By Kathy Morrison
When there is a chill in the air and the weather begins to get cooler in general, there is a kind of comfort food I want more than anything else, pumpkin pie! I never tire of it. I think it's the combination of the wonderful taste and rich texture. Luckily, I generally want only a taste or two to really feel as if I haven't missed out and to feel happy. I call those tastes my petite fours. The challenge, though is to not ruin the day in terms of the fat, carb and calorie content consumed. I also want to be able to pull something together that takes really no time at all (something like 5 minutes).
Pumpkin and sweet potato are a lot alike, in both their taste and texture. And sweet potato is a lot easier to deal with, not to mention it having so many health benefits. So, I make this with sweet potato. You may encounter similar recipes. Mine is my favorite because there is a little something extra done (a small amount of olive oil) to help you get to your next meal without having another snack. And, it has been given flavors that make it taste just like pumpkin pie. Both aspects are key for having a snack that you really love and will want to have regularly.
This recipe is for eight servings. This will let you have one a day for a week or it will give you enough to share with others.
Let's get started. You will need one sweet potato that is approx. 8 inches long. Next, you'll need one tablespoon of olive oil. Follow that with one tablespoon of honey. And finally, track down some cinnamon and non-stick cooking spray.
Preheat the over to 350 degrees. After washing the sweet potato, you'll need to slice it into 8 pieces approximately one inch thick. Combine the olive oil, honey and a dash of cinnamon in a small bowl.
Find a small cookie sheet or pie tin. Spray the top surface with the non-stick cooking spray. Put the sweet potato pieces on the surface. Place a small amount of the spice mixture on each slice. Cook for 30 minutes or until done (has a mashed potato consistency and is golden brown on top).
You can eat this heated or chilled. If you have it chilled, you can eat it like a cookie, because it doesn't tend to fall apart. Otherwise, you might want to grab a dessert fork and enjoy your two bites!
Here's the nutritional breakdown.
The sweet potato has 20 calories, 2.5 grams of protein, 4.6 grams of carbohydrate and 0 grams of fat.
The olive oil has 5 calories, 0 grams of protein, 0 grams of carbohydrate and 6 grams of fat.
The honey has 7.5 calories, 0 grams of protein, 7 grams of carbohydrate and 0 grams of fat.
The non-stick cooking spray has 0 calories, 0 grams of protein, 0 grams of carbohydrate and 0 grams of fat.
The cinnamon has 0 calories, 0 grams of protein, 0 grams of carbohydrate and 0 grams of fat.
The totals for this snack are 32.7 calories, 2.5 grams of protein, 5.3 grams of carbohydrate and 6 grams of fat.
It's amazing how satisfying this is, especially when you consider how low it is in carbohydrates.
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