Sweet Potato Pie

This recipe came from a website which is quickly becoming one of my favorites: SkinnyTaste.com

Every recipe I've tried from Gina's site (I've made about 6 so far) has turned out supper yummy!  Check it out!

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(source)

For this recipe, I used purple Okinawan sweet potatoes because they are readily available in my grocery store, so don't be thrown off by the purple color of the pies.  You're pies will come out to whatever color potatoes you use.

Ingredients:
(this recipe makes 1 pie, I doubled the recipe in the pictures because I needed to make two pies for Thanksgiving)

• 2 lbs. sweet potatoes
• 2 tbsp butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup milk (I used almond)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp ground pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and start washing those potatoes.  Once washed, place potatoes in a large pot with water, making sure all potatoes are under the waterline.  Cover the pot and set on high heat to bring water to a roaring boil.  Lower the heat (but keep the water boiling) and boil sweet potatoes until completely cooked (30 - 45 minutes).  A fork comes in hand to poke the potatoes to check for "doneness".

2.)  When potatoes are cooked, run under cold water and let them cool for about 10 - 15 minutes.  Once cool enough to handle, peel and discard the skins off the potatoes, throw naked potatoes into a bowl, and mash them up.   

Note- You will be using a hand mixer to mix the rest of the ingredients together, but it's easier to get out the lumps by now.

3.)  Add butter, sugar, milk, eggs, spices, and vanilla.  Using an electric mixer, mix until smooth.

4.)  Pour mixture into a frozen, unbaked pie crust and spread evenly.

5.) Before putting the pies into the oven, Anthony helped me make a pie shield to protect the crust from burning.  Simply take a piece of foil, trace the BOTTOM (not the top) of a pie dish and lay foil over the crust (like first picture in step 6, below). 

6.)  Bake at 350 degrees for about 55 - 60 minutes.  Remove the pie shields with about 10 - 15 minutes left of baking to brown the crust edges. Use a knife to pierce the middle of the pie to check if completely baked (knife should come out clean).  

7.)  Let the pie(s) cool completely on a cooling rack (about an hour or so) and refrigerate - longer the better - before serving.  ENJOY!

Warm lentil and leek soup

Ingredients:

• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 3 big leeks (white and light green parts only), cut into 1/2 inch half-moons
• 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, drained
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 bunch Swiss chard or kale, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup brown lentils, dry
• 1 tbs. fresh thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• cayenne pepper to taste
• Feta cheese (optional, but OH SO GOOD!)

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot set over medium heat. Add leeks and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

2. Add tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes or until tomatoes break apart.

3. Add six cups of water and bring to a boil. Stir in sweet potatoes, Swiss chard, lentils, thyme, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Lower heat, cover pot and let simmer about 20 - 30 minutes, or until sweet potato and lentils cooked through.



5. ENJOY with a sprinkle of feta and a little more cayenne on top!

Mini-Review
At first I didn't like this soup... a little too sweet for me. But once I added more black pepper, salt, red chili flakes and cayenne pepper I totally loved this soup! Despite not having any meat in the dish, this is a very hearty and filling soup because of all the fibery (is that a word?) veggies. The original recipe called for Parmesan cheese but since I didn't have any I substituted feta and it was delish!!

Things I'd do the next time:

• add a can of whole kernel corn
• use only one sweet potato and one regular potato
• more swiss chard
• add a cup or two of chicken broth in place of one or two cups of water
• add barley
• more lentils
• cook it with a mild, white fish