Sweet Potato

Do I have anything sweet to say about sweet potatoes? Yes, I do! My 2 favorite things to do with sweet potatoes are make sweet potato fries, and homemade Super Baby Food (see my blogs for more info!) Sweet potatoes are one of those foods highly touted for being a Super Food in itself, and they make alot of headlines as being a Whole food. So, that should make it gross! What kind of normal person eats healthy food without sacrifice? Maybe YOU! 

Not to be confused with Yams, sweet potatoes are very high in vitamin A and vitamin C, and an adequate source of many other vitamins and minerals.  Eating sweet potatoes provides you with Vitamin A to help you to adjust your eyes to light changes, as well as keeping your skin healthier. Vitamin C to helps boost your immune system, heals wounds, and builds healthy teeth and gums. Vitamin B6 helps you convert protein into energy while also improving brain function. Copper helps you maintain your cardiovascular and nervous systems.

Vitamin E to helps you maintain your circulatory system, improves your ability to heal, and may help women decrease premenstrual syndrome. Wow! Wonder if it does bathrooms, and pedicures...

My favorite recipe for my Vitamin A, C, E, B6, and Copper is sweet potato fries! Not the fried kind, the baked version that preserves all of the essential vitamins! I even bought a special “fry pan,” that has holes in the bottom to make the potatoes crispier, without deep frying in oil. I cut the potato into fries (leave the skins on for extra nutrition and texture), put them in a large ziploc bag and coat with extra virgin olive oil then add a pretty decent amount of salt, garlic powder, and freshly ground pepper and shake it all up. The plastic bag thing works well for marinating too, easy to prepare, easy to clean up. After the plastic bag tango is done, spread the potatoes on a sheet tray in a single layer and pop them in a 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes, turning once. If I remember, I’ll sprinkle on some Paprika. A little trick to getting the fries slightly crispier also is to preheat the sheet pan before you add the potatoes. They make a sizzling sound when you put them on the pan afterward, almost like searing meat. Despite the special pan and the preheating trick, these fries tend to still be the mushy type. They’d be perfect to sit down and watch a good chick flick with... :)