Sweet Potatoes? YUM!

The following is a portion of an article I found in the paper today. Great info on the benefits of the sweet potato!

CAROL MIGHTON HADDIX; Chicago Tribune
Last updated: October 15th, 2008 02:36 AM (PDT)

A sweet potato is not related to the potato. Nor is it related to a yam. It is its own, delicious thing and deserves admiration beyond the Thanksgiving meal.

After Columbus brought back sweet potatoes, which were called batatas by the Taino Indians in the Caribbean, the name morphed into patatas and then potatoes, writes Elizabeth Schneider in “Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini.”

For almost 50 years, sweets were the only “potatoes” in Europe, Schneider writes, because regular potatoes took much longer to be accepted. More than 90 percent of all sweets are now grown in Asia, many of them more starchy, light-colored versions of the tuber.

The rich flavor of the sweet potato needs little tweaking and certainly does not need garnishing with marshmallows.

Try them steamed, sliced and sprinkled with herbs and a touch of butter. Or roast them, split open and top with a teaspoon of sour cream or yogurt mixed with horseradish to taste. Other compatible flavors, suggested by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg in “The Flavor Bible,” include bacon, apples, onions, chilies, lemon and cilantro.

However you cook them, you are getting good amounts of vitamins A, B6 and E and very little fat. A serving of sweet potatoes is said to contain more fiber than a similar serving of oatmeal, and nutritionists consider sweet potatoes one of best nutrient-dense foods.