Much of my daily culinary work leads me down the path of nutrition. It’s amazing the healing power of whole foods, herbs and spices.
“Food should not only satisfy our hunger, it should nourish our body, feed our soul and delight our senses” Karista~
This runs through my mind constantly. Especially when I’m writing recipes for a culinary class or customizing recipes for a client.
So now that the holiday season has officially begun (for me that’s the day after Halloween), I thought I’d list a few whole foods, herbs and spices that are nutritious but make holiday recipes delicious. Ha! Whoever thought one could combine “holiday foods” and “nutritious” in one sentence?
We see a lot of sweet potatoes this time of year. And I love it! Sweet potatoes seem to turn a recipe into something just a little more special, almost indulgent. They’re slightly sweet, dense, with a creamy texture that blends well with most spices, herbs and aromatics. Making this one of my favorite whole foods. Especially for the holidays.
The sweet potato is a root vegetable, not a potato and not a tuber. There are many variety of sweet potatoes, all with slightly different texture, taste and sweetness. The darker the better. So when you’re choosing your sweet potatoes at the market choose the darkest in color.
They are extremely rich in carotenes (precursor of vitamin A). They are also an excellent source of vitamins C, B2, B6, E and biotin (B7). In the minerals department, they provide good amounts of manganese, folate (folic acid), copper and iron. Also rich in dietary fiber. Whoo Hoo!
Sweet potatoes are also excellent sources of plant proteins with very low calories (unless of course you add tons of sugar). Unlike other starchy root vegetables, it’s low in sugar and a good blood sugar regulator.
Sweet potatoes have also been found to contain a high amount of anti-oxidant, making it suitable for combating inflammatory problems like asthma, arthritis, gout, etc. This fibrous root is also suitable for diabetics as it’s a good blood sugar regulator, helping to stabilize and lower insulin resistance.
Who wouldn’t eat a sweet potato now?! Of course, simply roasted with a pat of butter or coconut oil and a good dose of cinnamon is one of the best ways to eat sweet potato. However, in this beautiful holiday season, jazzing up the sweet potato with a few additional ingredients is always a tasty idea.
I add sweet potato to soups, stews, roasted with chicken instead of potatoes, souffles, muffins, breads, cakes, in polenta and most recently I’ve added it to my breakfast bread pudding.
I seem to have gone long on my sweet potato post, so I’ll reserve the remaining holiday foods, spices and herbs for the next few posts. 🙂 But just to name a few (because I’m so excited about them): Fresh cranberries, cinnamon, onions, leeks, garlic, ginger, peppermint, horseradish, daikon radish, turnips, parsnips, oatmeal and wheat berries. I’ll make the effort to keep it short and sweet in the next post, while mentioning a few lovely compliments about each ingredient.
Meanwhile, for additional informative and interesting nutritional, health and well-being information, I love these two websites:
Wishing you all a most delicious, healthy and happy holiday season!
Loads of Love,
Karista
Sweet Potato and Apple Bread Pudding with Whipped Maple Butter
8-10 servings
Ingredients
2 cups sweet potato puree (usually 3 large sweet potatoes)*
6 eggs
1 cup heavy cream*
1 cup whole milk*
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Dash of vanilla
½ cup real maple syrup or maple flavored Agave syrup
1 loaf Cinnamon Raisin Bread, 1 inch cubed (If using gluten free cinnamon raisin bread, let it sit for 15-30 minutes prior to baking)
2 apples, peeled and diced
4 Tablespoons butter (or coconut butter), divided
Directions
In a 9×13 baking dish or 8-10 individual ramekins, grease with 2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil.
*I roast my sweet potatoes by pre-heating the oven to 400F. Pierce the flesh of each sweet potato with a fork or knife. Set on a lined baking sheet. Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft. Once the sweet potato has cooled, peel the flesh (it comes off easily) and place the sweet potato in a blender or food processor to puree.
Blend together in a food processor, blender or vitamix the sweet potato puree, eggs, heavy cream, milk, cinnamon, a pinch of salt, dash of vanilla and maple syrup.
In a large bowl, toss the sweet potato mixture with the cubed cinnamon raisin bread and apples. Pour mixture into the baking dish, or individual ramekins. Dot with a little more butter or coconut oil and refrigerate overnight or at least 2 hours. If using gluten free cinnamon bread do not let it sit for longer than 30 minutes prior to baking.
Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Bake the 9×13 pan for about 40-45 minutes or until the center is set. Bake the ramekins for about 25-30 minutes or until the center is set.
Remove from the oven and let the bread pudding rest for about 10 minutes before serving. This bread pudding is also great refrigerated and re-heated the next day.
If desired, whip together 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly melted, with about ¼ cup of real maple syrup. Drizzle over the top of the bread pudding and serve.
You can also sprinkle a dusting of cinnamon or cocoa over the top and serve with a dollop of honey yogurt.
This makes a lovely holiday breakfast served with chicken or pork breakfast sausages and fresh sliced melon.
*I’ve also substituted the 1 cup heavy cream and 1 cup milk for 1 can of organic coconunt milk. It turned out great!
Nutrition information source: http://www.juicing-for-health.com/sweet-potato-health-benefits.html and http://www.care2.com/greenliving/9-reasons-to-love-sweet-potatoes.html
Related articles
- Curried Sweet Potato Soup (tasteoffitness.com)
- Vegan Sweet Potato Oatmeal Cookies (theheartyherbivore.com)
pinned! thanks for sharing, looks yummy/perfect for fall 🙂
Thank you!! Hope you enjoy it. It doesn feel like a little bit of Fall in a bowl. 🙂
It looks delicious, Karista!
Thank you Alex. It was tasty… no leftovers. 🙂
Love the idea of incorporating sweet potatoes in a bread pudding.
Thank you! It does make a delicious and creamy bread pudding.
Wow, I’ve learned so much here. Thanks Karista 🙂
You are so welcome Tandy! Thanks so much for reading the post!
mmm! i don’t even like bread pudding and that looks unreal. thanks! x
I find many who don’t care for bread pudding actually like this one. Thanks for commenting!
Reblogged this on CRYING DISEASES!!!CRYING GERMS!!CRYING VIRUSES!!.
Thanks so much for the reblog! Delicious Wishes!
welcome!~
Adore bread pudding of all varities, but have never tried it with sweet potatoes! Also, email me r.e Saturday so we can decide where to meet up. maybe at 9:30? [email protected]
I love sweet potatoes and apples together and this makes for a delicious start to the day. I will email you tonight. Off to teach classes today. Looking forward to catching up with you tomorrow! 🙂
OH yes, Karista! Those look really rather tasty and of course, I love the colour!
Thanks Frugal! It’s sweet potato season here and this makes a lovely change to the savory versions. Hope you’re doing well and have a lovely weekend!
What a great post! Not only did I have no idea that you should always pick the darkest sweet potato, I am also in awe of your passion for food. I am an eating disorder therapist by profession, and I LOVE your quote ““Food should not only satisfy our hunger, it should nourish our body, feed our soul and delight our senses.” I’m going to share it with my clients. Thanks for your nuggets of wisdom and another fantastic recipe, Karista!
Amber thanks so much for your comment. I love this kind of feedback. I am truly passionate about food but also about how it relates to our health. WOW, what an interesting profession Amber. Definitely a subject that needs wonderful women like you addressing this devastating issue. Thanks again for actually reading the entire post! Hahaha! I know we’re all so busy so I try to keep my posts short and sweet. Have a lovely day!
Delicious and I can definitely see the healthy aspect in this bread pudding with those amazing sweet potatoes!!!!! And I love that you’re already in the holiday mode! As soon as Halloween is over, I’m ready to start decorating and putting up the tree — well, at least I’ll start the process this weekend. That’s what November is for 🙂
Me too Danny! I’m itching to get my tree up and the house decorated. LOL!
I didn’t realize that sweet potatoes had less sugar in them.. now I’ll have to indulge more often! This is a very unique recipe.. I love the flavor combination, the cinnamon raisin bread, what a great comfort food that is also good for us! xx
Thanks Smidge! Actually, I had one particular client that needed to boost their intake of sweet potato due to the unique nutritional value of sweet potato. This is one of the recipes I came up with as a little bit of tasty fun. You said it so well, comfort food that’s actually good for us. 🙂 Wishing you a fabulous weekend! Hugs!
I splurged on sweet potato last night (they’re imported here, and thus, expensive) and paired them with apples as well. It’s been so long since I had them, I forgot how unbelievably satisfying they are – there is a richness to them that totally makes you forget that they are so healthy – thanks for this great reminder!
Do you get the Japanese sweet potato? We get them here and they have a completely different flavor and texture but I love them! Ooooh… I’d love to know what you prepared with sweet potatoes and apples. Something sweet or savory? I just love those two ingredients together. Have a fabulous weekend Jess!
Beautiful Karista, and a perfect list of holiday foods too! Love all those little ramekins…so cute and they look just amazing 🙂 loads of love back – I love that!
🙂 Thanks Shira! I can’t believe we’re already approaching the holiday season. I feel like I just got started on summer! Have a lovely weekend.
Oh Karista, this is beyond heavenly – I almost feel like I should sit on a cloud when I dive into this – scrumptious!
Have a beautiful weekend.
🙂 Mandy xo
Thanks Mandy. I think this has to be one of my favorite sweet potato desserts. I do love a good sweet potato pie, but this feels just as cream and decadent. Have a fabulous weekend!
That’s a far-cry from the marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes of our youth, isn’t it?
I’ve been doing a bread pudding the last few years with roasted squash, shallots, and grueyere..Have you done savory versions? They’re amazing.
(For the record, I still put the obnoxious marshmallow version on the table at Christmas. The one year I didn’t, my nearly-grown daughter almost cried…)
I love savory bread pudding! And yours sounds amazing. You should blog it! I make a savory bread pudding for many of my clients who prefer the savory to sweet and my husband much prefers the savory as well.
My family likes the traditional sweet potatoes as well. And it must have marshmellows. 🙂 Have a lovely week!
I’ll have to use your recipe but sub in some pumpkin that I have leftover!
Sounds perfect! I think pumpkin would be a fantastic sub. Enjoy!
I’ve come to really love sweet potatoes and appreciate their versatility. I’d never have thought about using them in a bread pudding, but this makes perfect sense. And it sounds like such a warm and comforting dish for fall…very seasonal looking and seems healthier than your average pudding, too!
Thanks Betsy! I too love sweet potatoes and use them in lots of dishes. This is a creamy and delicious bread pudding and I tried to keep it on the healthier side but it does have maple syrup in it. It had to have a little sweet and I thought maple would be a nice touch. However, I’ve made it with coconut palm sugar instead and it’s super yummy too. Have a fabulous week!!
I would never have thought of this combination being so deliciously enticing 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you! It is a lovely combination, creamy and dense just like bread pudding should be. 🙂 Have a great week Uru!!
This sounds so good! I would never have thought to puree the sweet potato but I imagine it makes the bread pudding so nice and creamy. I like any excuse to add vegetables to breakfast, and this sounds like a good way to sneak them in even for the sweet-breakfast junkies in my family. 🙂
That’s what I was trying to achieve was sneak some sweet potato into breakfast. I actually made this for one of my clients, he loved it so much I decided to make it for my family. Have a fabulous week Emmy!
Why don’t I eat sweet potatoes more often? I must reconsider them, since now I know how healthy they are! Hopefully your sassy gals enjoyed this pudding — it looks delightful. See, who needs Halloween candy when you can have something like this?!?!
Hahaha! My two sassy gals did love this but my husband loved it the most. :).
Such an inventive dish and certainly great for the holidays.
Thanks Karen! It is certainly tasty. And I love it for a holiday brunch.
My mum has a great love for sweet potatoes and my dad has an infinitely great love for bread & butter puddings. In a way this is a similar kind of dish that I’m sure they’d both equally appreciate, it looks gorgeous, very satisfying and nourishing. Plus it’s festive, 🙂
Thanks Alli! I love that it has a root veggie and a fruit and can be eaten for breakfast. Perfect for the holidays 🙂
I’m dying to try this reciepe but am unable to print it
I know we’ve had some issues printing the recipes and I thought we had resolved them. I apologize. It should print just the post, or highlight the recipe and then print the selected text. This should work. If it doesn’t email me at [email protected] and I will email you the recipe personally. Hope this helps so you can make this recipe! Karista
Beautiful blog, and photos! Sweet potato and apple together sounds like a magic combination, especially in a pudding. Yum.
Thanks Saskia! Hope you enjoy it 🙂
I do believe healthy, nutritious and holiday foods can play in the same yard together. And so tasty too… (remember Lucille Ball)
I do funny enough have a sweet potato in the fridge and a few lingering apples on the trees. I’ll have to work on the raisin bread. But this does sound, and moreover looks like a lovely combination.
I love the suggestion of serving it with sausages.
Thanks Wendy. This has become my fave bread pudding. I make it for my family with gluten free raisin bread as my youngest is wheat intolerant. It’s still just as good. Wishing you a delicious Thanksgiving!
Thank you so much for coming by my blog so I could discover yours! It is beautiful and this dish looks so delicious and quite beautiful! I love sweet potatos!!