Sweet potato, apple dish delightful

Some might say the Thanksgiving meal isn’t complete if somewhere across the sagging table there isn’t a dish of sweet potatoes. But Thanksgiving is hardly the only time these delicious vegetables should grace the table.

During the fall season, Arkansas farmers are currently harvesting sweet potatoes — one of the season’s quintessential crops. Arkansans can mark the changing of the seasons by roasting the healthy root vegetable for dinner, said Teresa Henson, Extension specialist-program outreach coordinator at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

One medium sweet potato provides more than a day’s worth of vitamin A and 35% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin C, she said in a news release. People can also use sweet potatoes in soups or baked goods such as breads, muffins or sweet potato pie.

Henson recommends the U.S. Department of Agriculture MyPlate recipe for sweet potato and apple bake.

“You can treat your family to the taste of fall with the combination of sweet potatoes and apples in this delicious side dish,” she said. “Granny Smith apples tend to work best with this recipe. Serve with roasted chicken or turkey and a large green salad. Or you can serve it as a side for Thanksgiving dinner.”

SWEET POTATO AND APPLE BAKE RECIPE

3½ cups sweet potatoes, drained (two 15-ounce cans; save 2 tablespoons of the liquid)

2 cups apples (peeled, cored and cut into bite-sized pieces)

6 teaspoons brown sugar (2 tablespoons, packed)

1/3 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts or any other type)

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons butter, melted (unsalted)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put sweet potatoes in baking dish. Add apples. Pour 2 tablespoons of the sweet potato liquid over the mixture. Mix brown sugar, nuts, flour and melted butter together in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the top of the sweet potato/apple mix. Bake for 2030 minutes, until the top is golden brown and bubbly.

Source: USDA Mixing Bowl (from Eating Smart, Being Active, Colorado State University and University of California at Davis)

The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without discrimination.

(Pine Bluff Commercial/Byron Tate) Kevin Harris (left), a Cooperative Extension Service agent, and volunteer Roger Area tend to a basketful of sweet potatoes as the crop at the Extension garden was being harvested late this summer.