Wild Rice Pilaf and Sweet Potato Casserole

Nice meal for a chilly fall day.  I served this with steamed green beans for a complete meal.  I only used ~2/3 of the sugar that the Sweet Potato Casserole recipe called for and it came out a bit too sweet for my taste (like a dessert, really).  If I make it again, I will probably cut the sugar in half.

Rice Pilaf
Ingredients:
4 cups vegetable stock, low sodium
2 Tbsp Earth Balance buttery spread
1 Tbsp canola oil
2 large shallots, minced
1 cup wild rice
1 cup brown rice
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt
1/2  cup pecans, coarsely chopped (optional)
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.  In a saucepan over medium-low heat, bring the stock to a simmer.
In a 2 quart flameproof casserole over medium heat, melt the butter with the oil.  Add the shallots and saute until translucent, 2-3 min.  Add the rice and stir until the grains are well coated, about 3 minutes.  Stir in the simmering stock, dried cranberries, bay leaf, thyme and 1/2 tsp salt.  Bring to a simmer, stir and cover.  Transfer the casserole into the oven and bake until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender, ~40-45 minutes.
Remove from oven.  Remove and discard bay leaf and thyme sprigs.  Taste and adjust the seasonings.  Stir in pecans and parsley.  Serve hot.

Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients:
4 medium sweet potatoes
1 cup granulated sugar (I suggest cutting this in half for a healthier recipe)
1 cup soymilk
2 large eggs (I used enough Ener-G egg replacer for 1 egg and 1 chia egg (recipe: 1 Tbsp chia seeds + 3 Tbsp warm water, let sit for 5 minutes) and the consistency came out fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
1 cup packed dark brown sugar (I suggest cutting in half for a healthier recipe)
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup flour
6 Tbsp Earth Balance buttery spread (room temperature)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.  Put the sweet potatoes on the oven rack and bake until fork-tender, about 45 min.  When the potatoes are finished cooking, let cool slightly, about 5 min.  Slice them open and scrape out the flesh with a fork into a large bowl.  Increase oven temp to 400.
Add the granulated sugar, milk, egg substitutes, vanilla and salt to the bowl with the sweet potatoes.  Mash the mixture with a potato masher until combined and slightly lumpy - you don't want it to be perfectly smooth.
In a separate bowl, mash the brown sugar, pecans, flour, and butter with a pastry cutter or fork until combined.  The mixture should resemble a crumble.

Spread the sweet potato mixture into a 14 cup oval-shaped baking dish and sprinkle the crumb mixture all over the top.  Bake until golden brown, about 30 min.

Recipes adapted from: 
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/wild-rice-pilaf-with-dried-cranberries-and-pecans.html
and
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/soul-sweet-taters-recipe/index.html