Serves 8
Start to finish: 1 hour, including roasting the garlic
ROASTED GARLIC:
1 head garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
Generous pinch salt
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the top off the head of garlic so that the top of the cloves are exposed. (You can do as many of these as you want, at the same time.) Place each head on a square of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and wrap up the cloves well in the foil. Bake for about 45 minutes until the garlic is very soft.
When cool enough to handle, squeeze out the roasted garlic from the papery wrapper, pressing up from the bottom to pop it out.
MASHED SWEET POTATOES:
Coarse or kosher salt to taste
3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup whole milk or half and half (or a combo), warmed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes, allow the water to return to a simmer. Adjust the heat so the water remains at a simmer, and simmer until the sweet potatoes are soft, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Drain the potatoes. Either return them to the pot with about eight cloves of the garlic, or to taste, and mash with an immersion blender or a potato masher, or put the potatoes through a ricer or food mill with the desired amount of garlic, doing this so the riced potatoes fall back into the pot. Add the olive oil, butter, milk, salt, and pepper, and stir to thoroughly combine. Serve hot.
Nutrition information per serving: 229 calories; 73 calories from fat; 8 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 14 mg cholesterol; 344 mg sodium; 36 g carbohydrate; 5 g fiber; 8 g sugar; 4 g protein.
Katie Workman, Associated Press
