Sweet Potato and Apple casserole

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Every Thanksgiving I try to mix things up a bit. The same old things get boring.  I do my best to keep a balance between the healthy and the decadent, and when the healthy becomes the decadent I consider it a win. My husband is old school. He likes his canned cranberries and stove top stuffing (ummm….YUK)

So as to please everyone, I make what everyone likes the way they like it and try to keep a budget.  Since he is not a fan of sweet potatoes, unless they are mashed and topped with marshmallows, he won’t eat them. Even then, when I made them this way, he only ate one serving them leftovers were never touched.  So I decided to start making that MY dish. One that I love and will eat the leftovers for days and without feeling like I will need to spend two hours a day in the gym to work off.

Last year I just baked 3 sweet potatoes for my Mom, Sister and I, but this year I wanted to get a little creative.  I have many kitchen gadgets, and love to use them as much as possible, so for this one I pulled out my under-utilized mandolin.

* Now you don’t need a mandolin to make this recipe, but it sure does help. Either way, watch those fingers.

Ingredients:

·         3 lbs. (3-4 medium) sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly

·         2 granny smith apples, sliced thinly

·         1 orange, juiced (Do not use concentrate)

·         3 Tablespoons butter, melted

·         3 Tablespoons olive oil

·         Sliced almonds to top

·         Cinnamon (I don’t say how much because I think it should be a preference.  I like A LOT, but others may want just a little.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine melted butter, olive oil and cinnamon in a small bowl. Pour 2 tablespoons of butter-oil mixture in the bottom of a 2-quart baking dish. Arrange potato slices vertically in the dish. Add a sliver of apple between every few slices of potato. Sprinkle with sliced almonds, pour juice of orange on top, and then brush top with remaining butter-oil mixture. Season generously cinnamon.

Cover dish with foil and roast for 1 hour, covered, until potatoes are tender (If your potato slices are thicker, you may need to increase cooking time). Increase oven heat to 450 degrees F. Remove foil and roast another 10-15 minutes, until tops of potatoes are browned and crisp.