This tasty sweet potato recipe can help your heart

By cutting down on the butter, these stuffed sweet potatoes are good for your taste buds and your heart. Plus, they're very simple to make. Here's how:

• 2 large orange sweet potatoes (750 g or 1 1⁄2 pounds total)
• 225 g (8 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) canola oil
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) butter
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) brown sugar
• 5 ml (1 tsp) grated orange zest
• 2 ml (1⁄2 tsp) salt
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) chopped pecans

Preparation: 10 minutes. Cooking time: 1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling. Serves 4.

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Pierce each sweet potato twice with the tip of a knife. Place on a baking tray.
2. Bake until soft, or about 50 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle but still warm. Reduce heat to 160°C (325°F).
3. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop out flesh and place in medium bowl, being careful not to tear skin. Reserve skins.
4. Add pineapple, oil, butter, sugar, zest and salt to potato flesh. Whip with an electric mixer or whisk until slightly fluffy.
5. Place skin shells on baking tray. Fill with potato mixture, mounding it a little. Bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake for a further five minutes.­

Per serving:

• 236 Calories
• 2 g Protein
• 9 g Fat
• 2 g Saturated Fat
• 8 mg Cholesterol
• 38 g Carbohydrates
• 4 g Fibre
• 303 mg Sodium

This dish can be made up to a day ahead. Bake and stuff the potatoes as directed. Place in a shallow dish, cover loosely and refrigerate. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking, then follow the recipe as usual.

Using a mix of butter and oil, these twice-baked sweet potatoes have a rich flavour while cutting the saturated fat. Plus, you can prepare them ahead of time, so your dinner can be a little less stressful.