Sweet Potato Butter
By Mark Mulcahy
As November arrives, you may want to rethink adding Melissa’s organic sweet potatoes as a healthy addition to your daily diet, not just for the approaching holidays; After all they are a great source of fiber, beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and complex carbohydrates.
Check this out: One baked sweet potato (3½ ounce serving) provides about twice the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of vitamin A over 8,800 IU, and provides 42 percent of the RDA of vitamin C. Furthermore a serving is about 1/3 the size of a normal potato so just adding one of these to your daily meals can have a sweet and healthy impact. If you are looking for other ways to eat sweet potatoes besides serving them with other sweet ingredients, how about some oven roasted sweet potato fries as an alternative to regular fries. Yes, you can buy them frozen but there is nothing like homemade, tossed with a little coconut oil and sea salt.
They are great added to soups or stew or made into a sweet rich potato salad. Add a few extra to the oven when you are baking them for dinner and pack them cold for lunch the next day. Since they are loaded with complex carbohydrates they will provide you with a sustainable boost of energy for the afternoon. If you don’t use them right away they can be stored in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days. Or why not try them for breakfast like they do in the Dominican Republic or rural Kentucky?
I love them for breakfast topped with scrambled eggs and avocado. Rich and satisfying and the protein from the eggs will keep you going even longer. If you are looking for something to have around the house to dip your veggies in that is lower in fat than other dips like hummus or Ranch dressing then try this Sweet Potato Butter recipe filled with Melissa’s organic produce. This can also be used as a spread to go with your favorite wrap ingredients.
2 organic garlic cloves
2 organic sweet potatoes, cut into small chunks
2 medium organic carrots
2 Tablespoons chopped organic flat leaf parsley
½ to ¾ cup vegetable broth
2 Tablespoons chopped organic cilantro (optional)
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Fine sea salt, to taste
Put unpeeled garlic cloves on aluminum foil and bake at 350ºF in the oven or toaster oven for about 10 minutes, until soft. Steam the unpeeled potato chunks until done. Peel the carrots, cut into large chunks and steam until soft.
Drain carrots, remove the sweet potato skins and put both in a food processor. Squeeze in the baked garlic. Add the flat leaf parsley. Add ½ cup broth and blend. With motor running, add oil and keep blending, adding more broth until puree is fairly smooth and full. Add salt and pepper to taste. Dip can be made as long as a day in advance, covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature for serving and stir in the optional herbs right before serving with raw vegetables and bread sticks. Makes 6 servings.
Now that I have you thinking about using sweet potatoes more often, here are some tips for buying and storing them:
Buying sweet potatoes - select sound, firm roots, without shriveled tips or bruises.
Storage - store in a dry bin or paper bag between at 55-60º F. for best results. Do not store in the refrigerator because temperatures below 55º F cause them to have a hard core and an undesirable taste when cooked. Enjoy the holidays, the sweet potatoes and all of their sweet, healthy goodness.
As November arrives, you may want to rethink adding Melissa’s organic sweet potatoes as a healthy addition to your daily diet, not just for the approaching holidays; After all they are a great source of fiber, beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and complex carbohydrates.
Check this out: One baked sweet potato (3½ ounce serving) provides about twice the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of vitamin A over 8,800 IU, and provides 42 percent of the RDA of vitamin C. Furthermore a serving is about 1/3 the size of a normal potato so just adding one of these to your daily meals can have a sweet and healthy impact. If you are looking for other ways to eat sweet potatoes besides serving them with other sweet ingredients, how about some oven roasted sweet potato fries as an alternative to regular fries. Yes, you can buy them frozen but there is nothing like homemade, tossed with a little coconut oil and sea salt.
They are great added to soups or stew or made into a sweet rich potato salad. Add a few extra to the oven when you are baking them for dinner and pack them cold for lunch the next day. Since they are loaded with complex carbohydrates they will provide you with a sustainable boost of energy for the afternoon. If you don’t use them right away they can be stored in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days. Or why not try them for breakfast like they do in the Dominican Republic or rural Kentucky?
I love them for breakfast topped with scrambled eggs and avocado. Rich and satisfying and the protein from the eggs will keep you going even longer. If you are looking for something to have around the house to dip your veggies in that is lower in fat than other dips like hummus or Ranch dressing then try this Sweet Potato Butter recipe filled with Melissa’s organic produce. This can also be used as a spread to go with your favorite wrap ingredients.
2 organic garlic cloves
2 organic sweet potatoes, cut into small chunks
2 medium organic carrots
2 Tablespoons chopped organic flat leaf parsley
½ to ¾ cup vegetable broth
2 Tablespoons chopped organic cilantro (optional)
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Fine sea salt, to taste
Put unpeeled garlic cloves on aluminum foil and bake at 350ºF in the oven or toaster oven for about 10 minutes, until soft. Steam the unpeeled potato chunks until done. Peel the carrots, cut into large chunks and steam until soft.
Drain carrots, remove the sweet potato skins and put both in a food processor. Squeeze in the baked garlic. Add the flat leaf parsley. Add ½ cup broth and blend. With motor running, add oil and keep blending, adding more broth until puree is fairly smooth and full. Add salt and pepper to taste. Dip can be made as long as a day in advance, covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature for serving and stir in the optional herbs right before serving with raw vegetables and bread sticks. Makes 6 servings.
Now that I have you thinking about using sweet potatoes more often, here are some tips for buying and storing them:
Buying sweet potatoes - select sound, firm roots, without shriveled tips or bruises.
Storage - store in a dry bin or paper bag between at 55-60º F. for best results. Do not store in the refrigerator because temperatures below 55º F cause them to have a hard core and an undesirable taste when cooked. Enjoy the holidays, the sweet potatoes and all of their sweet, healthy goodness.
