Savory Indian Sweet Potatoes

From Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites. “Creamy, sweet, and spicy” is the way Moosewood’s chefs describe the Savory Indian Sweet Potatoes. “When you’re baking sweet potatoes for another meal, put in a few extras so that later you’ll have some prebaked for this dish. Serve on plain rice or golden basmati rice topped with a fresh tomato salsa or with a mango or peach chutney and, if desired, with a dollop of nonfat yogurt.”

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 c diced onions
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 T grated fresh ginger
• 2 t ground cumin
• 1 small fresh green chili, seeded and minced
• 3 T cream cheese (use more if your sweet potatoes are large or you want the filling extra creamy)
• 1 1/2 T fresh lemon juice
• 1 head broccoli, chopped into small pieces (if you are in a hurry, you can substitute frozen vegetables for the broccoli and red pepper)
• 2/3 c diced red and/or green bell pepper
• vegetable oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Bake sweet potatoes at 400F for about 1 hour, or until tender.
2. While potatoes bake, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat, and cook onions in 1 T oil until soft, about 8-10 minutes minutes.
3. Add garlic, ginger, cumin, chili, and bell pepper, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
4. Add pepper and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat, cut cream cheese into small pieces, stir it into hot vegetable mixture to melt.
6. Season with lemon, salt, and pepper, and set aside.
7. Cut sweet potatoes in half lengthwise. Hold each potato half with a heavy towel or mitt in one hand and scoop out the flesh with a spoon, leaving 1/4-inch shell.
8. Mix potato flesh with vegetable-cheese mixture.
9. Reduce oven temperature at 350F, and coat a vegetable dish with vegetable-oil cooking spray.
10. Stuff potato shells with filling, place potatoes in prepared dish, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until thoroughly heated.