Health-e-News: Healthy Lifestyle - Healthy Recipes

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Healthy Lifestyle - Healthy Recipes

from National Jewish Health

"For those who love stuffing on their holiday table yet miss out on the experience because of a wheat allergy, try this recipe to help satisfy the craving."

Sweet Potato Stuffing

Crisper weather and the approaching holiday meal season pose difficulties for our wheat allergy patients. Dinner tables are infused with stuffing, breads and baked goods. This can make adhering to a wheat-free diet an extremely frustrating experience.

For those who love stuffing on their holiday table yet miss out on the experience, try the following recipe to help deter the craving. This alternative is much healthier than traditional stuffing, and the main ingredient, sweet potatoes, are overflowing in the market this time of year.

One sweet potato provides more than 8,800 IU of vitamin A, or about twice the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA), yet it contains only 141 calories. The sweet potato provides 42 percent of the RDA for vitamin C, 6 percent of the RDA for calcium, 10 percent of the RDA for iron, and 8 percent of the RDA for thiamine. This complex carbohydrate food is also a great source of fiber and beta-carotene, which may be a factor in reducing the risk of certain cancers.

Sweet Potato Stuffing(Serves 6)

Ingredients:

6 sweet potatoes

1 pound wild rice

16 ounces mix of fresh figs and raisins, chopped into small chunks.

2 teaspoons minced garlic cloves

2 tablespoons butter

Salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Rinse and dry potatoes. Using a fork, poke them with several sets of holes. Grease potatoes to make peeling easier. Wrap each potato separately in foil and bake for 45 minutes. When ready, unwrap potatoes and let cool enough to be able to hold and peel. Chop peeled potatoes into ½ inch chunks.

Boil 4 cups salted water. Add wild rice; turn heat down to gentle boil and cook, covered, until tender. At high altitude, expect this to take approximately 25 minutes. (Lower altitudes can use 3½ cups water and 15-20 minute cooking time). Rice is done when water is absorbed.

Heat butter in a small pan and cook garlic over medium heat, stirring often.

Combine and stir cooked potatoes, cooked rice, figs, raisins and garlic with butter. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Hints:

Most sweet potato dishes freeze well. Save time by making a dish to serve and one to store in the freezer.

Store uncooked sweet potatoes in an unrefrigerated dry bin. Do NOT refrigerate! Temperatures below 55 degrees F will chill this tropical vegetable giving it a hard core and an undesirable taste when cooked.

Nutritional Information:

583 Calories

5 gm Fat

15 gm Protein

126 gm Carbohydrate

11 gm Dietary Fiber

10 mg Cholesterol

66 mg Sodium

http://www.nationaljewish.org/healthinfo/lifestyle/nutrition/recipes/potato-stuffing.aspx