Sweet Potato & Red Beet Drum with Almond Flakes in a Raw Sugar-Balsamic Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and sliced
• 1/4 red beet, cooked and sliced
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 oz. dark brown sugar
• 2 oz. granulated sugar
• the juice of 1 lime
• 3 pieces star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp almond flakes, roasted and chopped
• 1/2 slice pineapple to garnish

Makes 2 Servings

1. Pre-cook the sweet potato in a pot filled with water for 3-5 minutes.
2. Heat the water in a skillet; add the brown sugar and sugar, stirring until it dissolves. Add the star anise, cinnamon stick, lime juice, the sweet potato and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
3. Remove the anise, cinnamon stick and sweet potato from the pan; reserve the pan from the liquid. Make a puree of the sweet potato with some of the liquid that stayed in the pan or some water.
4. For the sauce, add the balsamic vinegar into the pan where the sweet potato was cooked and mix well (reheat of the sauce os too thick).
5. To serve, grab a round cookie cutter and make round beet slices. With the same cookie cutter place one layer of the sweet potato puree and 1 red beet slice ( 2 layers each). Sprinkle the almond flakes on top and garnish witht he pineapple slice and the sauce.

WW POINTS VALUE: Who Knows?

Note: This recipe is something I learned at the Cocina Cosmopolita Culinary School in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. I never had sweet potato or red beet before and I was anxious to try this. I felt like I was training for Iron Chef America with all the ingredients and tools I was using to make this dish. This dish is considered to be a dessert in Mexico but  I would serve this as a light dinner. I don't consider sweet potatoes or beets to be dessert but they do taste good together.