Sweet potatoes: Centuries of sweet nutrition

Chicago Tribune (MCT) - A sweet potato is not related to the potato. Nor is it related to a yam. It is its own, delicious thing and deserves widespread admiration beyond the Thanksgiving meal.

After Columbus brought back sweets (we'll just call them that, do you mind?), which were called batatas by the Taino Indians in the Caribbean, the name morphed into patatas and eventually, potatoes, writes Elizabeth Schneider in "Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini."

For almost 50 years, sweets were the only "potatoes" in Europe, Schneider writes, because regular potatoes took much longer to be accepted. More than 90 percent of all sweets are now grown in Asia, many of them more starchy, light-colored versions of the tuber.

The rich flavor of the sweet potato needs little tweaking and certainly does not need garnishing with sweet, puffy marshmallows on holiday tables.

Try them steamed, sliced and sprinkled with herbs and a touch of butter. Or roast them, split open and top with a teaspoon of sour cream or yogurt mixed with horseradish to taste. Other compatible flavors, suggested by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg in "The Flavor Bible," include bacon, apples, onions, chilies, lemon and cilantro.

However you cook them, realize you are getting good amounts of vitamins A, B6 and E and very little fat.

A serving of sweet potatoes has more fiber than a similar serving of oatmeal, according to the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission. Nutritionists consider sweet potatoes one of best nutrient-dense foods. Just avoid the marshmallows.

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Did you know?

Sweet potatoes are a member of the morning glory family.

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SWEET POTATO, PLAINTAIN AND MESCLUN SALAD WITH CHILI-HERB SAUCE

Prep: 50 minutes

Cook: 1 hour

Let stand: 1 hour

Makes: 4 servings

The sauce is a vinaigrette often used in the French Caribbean islands for grilled seafood, chicken and vegetables. Adapted from "The Caribbean Pantry Cookbook," by Steven Raichlen. This healthful salad is packed with beta-carotene, vitamins A and C, and fiber and is low in saturated fat.

Sauce:

2 cloves garlic, minced

˝ teaspoon salt

˝ to 1 scotch bonnet chili, seeded, minced

1 shallot, minced

2 finely chopped tablespoons each: fresh chives, cilantro, flat-leaf parsley

˝ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Juice of 2 limes

Freshly ground pepper

Ľ cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 to 4 tablespoons boiling water

Salad:

2 long, slender sweet potatoes

1 ripe plaintain

4 cups mesclun (mixed baby greens)

Freshly ground pepper

1. For the sauce, mash the garlic and salt to a smooth paste in a medium bowl; whisk in chili, shallot, chives, cilantro, parsley, thyme, lime juice and pepper to taste. Whisk in the oil in a thin stream. Add boiling water as needed to make a pourable sauce. Adjust seasonings. Let stand 1 hour.

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2. Meanwhile, heat oven to 400 degrees. Prick the sweet potatoes and plaintain with a fork; place on a baking sheet. Roast until tender, about 1 hour; cool. Peel; cut crosswise into Ľ-inch slices.

3. Arrange potato and plantain slices overlapping in a circle around the outer edge of four salad plates. Place the mesclun in a bowl; toss with 3 tablespoons of the sauce. Mound mesclun in the center of each plate. Drizzle mesclun, potatoes and plantains with sauce to taste. Sprinkle with pepper.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 254 calories, 46 percent of calories from fat, 14 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 34 g carbohydrates, 3 g protein, 336 mg sodium, 5 g fiber

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© 2008, Chicago Tribune.