Healthy Holiday Table Fare Year Round!
 
As I enjoyed my orangy vegetable I thought about how this food is so ignored by most? Usually eaten by so many people only on Thanksgiving, and that's a shame, since they're among one of the most nutritious of foods you can eat.  One that is a great immune boosting food!
 
If you don't eat sweet potatoes very often, or only at holiday time when they're smothered in melted marshmallow goop and baked until they're unrecognizable, you're missing out on one of nature's truly perfect foods. Low in calories, high in fiber, great for diabetics  people who are carbohydrate sensitive, and packed with minerals - rich in Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium, Zinc, Copper, Manganese and Selenium while rich with vitamins C, B-6, B-12, A, DFE, E, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic acid and tastes great!
 
Their bright color is key to their high beta-carotene content, and containing the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin. A sweet potato really isn't a potato; it is part of the sprawling vine called morning glory. The sausage-shaped tubers are a bit potato-like, but taper to pointed ends unlike potatoes. Skin is smooth and can be white, red, golden or purple/black. Having sweet purple, white, yellow or deep orange flesh.
 
In 1932, when the sweet potato was considered a poor man's food, Americans consumed 30 pounds each per year. Now, it's closer to 4 pounds, though the tuber has become more appealing and growing because it's a favorite of Oprah Winfrey and television chef Emeril Lagasse. It is also a hormone smoothing veggie for women in menopause, post-menopause or perimenopausal years. Rich in beta-carotene means a disease fighter as well!!!
 
A study conducted by the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland gave 21 HIV-positive people 180 mg (300,000 IU) of beta-carotene every day for four weeks, resulting in several indicators of their "helper" T cell activity increasing significantly over the people who were given a look-alike-but-inactive placebo, whose indicators dropped. "Helper" T cells are the primary target of the HIV virus, and the body's ability to fight infections diminishes as their levels drop. A study conducted by John Hopkins University researchers linked high levels of beta-carotene with a lower incidence of lung cancer, which kills approximately 145,000 Americans every year. A great reason to eat sweet potato.
 
At least 70 research studies have found an increased risk of cancer in people who don't eat enough produce rich in carotenoids. Since the sweet potato is very rich in beta carotene how better to get a health benefit?
 
There are two basic types of sweet potatoes:
 
Moist: (orange fleshed) tends to be plumper and its skin a little redder. The sweeter orange-fleshed sweet potato varieties dominate the U.S. market. often called "yams," but this is a misnomer: The true yam aka "botanical family Dioscoreaceae" is a large - as much as 100 pounds - root vegetable grown in Africa and Asia and rarely seen in the western world. However, over time common usage has made the term "yams" acceptable when referring to sweet potatoes.
 
Dry: (yellow or purple-fleshed). Some people prefer the starchier yellow-fleshed types, a little narrower with a tan skin, when they aren't side by side, it's pretty difficult to judge the difference. In most instances, you can assume you're getting orange-fleshed sweet potatoes. If you are actively seeking the yellow-fleshed, you should ask the produce manager. The Okinawan sweet potato, grown year round in Hawaii has light skin and lavender flesh and is of Chinese and Japanese origin. The potato is not well known or easy to get on the mainland, except in specialty or ethnic markets on the West Coast. Something I experienced a couple of years ago when I was in Hawaii and loved them...
 
A bit of history;
 
In 1514, Peter Martyr named nine varieties that grew in Honduras. It was taken to Spain about 1500 and several kinds were cultivated there by the middle of the 16th century, including red, purple, and pale or "white" varieties.
 
Cultivation of sweet potatoes was tried unsuccessfully in Belgium in 1576. John Gerarde of London, claimed that in 1597 he grew the plant in England (probably without much success) and that it was known in India, Barbary, and other hot regions.
 
Early Spanish explorers are believed to have taken the sweet potato to the Philippines and East Indies, from which it was soon carried to India, China, and Malaya by Portuguese voyagers. The original introductions from America into the Pacific and Far East were so unobtrusive that the origin of the plant was long overlooked, many believing it native to southern and southeastern Asia.
 
Sweet potatoes are sold throughout the year, but are most abundant in their harvest season of fall and early winter, found on sale in the U.S. around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
 
Sweet potatoes are also sold canned or frozen. The canned potatoes are usually packed in heavy syrup--"candied"--although some processors also pack them in water. Canned sweet potatoes are significantly lower in beta-carotene, vitamin C, and B vitamins than fresh ones.
 
Selecting sweet potatoes;
 
Choose heavy, similar-sized potatoes if you plan to cook them whole, so that the cooking time will be uniform. Choose potatoes that are smooth, hard, and free of bruises or decay, even if cut away, a decayed, shriveled brown/black spot may have already imparted an unpleasant flavor to the entire potato.
 
My family's favorite ways of eating sweet potatoes are;
 
Sliced about 1/8" thick and round like silver dollars, Saut?d in olive oil with a touch of butter, for flavor until tender, with just a pinch or two of brown sugar.
 
Second favorite is baked either whole or sliced;
 
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
 
Peel and cut into thick round slices or quarter potato.
In a baggie put ? teaspoon Stevia or 1 teaspoon brown sugar, pinch of ground allspice, pinch of cayenne pepper, ?  teaspoon sea salt, ? teaspoon Turmeric, shake until well mixed. Spray slices with virgin olive oil then put into bag with spices and shake until covered with mixture. Layer one layer on cookie sheet that has been sprayed with olive oil. Put into oven and bake about 20 minutes then turn potatoes over and bake another 20 to 25 minutes until done and slightly browned.
 
There are as many ways of eating sweet potatoes as there are people so use your imagination and eat for health?
 
Enjoy your newfound mineral and vitamin rich food!
Lena