Healthy Scalloped Sweet Potatoes Casserole

Preheat oven to 400ºF and place two squares of tinfoil on top of each other (shiny side up!).

Cut the top of the garlic off, so that the tips of each clove is exposed. Peel of any of the large pieces of papery skin. Drizzle the head with a little bit of olive oil and rub it in. Wrap the tinfoil up like a packet and place into the oven. Cook until garlic is tender, about 45 minutes.

Once garlic has roasted, squeeze garlic out of its skin and finely chop. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil up in a very large, oven-safe frying pan. Set over medium/high heat. Cook onion until golden brown and soft, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 cup of coconut milk and 1 cup of almond milk and bring to a boil. While you wait for the liquid to boil, whisk together remaining 1 tablespoons coconut milk, 1 tablespoon almond milk and tapioca starch in a small bowl, until smooth.

Once milk mixture boils, whisk in tapioca starch mixture, stirring constantly so it doesn’t gum up in the milk. Boil for 2 minutes, again stirring constantly.

Reduce the heat to medium, add cream cheese, salt, thyme, nutmeg, pepper and chopped roasted garlic. Cook sauce for an additional 5–6 minutes until nice and thick and cream cheese melts, stirring frequently.

Once sauce has cooked, add thinly sliced potatoes and stir around until they are coated in the sauce. This can get a little messy! Move the potatoes around with a spoon until they are in flat layers.

Cover pan with tinfoil and place into the oven for 30 minutes. Uncover pan, press the potatoes down so they really sink into the sauce, and then sprinkle the pecans over top. Cook an additional 30–40 minutes, until potatoes are fork tender and top is browned. If desired, turn oven to high broil and broil potatoes for 3–4 minutes to darken the top.

Let the potatoes stand for 10 minutes, sprinkle with more thyme and then devour.

Notes:
1. I used my mandoline to slice the potatoes, and it was so much easier than using a knife! You can also use 2 pounds of one kind of potato.
2. If you want to serve this in a casserole dish, just layer half the potatoes in a lightly greased casserole dish, pour half the thickened sauce over and then repeat!