Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples

Yield: 8 servings (1/2 cup) | Prep: 20 mins. | Ready in: 1 hour

What you need:

• 3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled
• 2 large Granny Smith or Honey Crisp apples, peeled
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted (or canola oil)
• 4 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 ½ tablespoons orange rind, grated (rind from one large orange)
• Optional: ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon and/or nutmeg
• ¼ - ½ teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
• ¼ - ½ teaspoon black pepper, coarsely ground (or to taste)

What you do: 

1. Cut peeled sweet potatoes in 1-inch cubes. Cut peeled apples into ½-inch thick slices.
2. Stir together melted butter, brown sugar and orange rind.
3. Add cubed sweet potatoes, sliced apples and butter mixture to a large zip-top plastic bag. Toss to coat.
4. Place potato mixture on a lightly greased aluminum foil-lined 15 x 10 inch jelly roll pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes or until potatoes and apples are tender. Stir mixture once halfway through cooking time.

Baking tip:

Before baking, rub the potato skin with a small amount of oil for easy peeling.

For a healthier sweet potato dish:

• Serve baked sweet potatoes;
• Eliminate the fat in recipes since sweet potatoes are already very moist;
• Use orange or apple juice concentrate, unsweetened orange juice, or orange rind to flavor;
• Add your favorite variety of spice mixture (1-2 table spoons) + cubed sweet potatoes + canola oil tossed in a zip-top bag, following the baking instructions given in this recipe.