This is a good dip to serve while you’re watching weekend football games at home, or for a tailgate party.
While I was working on this recipe, I had lots of fun asking people what they thought the ingredients were. Very few guessed correctly.
You can serve this dip with non-fat chips or vegetable dippers as a very low-fat appetizer, or as a side dish with dinner. You can also thin leftover dip with a little non-fat milk for a sauce over pasta or rice, or thin it a little more for a soup.
About 40 varieties of sweet potatoes are raised in this country, and they fall roughly into two categories: moist-fleshed and dry-fleshed. The ones that convert most of their starches to sugar during cooking and become sweet and soft are called moist-fleshed varieties. Those that convert less starch and are therefore less sweet are called dry-fleshed.
Although the sweeter varieties often are referred to as yams, they are not. True yams are starchy tropical vegetables rarely found in our markets. No one seems to know when or where this practice of calling sweet potatoes “yams” started, but it certainly is widespread and leads to lots of confusion.
SWEET POTATO DIP
Preparation time: 10 minutes
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Yield: 1 3/4 cups
Cooking time: 1 hour
2 medium sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon dried marjoram, crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon each: freshly ground black pepper, red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and dry sweet potatoes; poke holes in them with tines of a fork. Place on baking sheet and bake 1 hour or until soft. Allow to cool until safe to handle. Remove and discard skins.
2. Put peeled sweet potatoes into food processor. Add marjoram, nutmeg, salt, pepper and pepper flakes; blend until smooth. Slowly add olive oil while processor is running until blended in. Spoon into serving dish. Serve with chips or vegetable dippers.
Nutrition information per 1/4 cup:
Calories …… 70 Fat …………. 2 g Cholesterol .. 0 mg
Sodium ….. 90 mg Carbohydrates .. 12 g Protein ……. 1 g
Q. I am anxious to try this recipe, but it has so many high-calorie ingredients. I was unsure whether non-fat cream cheese and non-fat sweetened condensed milk could be used without affecting the taste and texture.
Connie Balmos, Castroville, Texas
PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE BARS
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Yield: 48 bars
Crust:
1 package (16 ounces) poundcake mix
1 egg
2 tablespoons margarine, melted
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Filling:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup chopped nuts
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cake mix, egg, margarine and pumpkin-pie spice in large bowl on mixer’s low speed until crumbly. Press into bottom of a 15- by 10-inch jellyroll pan; set aside.
2. For filling, beat cream cheese until fluffy in large mixing bowl. Gradually beat in milk, pumpkin, eggs, salt and pumpkin-pie spice. Mix well. Pour over crust. Top with nuts. Bake 35 minutes until set. Cover, chill. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.
Nutrition information per bar:
Calories …… 120 Fat …………. 6 g Cholesterol .. 20 mg
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Sodium …… 95 mg Carbohydrates .. 15 g Protein …….. 2 g
The non-fat sweetened condensed milk was just fine in this quick and easy bar recipe. However, I used a low-fat cream cheese to ensure that the flavor and texture would not be too different from the original. I reduced the amount of nuts to help lower the fat, used egg substitute in place of the eggs and made the crust with a reduced-fat and -calorie yellow cake mix instead of the poundcake mix.
REDUCED-FAT PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE BARS
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Yield: 48 bars
Crust:
1 package (18 1/4 ounces) light yellow cake mix
1/4 cup egg substitute
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice
Filling:
1 package (8 ounces) light cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened
1 can (14 ounces) non-fat sweetened condensed milk
1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. For crust, combine cake mix, egg substitute, butter or margarine, water and pumpkin-pie spice in large bowl of mixer on low speed until crumbly. Spray a 15- by 10-inch jellyroll pan with a non-stick coating. Press crust into bottom of pan; set aside.
2. For filling, beat light cream cheese until fluffy in large bowl. Gradually beat in milk, pumpkin, egg substitute, salt and pumpkin-pie spice. Mix well. Pour over crust; sprinkle nuts over top. Bake 35 minutes; cool, cover and refrigerate. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …… 105 Fat …………. 3 g Cholesterol .. 7 mg
Sodium ….. 130 mg Carbohydrates .. 17 g Protein ……. 3 g
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