Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I was looking for a healthy side dish alternative for Thanksgiving, and then I ran across this fabulous recipe from Eating Well that seemed to really fill the bill. It was easy and tasty and will be in the rotation of side dishes I make all winter long, although it was perfect for a holiday as well.

The ingredients are simple: sweet potatoes, butter, maple syrup, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. This would have been better with fresh lemon juice, but I'd already used my only lemon on the chicken, so I had to resort to the bottle I keep for just such occasions. It worked. However, you really want real maple syrup here rather than pancake syrup (which is just coloured corn syrup), because the real syrup forms a nice glaze as well as having far superior flavour.

I quartered the recipe since there are only two of us (and had plenty to serve a second time), so I used my 7x11-inch glass dish instead of a 9x13. I sprayed it with cooking spray, but it was hard to scrub some of the glaze out of the corners even after soaking. I can't imagine how bad it would have been if I'd just placed the potatoes in the dish without spraying as the recipe says.

I really wanted to make myself a cup of this and just eat it with a spoon. The combination of flavours is amazing! Just enough sweet, just enough tart, and the dash of salt and pepper brings it to a level I was truly not expecting.

The directions say to cover the dish for the first 15 minutes of baking. I missed that part. I did end up stirring them every 15 minutes, and I baked them at 425F instead of 400F because that's the temperature my chicken wanted. I ended up baking them for a little over an hour, which was almost too long.

What eventually came out of the oven was glazed deliciousness! The potatoes were soft, but not mushy. The glaze clung to every surface, with very little excess. You'll notice some very browned parts, but that's because I baked them longer than I was supposed to and at a higher temperature. Didn't matter... they were amazing! Not only did they taste great, they fit into my mother's pre-diabetic diet.

Maple-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Serves 12

2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces (about 8 cups)
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Calories: 96

Fat: 2 g

Saturated Fat: 1 g

Cholesterol: 5 mg

Carbohydrates: 19 g

Fiber: 2 g

Protein: 1 g

Sodium: 118 mg

Again, not my recipe. This one comes from Eating Well, and I thank them kindly for a wonderful new way to enjoy sweet potatoes on a low-carb diet.