layered sweet potato casserole

I’ve always been upfront about my love of casseroles–from fond memories of those my mom cooked when I was growing up to Paula Deen’s artery-clogging recipes. The thing about casseroles is they’re rarely known for being healthy. Now I know what’s healthy to me (full-fat dairy and butter, bacon, eggs, etc.) may not be healthy to the masses, but the good news is I do find ways to squeeze in a lot of veggies!

So I’ve been on this sweet potato kick lately–actually, it’s been months. I’m not a huge fan of baked sweet potatoes. Maybe if they were loaded, sure. But I have been eating a lot of other versions of sweet potatoes:

• One of my all-time favorite ways to eat the orange spuds is for breakfast: sweet potato hashbrowns topped with sauteed onions, kale, garlic and scrambled eggs with bacon or sausage on the side. It’s the perfect combination of salty and sweet.
• Spaghetti with sweet potato noodles. Sounds weird, I know. Basically, it’s just sweet potato hashbrowns topped with browned ground beef and marinara. Once again–it’s the salty-sweet relationship that makes it great.
• Sweet potato sliders. These may sound fancy, but honestly, I just got tired of spending tons of time cutting long thin sweet potato fries, so I wised up and started cutting medallions–much easier (aka I’m not about to chop off a finger) and quicker. I baste them in olive oil and sprinkle with salt, cumin, garlic powder, parmesan and cayenne before baking.

So, I had some time to kill on Sunday while le bebe was napping, and I decided to whip up a sweet potato casserole that I am hoping will last more than 24 hours in my house.

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Layered Sweet Potato Casserole

By Haley Published: June 7, 2012

• Yield: 9x13 casserole
• Cook: 50 mins

I've always been upfront about my love of casseroles--from fond memories of those my mom cooked when I was growing up to Paula Deen's …

Ingredients

• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 5 strips bacon
• 2 medium onions diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 stalks kale
• 2 handfuls spinach
• 2 medium tomatoes diced
• 12 large eggs
• 2 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Peel and shred sweet potatoes–hashbrown style. I use a food processer for this.
   
2. Cook and crumble bacon, saving grease.
   
3. Pour half the grease into another frying pan, and sautee sweet potato hasbrowns on medium high heat for roughly 5 minutes. Add a dash of salt and pepper while you sautee.
   
4. Meanwhile, dice onions, mince garlic and saute in bacon grease pan for roughly 8 minutes.
   
5. Add in spinach and kale, and saute 4 more minutes.
   
6. Grease bottom of 9×13 pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
   
7. Once sweet potato is done, evenly distribute as bottom layer in dish.
   
8. Add onion layer next, spreading evenly.
   
9. Slice tomatoes thinly, then add as next layer in casserole.
   
10. Top tomatoes with crumbled bacon.
    
11. In small mixing bowl, beat eggs, cream and a dash of salt and pepper.
    
12. Pour mixture on top of casserole.
    
13. Sprinkle with cheese and cover with tin foil. Bake for 30 minutes, remove tin foil and bake for another 20 minutes.
    

• Course: Entrée