Glazed Sweet Potato Planks

Sweet potatoes are a godsend for us, because they let us have potatoes periodically while still being high in fiber and definitely allowed under my mother's diet. Not that we can eat them all the time, but I do serve them about once a month. The challenge is in finding recipes that don't incorporate a bunch of sugar or syrup or both, because that pretty much negates any healthy benefits of eating them.

This recipe comes from Eating Well, and it's definitely staying in the rotation.

The original recipe calls for three sweet potatoes, quartered. I used two, and ended up cutting them into fifths because they were huge. That picture at the top there? That's my 9x13-inch glass baking dish.

I  know I said I tried to avoid recipes with a bunch of sugar, and this one has brown sugar in it, but it's really not very much. It also has garlic, sesame oil, sweet sherry (mine was regular so I added a bit more sugar), and it calls for low sodium soy sauce. I used Maggi seasoning because that's what I do, and I have to admit it was verging on too salty. Next time I'll use the low sodium.

Sweet potatoes are a bear to cut lengthwise when they're raw, just so you know. I was using my 5-inch ceramic knife, and I wasn't convinced it was going to work. Eventually I won, though the potato planks were nothing like uniform in size. As I mentioned, this is my 9x13-inch baking dish, so I'm glad I only made two. We got three meals out of this for the two of us.

I probably should have minced the garlic a little smaller, but I was in something of a hurry since I got started making dinner late. It worked out OK.

It says to pour the glaze mixture over the potatoes, and I did. But I also then turned each potato plank to make sure the entire thing was covered. From here, you cover the pan and into the oven it goes.

When I removed the foil and turned the planks again to make sure they were well-coated in glaze, I started toasting the sesame seeds. One tablespoon is more than plenty enough! I toasted them for about 4 minutes, then set the pan aside to cool.

When the potatoes came out of the oven, I turned them again, scraped the excess glaze mixture off the pan as best I could and smeared it on them, then sprinkled the sesame seeds and turned them another time.

At this point I was pretty sure the glaze mixture was going to have to be removed from my pan and spatula with a sandblaster. It was STUCK!

I thought three planks was a good serving amount. It was too much. Two would have been ideal, since neither one of us even considered eating the third one and saved them for later. The potatoes are so soft they're the consistency of mashed, and the glaze is way tasty. I think they would have been perfect had I used the low sodium soy sauce instead of the Maggi. Live and learn!

Soy-Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Serves 4

3 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed and quartered lengthwise
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin (see Note) or sweet sherry
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Again, this recipe comes from Eating Well, so head over there for the complete directions.

Oh, and by the way... After soaking for about 30 minutes in hot water, the glaze was pretty much completely melted off both my pan and spatula. Both look as good as new now!

Calories: 215

Fat: 5 g

Saturated Fat: 1 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Carbohydrates: 39 g

Sugars: 4 g

Fiber: 5 g

Protein: 4 g

Sodium: 452 mg

Nutrition information is for the recipe as written, not with my changes.