily (mainly because of the frozen potatoes).  I was roasting a chicken for dinner, so I just put the potatoes in the oven at the same time.  These potatoes are also a lighter alternative to some other sweet potato casseroles that are full of butter and sugar.  Not that there's anything wrong with that!

I would definitely make this dish again and I will be sure to stock up on a few bags of these potatoes next time I'm at Trader Joe's!

Sweet Potato Casserole

Serves 4-6

1 bag Trader Joe's frozen roasted mashed potatoes

1-2 T maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like your potatoes)

Handful dried cranberries

Handful pecans

Cinnamon

Salt & pepper

The lineup: Dried cranberries, maple syrup, sweet potatoes, pepper, cinnamon, and salt.  Missing from the photo: pecans 

Sweet potato "puck"

Preheat oven to 450.  Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with nonstick spray.  Place the potatoes in a single layer in the prepared casserole dish.  Sprinkle with cinnamon, salt, and pepper (all to taste).  Sprinkle the cranberries and pecans (I just broke up the pecans in my hand) over the potatoes.  Drizzle with syrup.  Cover the dish with foil and bake for about an hour or until the potatoes are cooked through (should easily squish when you gently touch them).  You can serve as is, or stir to combine like I did.

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili

I probably should have posted this recipe earlier this week when it was cold and rainy in New England, but I have had a bit of a crazy week.  Between work and a flat tire (that I changed all by myself thankyouverymuch!), it has been a bit hectic.  This is a great recipe for busy weeks since you put all the ingredients in a slow cooker and come home to a house that smells delicious!

I decided to make this recipe a few weeks ago when I was craving something warm and spicy.  I automatically thought of chili!  I went to work and scanned my pantry, fridge, and freezer to see what I had on hand.  I realized I didn't have any ground meat, but I did have sweet potatoes and black beans.  I had seen recipes for sweet potato black bean chili and decided that is what I would make!  I loosely followed a recipe I had found on EatingWell.com and I added some extra veggies to beef up the nutrition factor.  This chili is now one of my favorites and I can't wait to make it again.  I froze a few servings of it right away and glad I did!  I was able to enjoy some for lunch this week.  Yum!

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (you can leave the peel on if you’d like)

1 medium onion, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

1 clove of garlic, diced

Salt & pepper to taste

Cumin to taste

1 large can of diced tomatoes, undrained

1-2 T of tomato paste, if needed to thicken

2 cans of black beans, rinsed (only one is pictured and I picked up another while grocery shopping and added it a few hours into cooking)

2 chipotles in adobo, diced (start with one if you don’t like it too spicy)

1 bottle pumpkin ale (optional)

1 box of broth (chicken or veggie work.  May need more or less depending on if you add beer or how large your veggies are)

Cilantro (I like a lot and used almost an entire bunch)

Add veggies, garlic, cumin, diced tomatoes, black beans, and chipotles to slow cooker.  If using, add the pumpkin ale.  Add broth just to cover the veggies, beans and tomatoes.  Cover and set the slow cooker to low for six hours (or high for four hours).  After the first hour, stir every 30 minutes to ensure there is enough liquid.  You may need to add more broth if you find the veggies are absorbing too much liquid.

In the last 30 minutes, remove the lid, turn up to high and let any extra liquid evaporate.  You want this to be a thicker chili with some liquid, so if it's too runny, add in some tomato paste to help thicken.  This is also the time you'll want to add the cilantro.

This soup was delicious served with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt (totally forgot to snap a photo when I served myself a bowl.  Bad blogger!).  It helped to cool off the spiciness from the chipotles!  :)

Enjoy!