No Potato, Sub Sweet Potato

I once waitressed at a cafe that would make substitutions for almost anything a customer wanted. You don't like watercress in your hijiki salad? No problem, we'll sub mixed greens. You love the drizzled sauce on the sea bass? We'll spread some on your sandwich. You prefer spaghetti instead of crushed potatoes? Don't worry about it. Sometimes, a breakfast order would be as outrageous as this: breakfast special: eggs scrambled soft, no potatoes, sub salad, no toast, sub toasted baguette, no OJ, sub cranberry and no cappuccino, sub green tea with soy milk and honey. I mean, anything went and there was a button for every single action in the computer. Now imagine if this leniency stood everywhere and you could sub sweet potato for regular potato...talk about heaven!

Potato recipes are great cheat-sheets for creating an original sweet potato recipe. Sub-ing sweet potatoes in the recipe will change the depth of flavor and texture, not to mention the nutritional value. I personally prefer the sweet, creamy texture of sweet potatoes any day. Here are a couple of recipes where sweet potato makes a stellar sub.

Loaded Baked Sweet Potato from Natalie's Killer Cuisine

I grew up in Texas and loaded baked potatoes came as a side with every slab of meat. This recipe has two twists, shredded chicken and the sweet potato. BBQ sauce tastes great with the sweet potatoes!




Sweet Potato, cooked
Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg
Butter
Shredded Chicken
BBQ Sauce
Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Sour Cream
Green Onions or Chives

1. Bake (45 minutes) or microwave (5 minutes) a sweet potato until tender. Let cool before cutting. Lay the potato down longways and cut the top piece of skin off and start to mash the potato with a fork. Add butter, salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg and mash until the potato is creamy. Try not to break apart the skin.

2. Shred a cooked chicken breast with a fork and add to a hot saute pan. When hot add BBQ sauce. I added about 2 TBS of sauce for one shredded chicken breast.

3. Mash down the potato to make room for this chicken, and load the bad boy up!! Add cheese on top and either bake for 10 minutes, or broil for 5 minutes.

4. Top with sour cream, green onions/chives, and some more shredded cheddar. Enjoy!

Twice-Baked Potatoes with Greek Yogurt from Martha Stewart
I've been dying to making this recipe with sweet potatoes. I'm really into cooking with Greek yogurt these days, so using sweet potatoes would just shoot this recipe right to the top of my list.



4 russet potatoes (3 pounds), pricked all over with a fork (sub sweet potato)
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups reduced-fat (2 percent) Greek yogurt, room temperature
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives, plus 2-inch pieces for garnish (optional)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until fork tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Let cool slightly.

Warm butter and cream in a small saucepan. Carefully peel hot potatoes, and cut into thirds. Pass potatoes through a ricer into a large bowl. Fold in cream mixture, yogurt, and chives. Season with salt and pepper.

Place eight 6-ounce ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet, and divide potatoes among ramekins. Bake until tops are slightly puffed and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes. Garnish with chives if desired before serving.


Cottage Pie from Cooking By the Seat of My Pants
This is a simple recipe for a classic dish --but once you switch out those potatoes for some sweet mash, the sweet starts mingling with the savory and simple becomes sensational!


Ingredients:

4 large potatoes, washed, peeled and cut in 1-inch pieces (sub sweet potato)
1/2 cup milk
3 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp butter for finishing
1 lb. ground beef, pork or turkey
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 large carrot, chopped fine
2 celery stalks, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place potatoes in a large pot of cold salted water over high heat. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are fork tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, crumble ground meat into a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and carrots and cook, stirring frequently, until meat is completely browned and onions are translucent. Drain well and return to skillet. Add celery, thyme, salt and pepper and stir to combine well. Reduce heat to low and stir occasionally while finishing dish.

Drain potatoes and return to pot. Add milk and butter. Mash with a potato masher or with an electric hand mixer until creamy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place meat mixture into individual baking dishes or into a large casserole (for family style serving). Cover with potatoes and dot with remaining butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, or until potatoes just begin to brown.

Serve immediately.


Potato Latkes from White on Rice Couple
I love going to Hanukkah dinners, specifically for the potato latkes and sour cream, but just think what a great contrast the sour cream would make against sweet potato latkes instead!


4 medium Potatoes, peeled (sub sweet potato)
1/2 large sweet onion, diced into 1/4″ pieces
3 cloves Garlic, crushed or finely minced
1/3 c Flour
3/4 T Sea Salt
fresh cracked Black Pepper, to taste
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 c + Oil, preferably peanut oil, grape seed oil, or other high flash point oil

1. Line a bowl with several paper towels, then grate potatoes into bowl. Using more paper towels, squeeze out as much water from the potatoes as you can. After potatoes are as dry as you can get them, discard paper towels.

2. Add the onion, garlic, flour, salt, pepper, and eggs then stir to combine.

3. Heat a saute pan over medium to med.-high heat, add oil, then when oil is hot place large spoonfuls of potato mix into the pan. Flatten each pancake to approx. 1/2″ thick. Cook to a golden brown on one side (approx. 2-3 min.) then brown the other side. Remove and pat dry with paper towels. May be kept warm covered in a 300° oven.

4. As you cook each batch, stir the potato mix before spooning into pan and add more oil to pan if needed. Serve warm.

Serve plain or dress up with some sour cream & chives, honey, a sprinkling of cheese, or whatever creative accompaniment you can think of.



Scalloped Potatoes with Fennel and Goat Cheese from Hey, that tastes good!
And yet another example where tartness would rather compliment sweet potatoes.



1 fennel bulb
1 onion2 cloves garlic
2 T butter
1 1/2 T sorghum flour
1 c milk
salt and pepper
1/3 c crumbled goat cheese
2 potatoes, sliced very thin (sub sweet potato)

Preheat oven to 375. Slice the fennel, onion and garlic very thinly, using a mandolin if you have one.


Melt the butter in a saute pan, and cook the vegetables slowly until they soften. Sprinkle the sorghum flour over the top, stir and cook a minute, then stir in the milk and salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and stir in the goat cheese.


Layer the potatoes and creamy vegetable sauce in a small (or two small) casserole dishes. Bake 45 minutes to an hour, until potatoes are tender and the top is crusty and bubbly.