Veggie Spotlight: Sweet Potatoes

Welcome to the Veggie Spotlight where we feature a new veggie each newsletter to inspire you to try something new. This week is all about sweet potatoes! If you have more questions about sweet potatoes after this article, feel free to hit reply or DM me on Instagram.

To be honest, I don't enjoy sweet potatoes (or yams) all that much. They are often used in a savory application, but I find them to be too sweet on their own to work well with that application for me personally. However, just because they aren't my favorite thing to eat, doesn't mean I don't enjoy them from time to time. If you are also like this with some foods I encourage you to explore different ways to prepare and flavor them before you immediately dismiss the item all together. I find I like sweet potatoes best when they either play to their sweet flavors with butter and cinnamon sugar or served fairly plain and let the flavor of the sweet potato speak for itself. 

The Sweet Potato Facts…

 

Sweet potatoes are a root vegetable that belong to the Convolvulaceae (morning glory) family.  They are starchy tubers with a sweet taste. The most common variety has orange flesh, but can also be found with white, yellow, or even purple flesh.

 

Sweet potatoes are starchy with a semi sweet taste and creamy texture when cooked.

 

Short answer: no. In fact, sweet potatoes and yams are botanically different plants all together. The names are often mixed up even in grocery stores. The good news is they can be used fairly interchangeably in recipes so don't fret too much. Often most grocery stores carry sweet potatoes instead of yams.

Yams are much more starchy than sweet potatoes and have a very rough bark like outer skin. Yam's typically are not orange on the inside but white or sometimes pale yellow. They are more commonly found in international grocery stores.

Sweet potatoes on the other hand have a creamier texture when cooked and a thinner reddish brown skin with a bright orange inside. 

 

Look for a firm sweet potato that does not have any soft spots, bruising, or sprouting. Sweet potatoes like most tubers store very well and are easy to find quality potatoes at the store.

 

Sweet potatoes can be treated like any other potato or tuber variety but keep in mind the sweet flavor they have. The most popular way is to roast, bake, or mash sweet potatoes.

Mashed or baked sweet potatoes work as a great side to any dish think barbequed meat with a side of roasted veggies like asparagus or zucchini. Roasted sweet potatoes can be a great starchy addition to salads or used as a base for a grain bowl. As mentioned previously, I prefer to keep my sweet potatoes fairly plain, but tossing in seasonings is a great way to impart more flavor on them. Using something spicy like cayenne works great to balance out the sweetness with other spices like garlic, cumin, paprika, chili powder, cumin, and coriander. 

 

Store sweet potatoes in a cool dark place away from onions, garlic, and apples. Do not store sweet potatoes in the fridge as it will alter their taste and texture.

 

Sweet potatoes are typically harvested in the fall, but they are available year round due to the abundant growing regions they can grow in and their long shelf life. Another great veggie to use year round.

 

Due to their vibrant orange color, sweet potatoes are rich in antioxidants. They are high in vitamin A, vitamin C, and manganese. They are a complex carbohydrate making it a great starch to sustain you throughout the day. 

The Wholesome Home Cook

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