Sweet Potatoes with Fluffy Meringue – A Healthy Thanksgiving Side

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday. To me, it means getting together with family and friends to spend quality time together. And of course, sharing some great food.

Growing up, I remember having sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. This Thanksgiving dish is ultra sweet with the sweet potatoes from a big can and mini marshmallows melted on top, delivering dessert during the dinner.

So, can you have your sweet potatoes with marshmallows with a fraction of the sugar and calories? Absolutely. I read a great recipe in Good Housekeeping a few years ago that reformed helped me reform my Thanksgiving sweet potato staple into something healthy and delicious.

These meringue topped sweet potatoes taste so much like toasted marshmallows to me — but rely on the natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes for most of the sugar flavor but without the added calories.

Sweet Potatoes with Fluffy Meringue Recipe

Sweet Potatoes with Fluffy Meringue for Thanksgiving

5 large sweet potatoes (about five pounds)
2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (I use Trader Joe’s)
5 egg whites
1 tablespoon maple syrup
3/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
Pinch of salt

Clean the sweet potatoes and pierce all over with a fork or knife. Microwave the sweet potatoes on a plate or in a bowl covered with plastic wrap until well cooked and soft — about 15-30 minutes depending on the strength of your microwave (it takes about 30 minutes in mine). Let the sweet potatoes cool until you can handle them without burning yourself. I like to slice them in half to let the insides cool a bit faster.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Remove the peels from the sweet potatoes and mash them well. You can run them through a food processor but if they’re soft enough, the sweet potatoes can be mashed with a fork (less clean up!). Mix in pumpkin pie spice (I use 2 tbsp as I like the flavor but use less if it’s too strong or more if you like more flavor) and a pinch of salt. Taste this mixture* and if you like it, spread it evenly across a 9×13 pan (3 quart).

Put the egg whites, cream of tarter and maple syrup into a mixing bowl and beat until you have stiff peaks. Gently, remove the well beaten egg whites from the bowl and spread over the top of the sweet potato mixture. If you’re feeling fancy, put them in a piping bag and pipe onto the top of the potatoes.

Bake at 400 for 5-8 minutes – remove from the oven when the top is golden brown (and likely when you smell it).

Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

* Some people might not find these sweet potatoes sweet enough. I swear that the sweetness will be there and but if you need more sweetness, add up to 2 tbsp of brown sugar or maple syrup to the mix after adding in the spice and the salt. I also really like using ginger maple syrup in this recipe because it adds a nice sweet spicy kick. The ginger maple syrup I use is from the Deep Mountain Maple stand at the Union Square Greenmarket but I’ve noticed they’re selling it online too. Have a great holiday everyone!

Loving Live Shows: Dave Matthews Band

P1010080, originally uploaded by MinorlyObsessed.

If you know me at all, you probably have heard me mention Dave Matthews Band. I love their music, go to a few of their shows each year and adore the Dave & Tim acoustic sets.

Last night, the bad kicked off their winter tour (ending with a stellar set of Two Step). I had GA so was able to get some pretty amazing pictures. Click through to the full set on Flickr.

Off to tonight’s show! Yeah Dave Matthews Band!

Hurricane Sandy – Please help us recover! Rockaway Update

I spent today out on Rockaway Beach with a group of students, a teacher and other volunteers with Bona Responds (www.bonaresponds.org) working on three homes that were badly damaged in Hurricane Sandy.

We went in with the intention of helping a current student’s family whose house was badly damaged in the Hurricane. The water came up more than four feet into the house and all of the walls needed to be gutted. And everything wet needed to be tossed. Including the new kitchen and newly renovated floor (that was just finished on December 15!). They also lost both of their cars.

I know this is just one story but everyone on the block had similar if not worse stories. We’re going back again tomorrow and Sunday to volunteer again and you are more than welcome to join us.

If you haven’t yet, please do get involved in this recovery. We can’t do it without you. There was so much damage that your fellow Americans (and for the foreign folks, your fellow human beings 🙂 ) really, really need help.

By the way, the picture on this post shows just one of the houses we helped to clean out today — and this overflowing curb of stuff is the second full load out of the house. There is still a little more to remove and a hell of a lot to do to help them recover.

Can you pledge to do something today to help everyone impacted by Hurricane Sandy?

xoxox,
Deanna

CSA Delivery: Watermelon, Tomato, Feta & Arugula Salad

Another week, another amazing CSA delivery. Today, I received my first ever yellow watermelon.  This delicious baby melon needed some special attention so I immediately popped it into a simple and delicious salad using all CSA ingredients (plus a little feta and balsamic vinegar).

Recipe:

• arugula – enough to make a bed on the plate
• sliced tomatoes (red ones this week — used for contrast and saving the lovely yellow one!)
• sliced yellow watermelon
• crumbled feta 
• balsamic vinaigrette

Arrange arugula on plate. Alternate tomato and watermelon slices. Sprinkle on feta to taste.  Add balsamic vinaigrette if desired.  ENJOY!

l 

Minorly Obsessed with Moe’s

Naked Homewrecker from Moe’s – pre dinner, originally uploaded by MinorlyObsessed.

Moe’s Southwest Grill is a lovely little take out joint, a regional chain and some of the BEST food I’ve ever had. The burritos have great names like Homewrecker and Art Vandalay – plus their salads have cool names like Close Talker and Personal Trainer.

The one in the picture there is a Naked Homewrecker, which makes me giggle every time I order it. There’s something about a place that has hysterical names and says “Welcome to Moe’s” when you walk in. Oh, and gives you free chips. Lovely.

However, there was no Moe’s in NYC for the longest time. I went to one when I was traveling on business to Atlanta but no Moe’s was in the metro area. Until recently. And, until I found one here, I became minorly obsessed with Moe’s and had to go every time I saw one.

Citations for my obsession:
– First time I went to Moe’s was during a conference. Rather than eat the convention food, I went to CNN Center (clearly, it was in Atlanta) and had Moe’s. Five times in three days. Obsession began.
– I was visiting a friend outside DC and screamed “Moe’s!” when we drove near one. She almost had a heart attack. While driving. Since then, I dragged her to Moe’s every time I went to visit. She and her hubby became minorly obsessed too.
– After another trade show, I took a red eye home to be the godmother at my nephew’s baby shower. With no sleep after a very, very busy week (think 18+ hour days), my brother stopped at a grocery store so we could buy cards. And I saw a Moe’s. Begged to go. They were closed. Pouted all the way to the reception (where there was tons of food). Minorly obsessed with Moe’s.
– I was at a Dave Matthews Band show at Randall’s Island a few years back and saw they had a Moe’s. But it was in the reserved seating section. I had general admission and couldn’t go. So, so, so sad that I had to e-mail Moe’s afterwards.
– FINALLY, a minor victory this summer. I was at another Dave Matthews Band show – this time at Jones Beach – and Moe’s was passing out flyers for a buy one get one free. I dragged my sister-in-law to Moe’s. I think she’s minorly obsessed too.

And then, victory. I was on my way to Syracuse and at Penn Station. Had vicious food poisoning the day before and didn’t know what to eat. And there, in the station, was MOE’S! So exciting! Even post food poisoning, it was the food to eat. Perfect for a long train ride and that’s all I needed for the trip.

So, since that visit to Moe’s, I’ve been back four times. In two months. Clearly, I’m minorly obsessed.

Are you minorly obsessed with Moe’s. If you go, try the green salsa in the salsa bar. It’s fantastic.

http://www.moes.com/