Cheese and Sweet Potato Crisp

Sweet Crisps--yummy! I found a version of these while surfing sweet potato recipes on Epicurious. These were chewy and crunchy and reminded me of the home-fried potato patties I would eat as a little girl. Only--these are better for you. Making these by hand proved to be more tedious than I would have expected--so if you have a hand grater--please note you will be adding some good muscular work to your dinner preparation. You will be finely grating 2 good sized sweet potatoes--which sounds easy--but I have 4 words that make it difficult for me A-D-H-D. While I was shredding them my mind wanted me to check my email, go fold laundry, look out the window, check the sale status of our books, water plants, reorganize closets--you get the picture, and if you do not--then you probably also have ADHD and are now checking your email because I suggested it to you! ;-)

So, I of course enlisted a bit more help with the grating of the tuber--in the form of my lovely assistant and 7 year old daughter. She was once again super excited to help out and to know she would be added to the Squeaky Gourmet blog--special thanks to her as she kept me more focused on the task at hand!

Next you have to squeeze out the juice of the potato, now I was thinking it would be pretty basic as they seem to be pretty dry root vegetables--wrong! I did use the screen I have for making Greek yogurt and it was an easy task as well as fascinating that it holds as much water as it does. No wonder these are so good for you! Side point, also interesting, when you poor out the liquid oyu are left with what looks like wet corn starch. OK, yes it is potato starch--I was fascinated. This picture shows the amount of liquid in one potato--just under 1/4 cup! Crazy--so now we have worked out arms and our grip strength in just making this appetizer/side dish. It is like chopping firewood since it warms you twice, good for the body to prepare and to consume!



After you squeeze out the juice they look like chewed up paper, lacking the life luster they held prior to the abuse they underwent to get to this state. Poor cousin to Mr. Potato!


Ok so let's assemble this mess into the glorious snack delight they are destined to become!


Sweet Potato Crisps
makes about a dozen
2 medium sized sweet potatoes--peeled shredded and water forced out
1 ounce Romano cheese --shredded
1 ounce Parmesan cheese--shredded
1 egg white
2 tsp fresh sage chopped finely

Heat oven to 425 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Mix all the ingredients together and form them into 2" diameter circles onto the parchment paper. ( I had no parchment paper for making mine so I oiled the pan with 1tsp olive oil)

Cook until the edges are browned and they are a deep orange in colors--about 15 minutes. Serve Warm!

Calories Per Crisp
Calories: 48
Carbohydrates- 6 grams
Fat- 1 gram
Protein- 2 grams

Other good ideas:
--add different spices garlic, lemon you name it you try it!
-- use as an appetizer for a party

also, if you click any image in this blog you will explode--err I mean you can see a larger size of the images shared.

This post is now part of Real Food Wednesdays--check it out!

Savory Sweet Potatoes

I love me my orange vegetables--don't you? You can read tons of healthy food blogs and see "sweet potato" favored over regular white potatoes. These root vegetables are very high in beta-carotene (vitamin A anyone? yes please!), a great source of vitamin C and is rated very high in studies done for antioxidant powers. They are anti-inflammatory, inflammation is the leading cause of aging of the body ( you thought it was your birthday didn't you?)so perhaps these should be added to a fountain of soup recipe--I will work on that ASAP! Since this is a root vegetable it grows in the earth, where it can draw into it the minerals we need like maganese, copper, potassium and iron. Not to mention they are low in calorie and high in fiber.

Oh, I should add they are also delicious! No need to hide from the bright color or the health benefits of this one. Since they are coming into season right now, what a great time to offer you an alternative way to serve them aside from the traditional glop of butter and marshmallows.

From page 92 of our book, Squeaky Gourmet:

Savory Sweet Potatoes
serves 4
2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
2 tbls Olive Oil
pinch cumin
pinch ground ginger
pinch salt
pinch pepper
pinch paprika
juice of one lemon*

Heat a non-stick skillet with the oil on medium heat, cook potato and spices for approximately 15 minutes, stirring to blend. Turn the heat up to medium high and cook until they are golden brown and crisp on the outside, stirring frequently now to prevent burning. Squirt with lemon juice just before serving.

Other Good Ideas:
--Great cooked in the oven as well. Be sure to add oil and spices to a bowl and stir the potatoes to coat them evenly before baking.






Calories Per Serving:
Fat-7 grams
Protein- 1 gram
Carbohydrates- 14 grams

*the book calls for lime juice but in my house lime is the official flavor of the devil. So I use lemon instead :)