Scalloped Sweet Potatoes Au Gratin

In Chef-Speak, the term au gratin refers to a dish that is baked with a topping of breadcrumbs and cheese. Usually, it is baked until the crust is golden brown. I'd been thinking about making "something scalloped" since I tried the Jicama a few days ago. I stopped at the store on the way home and they didn't have any, so I decided to scallop and au gratin what I already had :) ... Sweet Potatoes.   I'm not adding Sweet potatoes to my "new veggie" list because I've tried them a zillion times before. But this is still the first time I've made them this year, and a different recipe that the usual baked potato, or roasted (with brown sugar) recipes.

Scalloped Yams Au Gratin with Toast

Prep Time: 30-40 min 

Ingredients: 

1. 1 small sweet potato, thinly sliced
2. 2-3 tbsp Nutritional Yeast
3. 1/2 cup Non-Dairy milk
4. 2 tsp minced garlic
5. 2-3 tsp dried parsley flakes
6. 2-3 tsp dried onion flakes
7. 1 tsp Earth Balance buttery spread
8. Salt, and freshly ground pepper, to taste.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease s small casserole dish with the 1 tsp of Earth balance. Spread a single layer of sliced sweet potatoes, sprinkle with nutritional yeast and just a small pinch of salt. Repeat this process until all the potatoes are used up, sprinkling each layer with nutritional yeast and salt, and pepper (optional).

In a small mixing bowl, add non-dairy milk, garlic, onion and parsley flakes and season with salt and pepper. Whisk ingredients together. Add more nutritional yeast to thicken this mixture (optional). Without cheese, the nutritional yeast works really well to give this  recipe a creamy texture. Once well whisked, pour the mixture over the stacked potatoes making sure to cover the potatoes well.

Cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for another 10 min, followed by 2-3 minutes of broiling.

My Assessment: I liked it. I would have liked a little crunch and something to chew on in this dish. I might add some sliced almonds the next time I make it.