sweet potatoes

day after the 4th, no time to make lunch. i grabbed a sweet potato and nuked it at work, sprinkled some sea salt & cinnamon atop. good but ho-hum. how do you eat sweet potatoes? ("with a fork" ba-dum-chum)

Thu. Jul 5, 1:53pm

Baked with nutmeg and cinnamon mmmm tastes like pumpkin pie. My mom kills me with this every time she makes it because she throws in alot of butter.

Thursday, July 5, 2007, 2:05 PM

I love sweet potatoes... try making baked sweet potato fries--so good!! or sprinkle one with Molly McButter and cinnamon... big yum!

Thursday, July 5, 2007, 2:19 PM

i cut it up in slices, lay it on a piece of aluminum foil, sprinkle them with a little bit of cinammon, and place it in the oven to broil...or roast...or do whatever it does in the oven.

Thursday, July 5, 2007, 2:21 PM

I nuke them, let them cool and eat them skin and all. They don't even need anything to taste great.

Thursday, July 5, 2007, 9:25 PM

My husband makes awesome sweet potato pancakes. We also make a sweet potato souffle. Very good!!

Thursday, July 5, 2007, 10:09 PM

sweet potato fries are the best!!! and they sell them in most grocery stores. bake them in the oven....put some cinnamon & splenda!!! and a little bit of spray butter...wonderful treat! :)

Thursday, July 5, 2007, 10:26 PM

I like mine slightly spicy to counteract the natural sweetness. So I cut them into fries, dribble with a bit of olive oil, and sprinkle them with a spice blend: cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Then bake them until crispy - yum!

Thursday, July 5, 2007, 11:10 PM

Sweet potatos

I like spicy fies like this too. Mashed with a little rice milk, baked with cinnamon, ginger, or a little garlic. Brushed with olive oil and grilled. Made into pancakes, biscuits, or anything else!

Friday, July 6, 2007, 1:47 AM

oven roasted with oregano, basil, onion, garlic, and savoury. I don't like adding anything sweet to sweet potatoes...

Friday, July 6, 2007, 8:13 PM

I also like to add a little sweetener - a packet of Splenda or Sweet n Low.

If you prefer the flavor of brown sugar, you can use the brown Splenda, but it's a blend of Splenda and actual brown sugar, so take those extra calories into consideration. I don't use sugar at all, so if I really need the brown, I use Brown Sweet n Low.

Friday, July 13, 2007, 1:18 PM

8:13... I totally agree with you! YUM-O

Friday, July 13, 2007, 4:42 PM

I have yet to find sweet potato fries in any of my stores. QFC, safeway, albertsons, PCC or trader joes. Where are they hiding in the great pacific NW?

Friday, July 13, 2007, 5:12 PM

Cinnamon on your sweet potato

I read that adding cinnamon to sweet foods can but the blood sugar surge according to a new Swedish study. Reserachers at Mlmo University found that hadding a littlre more than a teaspoon of cinnamond lowered the post-meal blood sugar rise in healthy volunteers. They believe that it slows the rate at which food passes from the stomach to the intestines.!

Friday, July 13, 2007, 5:24 PM

Sweet Potato Nutrition Information

A Sweet Source of Good Nutrition

Our food ranking system also showed sweet potato to be a strong performer in terms of traditional nutrients. This root vegetable qualified as an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), a very good source of vitamin C and manganese, and a good source of copper, dietary fiber, vitamin B6, potassium and iron. How do these sweet potato nutrients support our health?

An Antioxidant-Rich, Anti-Inflammatory Food

As an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene) and a very good source of vitamin C, sweet potatoes have healing properties as an antioxidant food. Both beta-carotene and vitamin C are very powerful antioxidants that work in the body to eliminate free radicals. Free radicals are chemicals that damage cells and cell membranes and are associated with the development of conditions like atherosclerosis, diabetic heart disease, and colon cancer. This may explain why beta-carotene and vitamin C have both been shown to be helpful for preventing these conditions.

Since these nutrients are also anti-inflammatory, they can be helpful in reducing the severity of conditions where inflammation plays a role, such as asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

In addition, sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin B6, which is needed to convert homocysteine, an interim product created during an important chemical process in cells called methylation, into other benign molecules. Since high homocysteine levels are associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, having a little extra vitamin B6 on hand is a good idea.

If you or someone you love is a smoker, or if you are frequently exposed to secondhand smoke, then making vitamin A-rich foods, such as sweet potatoes, part of your healthy way of eating, may save your life, suggests research conducted at Kansas State University.

While studying the relationship between vitamin A, lung inflammation, and emphysema, Richard Baybutt, associate professor of nutrition at Kansas State, made a surprising discovery: a common carcinogen in cigarette smoke, benzo(a)pyrene, induces vitamin A deficiency.

Baybutt's earlier research had shown that laboratory animals fed a vitamin A-deficient diet developed emphysema. His latest animal studies indicate that not only does the benzo(a)pyrene in cigarette smoke cause vitamin A deficiency, but that a diet rich in vitamin A can help counter this effect, thus greatly reducing emphysema.

Baybutt believes vitamin A's protective effects may help explain why some smokers do not develop emphysema. "There are a lot of people who live to be 90 years old and are smokers," he said. "Why? Probably because of their diet…The implications are that those who start smoking at an early age are more likely to become vitamin A deficient and develop complications associated with cancer and emphysema. And if they have a poor diet, forget it." If you or someone you love smokes, or if your work necessitates exposure to second hand smoke, protect yourself by making sure at least one of the World's Healthiest Foods that are rich in vitamin A, such as sweet potatoes, is a daily part of your healthy way of eating.

So, the next time you have the urge for something sweet, how about a thick slice of sweet potato pie? It's one dessert guaranteed to satisfy your whole body, not just your sweet tooth.

Link

Friday, July 13, 2007, 5:59 PM

slice a sweet potatoe into rounds or fries. drizzle with olive oil. sea salt and bake. watch they burn easy. they are soooo good.

Friday, July 13, 2007, 6:53 PM

I so rarely find sweet potatoes which I like better than the yams that seem to pass for sweet potatoes. I imagine they have similar nutritional content, but I really don't know.

Friday, July 13, 2007, 7:12 PM

I recently read that everything sold in the US under the name "yam" or "sweet potato" is actually one form of sweet potato or another. The term "yam" was used to differentiate between two varieties; real yams are ugly, knobby root vegetables that do not ship well and don't grow in the US.

I had heard previously that sweet potatoes had white flesh under the skin and yams red...

Friday, July 13, 2007, 11:14 PM

Found a source for my comments just above (11:14):
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-23-a.html

I like them cubed, lightly oiled, baked, salted and peppered; also baked like a potato and eating like one, with a touch of butter and salt and pepper. I also love a soup my mom calls Winter Soup that features sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, onions, and garlic.

Friday, July 13, 2007, 11:16 PM

I live in the uk and the sweet potatoes I buy are red skinned. I can eat them raw like a carrot or as frys, baked with a little butter so much more filling than white potatoes.
that soup sounds lovely can you post the recipe?

Saturday, July 14, 2007, 5:35 AM

Real yams

I am from the Caribbean so I know about the real yams mentioned in an earlier post. They are starchy root tubers that can be used in place of rice and potatoes. There are different kinds of yams which go by names such as: yellow yam, white yam, St. Vincent yam, pum pum yam. The St Vincent is one of my favorites because it is as soft as an irish potato when boiled.

Also, for the person who asked in an earlier post, I found the sweet potato fries at Walmart and Krogers where I live. I suspect however that it is far more healthy to buy the sweet potato and prepare the fries in the oven yourself where you can control the amount of oil, salt.

Saturday, July 14, 2007, 5:51 PM

So, 5:51, are real yams sold in the States?

Winter soup, and sorry, my recipes aren't precise!
In a little olive oil, brown a couple sliced carrots, a couple sliced parsnips, and an onion. When you've got some nice browning going on, add six cups or so of your favorite version of chicken stock (vegetarians can use a veggie stock, not too "green" a flavor though, keep it mellow and savory). Add cubed peeled sweet potatoes (about four cups), some garlic, a handful of barley; simmer until everything's tender and the sweet potato can be mashed a bit. Garnish with a thread of cream, some lemon rind and fresh parsley if you like things prettied up.

Obviously, I feed a big family. :^ )

Saturday, July 14, 2007, 9:07 PM

sweet potatoes

lots of good ideas people might not want to retype...

Tuesday, November 6, 2007, 7:31 AM

thanks for bringing this thread up again. I made sweet potatoes for the first time last night since i have a white potato allergy. i used brown sugar and butter just for last night, but wanted to find a healthier way to eat them.

thanks for the tips!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007, 9:01 AM

OP here... WOW! So many ideas!! Sorry if this was a rerun of something someone else once posted. I'm also looking for something dessert-y, using the yam/sweet potato. I'm thinking tonight I'm gonna try a quasi casserole with some yams, a touch of maple syrup, and some granny smith apples. Oh, and hopefully, not too much butter or the like. I want to come up with something I can eat without guilt! Love to my fellow PT'ers!!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007, 12:25 PM

12:25 here

i'm NOT the original poster of this thread, but the one title, "sweet potato recipes." thanks for helping this thread to resurface.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007, 12:52 PM

You all just inspired me to eat a sweet potato! I sliced one up today with a tiny bit of olive oil, sprinkled it with salt and pepper and baked it. It was SO good. I need to go buy more!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007, 2:24 PM

I mash them with milk and ginger. Great!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007, 11:11 PM

Baked are the best

Just poke some holes in it with a fork, rub a teeny bit of oil on the outside, and bake for a LONG time. The key (I think) to baked sweet potatos is making sure you bake them long enough so they're all soft and syrupy....over an hour at least! YUM. No butter or sugar needed for me - I love 'em plain.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007, 11:45 AM

I was inspired to make a sweet pototoe last night! I microwaved it for 2 minutes (so I could cut it). Then I sliced the whole thing up and put on a baking sheet with a little extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt, and some cinnamon.
Yummy. Yummy.
I made these with tofu steaks covered with awesome marinara sauce.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007, 12:05 PM

i love sweet potatoes and i know they're really high in nutritional content, but i've heard that eating them can cause you to gain a lot of weight since they're so starchy and essentially nothing but carbs (and a high amount of carbs at that). does anyone know? i'd hate to kick my sweet potato habit =(

Thursday, November 8, 2007, 9:07 AM

Nutritional Info of Sweet Potatoes (Raw)

Calories 112
(Kilojoules 467)
Total Fat 0.1 g 0%
Sat. Fat 0.0 g 0%
Cholesterol 0 mg 0%
Sodium 72 mg 3%
Total Carbs. 26.2 g 9%
Dietary Fiber 3.9 g 16%
Sugars 5.4 g
Protein 2.0 g
Calcium 39 mg
Potassium 438.1 mg

Friday, November 9, 2007, 8:31 AM

Don't stop eating those sweet potatoes, 9:07! They are so good for you!

Friday, November 9, 2007, 11:28 AM

I always thought sweet potatoes were a better choice of carb than white potatoes (lower GI?). But yesterday I was reading a book (The Food Doctor Ultimate Diet) which graded carbohydrates based on whether they were a good, moderate, or not-so-great choice for carbs (grains such as millet and quinoa being the best). Sweet potatoes were in the 3rd category (ie OK, but not ideal), alongside white potatoes. Now I'm confused! Anyone have any insight on this?

Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 6:40 AM

I do sweet potatoes completely differently: I'm not a big fan of sugary sweetness, so I "tart" them up by roasting cubed sweet potatoes with a cup of orange juice.

~Steampunk

Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 8:00 AM

At what temp and for how long do you all cook your sweet potato fries? And, do you put them on the bottom rack of the oven? I tried it once before but they came out a little soggy?
No matter what though, love the taste of a sweet potato and never even tried them til I moved down south 5 years ago...LOL!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 3:14 PM

Since sweet potatoes have a lower glycemic index than white potatoes, I put them in beef stew..delicious

Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 8:30 PM

I cube them. Toss with some onion, a little olive oil, and as much chili and garlic powder and cumin as you like. Bake in the oven on 375 for 30 to 40 minutes.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 8:35 PM

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