Sweet Potato Casserole Loveliness

Recently I did a "Holiday Sides" themed cooking demo. I was tasked with choosing 1 holiday side to demo. How many holiday sides do you think are out there? 1,000? 5,000? a million? I don't know but there are a lot! This is my nightmare...having to choose one thing to demo! Don't get me wrong, I appreciate when I am trusted to choose what I will show to my audience. But if you've never had to plan a cooking demo, you might not know the stress that comes from trying to guess what a group of people, no matter how well you know them, will want to see.

So I went with something that is relatively safe but also maybe not something everyone is comfortable with. Sweet potatoes! Personally, I don't recall ever eating a sweet potato until I was out of college. Weird? Maybe, I'm not sure. But it's the truth. So I am just now really learning to love and appreciate them.

In comes this spectacular sweet potato casserole recipe inspired by www.todaysdietitian.com. This is not your average sweet potato casserole. Yes, it is your usual yummy roasted sweet potatoes. Add the tasty oat and pecan crumble topping, not unique but oh so necessary! What we add in here that you would never expect is....yogurt! Yes, you heard me right. I was skeptical too. But I am soooo glad I gave it a go and I promise you will be too. The layers of flavor in the sweet potato casserole are beyond any other I've had...in a good way!

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Ingredients

Whipped Sweet Potatoes · 4 sweet potatoes (about 8-9 ounces each) · 1 ½ cup plain plant-based yogurt, fat-free, Greek-style (can use regular plant based yogurt or actual greek dairy yogurt) · ½ tsp vanilla · 1 tsp Kosher salt · Cooking spray (olive oil) Pecan Crumble Topping · ½ cup oats, whole · ¼ cup pecans, toasted, chopped · 2 T vegan butter, chilled, chopped (may use regular butter) · 2 T dark-brown sugar · ½ tsp cinnamon, ground · 1/8 tsp nutmeg, ground

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F

2. Wash sweet potatoes, pat dry, and place in oven on bottom rack

3. Prepare crumble topping by placing all ingredients in a bowl. Using a fork or the back of a spoon, mash ingredients together until all are well incorporated and hold together in small clusters. Reserve.

4. Bake potatoes for approximately 40 to 60 minutes until soft to the touch when pinched. Roasting will allow the sugar in the potato to caramelize naturally. Remove potatoes from oven and allow to cool before removing skins.

5. Place warm sweet potato flesh in a mixing bowl. Add yogurt, vanilla and salt.

6. Whip using a wire whip attachment on medium speed for about 1 minute. Scrape sides down and turn to high and whip for about 30 seconds. Or until all of the yogurt is incorporated into the potatoes.

7. Prepare glass or ceramic dish (1 ½ to 2 qt) by covering surface with cooking spray. Scoop potato mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle crumble evenly across the top of potatoes. Lightly spray with cooking spray. Place in hot oven at 350°F for about 40 to 50 minutes to heat potatoes. The topping should be lightly browned. Remove pan from oven and serve.