.....While We're on the Topic of Sage and Sweet Potatoes.....

I've been jonesing yummy bites.

 And then found this: Sweet Potato Stacks: Tri-color, garlic, fried sage on Smorgasbite.
Check it out, it's a fun blog : )

Sweet Potato Soup - A Thing of Beauty

I usually make this with butternut squash, but it works well with sweet potatoes too!

Sweet Potato Soup

1 or 2 sweet onions, diced

3 cloves roasted garlic

1 carton Pacific Free Range Organic Chicken broth

5 or 6 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cooked

Emeril's Essence

a few leaves of fresh sage

olive oil

salt and pepper

Caramelize sweet onions in a few tablespoons olive oil on very low heat for about 30 minutes ~ you want them golden brown and translucent but not crispy.  Toward end of caramelizing, add the cloves of roasted garlic and keep on low heat.  Place sweet potatoes in food processor and add the onion and garlic mixture. Puree mixture a bit at a time and slowly add chicken broth until mixture looks smooth and creamy (but still pretty thick).  Place soup back in the pot and put on low heat.  Chiffonade the sage and add to soup. 

This is chiffonading sage: 

You might also want to add a bit more chicken broth if the soup is too think. Heat soup through until piping hot, you should see a few thick bubbles. Serve with a sprinkle of Emeril's Essence and maybe a few dices of roasted sweet potato, but I just love the straight creamyness.  Delicious!

The History of the Sweet Potato

I thought it would be best if I explained why I love sweet potatoes so much and exactly why they are oh so good for us.

Firstly, they are rich in complex carbohydrates which are the very best kind of carbohydrates because they contain starch and soluble fiber instead of just sugar (which is what makes up simple carbs, like white rice or white bread). Eating complex carbs full of soluble fiber satiates our appetites and prevents overeating but has also been linked to preventing chronic diseases and aiding in digestion as well as helping food pass more slowly through the GI system, allowing our bodies to absorb more nutrients.

Sweet potatoes are also full of Beta-carotene (similar to Vitamin A) ~ which helps to maintain healthy skin, hair, eyes as well as help keep up our immune system and healthy bone growth. There is about four times the daily recommended dose of Vitamin A in one serving of sweet potato.  Vitamin C, which is also great for our immune system, serves as an antioxident and anti-inflammatory - you can get almost half of your daily dose of Vitamin C from one sweet potato! These delicious root vegetables are also chock full of iron, potassium, calcium, and folate.

Hope this helps!

Snow!

Yesterday we got our first snow fall of the year and in celebration we made sweet potato biscuits and watched White Christmas ~

                  Olive's Sweet Potato Biscuits

1 C. flour

1/4 C. wheat germ

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

4 Tablespoons butter (cold)

1 C. cooked and mashed sweet potatoes

~ 1/2 C. milk (add very slowly, sometimes I need less)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Sift or whisk together dry ingredients. With a pastry blender add butter and incorporate into flour until the mixture has the consistency of cornmeal. Add the sweet potato and slowly 

stir in milk a little at a time.  You might not need all of it, just make sure

that the dough is stiff enough to roll and cut.  Ball dough and place on 

clean and floured surface.  Pat until dough is about 1/2 inch thick. 

If you don't have cookie cutters, mason jars work great!  Place biscuits

on parchment paper covered pan and place in oven for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. 

After removing from oven, immediately butter tops of biscuits and serve hot with maple

syrup.  YUM. 

* This recipe makes about 6 large biscuits.  If you want to double the recipe, use 5 teaspoons baking powder and use just a little more milk ~ the sweet potatoes make the dough nice and moist.

Medical Students at Large

My days are usually like this:

 ......and I usually feel like this:

Which makes it tempting to eat these:

BUT -  instead of opting for simple carbs that will make me hungry in 15 minutes, I'm going to make these!!!

Amazingly crispy sweet potato wedges served with a bleu cheese dip I make with Fage Greek yogurt.... to die for.
Both my husband and I are entering the medical field and while we get a kick out of flu shots and telling people to take care of themselves, it's easy to not follow our own advice.  Exercise and good nutrition are key to staying healthy and maintaining a good immune system ~ and that's why we eat sweet potatoes.

Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges

3 medium sized sweet potatoes

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped finely

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and peel potatoes.  Slice into wedges making sure they're all about the same size.  Toss in a bowl with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Place on roasting pan and bake for about 45 minutes until crispy golden brown. 

* If you can't find fresh rosemary, we like to use a mortar and pestle to make rosemary salt - a teaspoon of rosemary with a few teaspoons of  salt. 

Bleu Cheese Dip

1 C. Greek yogurt (we like Fage)

1/2 C. mayonnaise

1/2 C. bleu cheese crumbles

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice 

a  few dashes of hot sauce (we like Cholula)

salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients in a bowl and serve on the side. 

Enjoy! 




It will probably look something like this - but in wedges.  My camera broke, so I can't show y'all my own sweet potato creations but I thought this might look so delicious, you'd have to run go make some.

The Root Vegetable

Sweet potatoes, as it turns out, really are the perfect food. For sixty-nine cents/ lb and about 140 calories, you can receive the very best of complex carbohydrates, 40 % of your daily Vitamin C, a days worth of Vitamin A, 4 grams of fiber and boat loads of beta carotene, an excellent anti-oxidant. Not to mention it's like eating sunshine.