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| Sweet Potatoes called "Garnet Yams" |
Common name: Sweet Potato, Garnet Yam,
Purple Sweet Potato
Plant Family: Convulvulaceae
Genus/species: Ipomoea batatas
It was love at first sight and first
bite. I was about four years old and a food fussy. As I glanced up at the
Thanksgiving table dressed with a dozen different dishes, a deep clear glass
casserole dish caught my eye. It had marshmallows mounded over the top of
some pumpkin-colored orangey stuff. The white creamy puffs were slightly
golden on top just the way I like to toast my marshmallows over the campfire in
summer. My curiosity got the best of me and I stuck my finger into the goop. When I tasted the sweet orange whatever doused in melted marshmallows,
I thought it was heaven. This was my first introduction to a sweet potato
casserole my mom made for Thanksgiving. You may make fun of this child-friendly dish but this casserole is a way to get kids to eat one of the healthiest vegetables in the new world. If a “spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down” for Mary, then Lee, my mom,
could make this vegetable go down with melted marshmallows.
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| Simply irresistible - Sweet potato & marshmallow casserole |
Listed as one
of the top ten of “super foods,” sweet potatoes pack a powerful nutritional
punch. My favorite sweet potato, which is found in our local markets, is named the
“Garnet Yam” and it really is not a
yam at all, which is a bit confusing. True
yams, of the genus Dioscorea, are natives to Asia and Africa and are a different vegetable altogether; they have starchy white flesh and are not
as nutritious. However, Garnet Yam is
the name this deep salmon-colored sweet potato was given, nonetheless, and we
must go with it. This special sweet potato, as with other deeply colored fruits
or vegetables, promises and delivers amazing health benefits.
While reading the Self Nutritional Data One information
for one (1) cup of a baked sweet potato, I was quite impressed. They
are a huge source of Vitamin A with 38,433 IU (769% daily value or DV),
included in this Vitamin A figure are the Retinol Activity Equivalent of
1922 mcg and Beta Carotene of 23,017 mcg. Can you say “good for your skin” food? In addition, they have 39.2 mg of Vitamin C
(65% DV), 12.0 mcg of Vitamin B6 (which is 29% DV), along with modest
percentages of Vitamin K, Vitamin E, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic
Acid, and Folate. The minerals present in sweet potatoes include calcium, iron,
magnesium, phosphorus potassium, copper, and manganese. As sweet as they are they
have only 13.0 grams of actual sugars and contain 6.6 grams of dietary fiber (26% DV). Finally, they are low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Can
you say super vegetable? Well, they taste more like a dessert than a
vegetable. I believe they are the best darn tootin' tubers out there.
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Recipe for Marshmallow Sweet Potato
Casserole
Ingredients:
1 bag marshmallows
4-5 Garnet Yams cut in half or in thirds
(depending on the size)
1 cup milk or half and half
2-4 T. butter
1 T. real maple syrup
Pinch of salt
Steam or boil
sweet potatoes in their skins until very soft and tender. Drain and let cool
for a few minutes until you can hold them with a towel and remove the skins. Skin
should slide off easily. Put them back in the pot over very low heat and mash
with potato masher (or use a ricer). Next, add butter, maple syrup,
and a pinch of salt. Slowly add in the milk whipping and mashing until you get the
consistency similar to icing. Place mixture in oven-proof casserole dish (glass
is pretty). Top with all the marshmallows. Bake 350° for about 15 minutes until
marshmallows turn a light golden color and melt to form a thick icing-like
topping. Serve to children who hate vegetables (and grown children).
References:
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