Sweet potatoes - garden plant of the week

November 9, 1:19 PMSeattle Garden & Kitchen ExaminerJerry & Kristy

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Sweet! Healthy, delicious sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes get bought around Thanksgiving and then are often ignored for the rest of the year, which is a shame because they are an extremely healthy choice! They are great source of vitamins A, B6 and C as well as fiber, copper, iron, potassium and riboflavin. Start picking some up at your grocery store (or grow them yourself) and enjoy them year round!

Preparation:
Sweet potatoes, like their russet friends are always eaten cooked although they may be served hot or cold, depending on the dish. There are many ways to prepare sweet potatoes other than the two most common ways:  mashed and a Thanksgiving side dish with a marshmallow topping.

If the sweet potatoes were grown organically (by you or others) the entire tuber, flesh and skin can be eaten. If you are unsure of the growing process, peel them before eating to avoid the chance the skin may have been treated with dye or wax. This can be done before or after cooking.  

Sweet potatoes can be boiled, baked, broiled, sliced and fried, microwaved and added to a variety of dishes. They are complimented by the use of cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger.

Growing Tip:
Sweet potatoes are grown from slips, or root sprouts, which you can easily start your own. They are hard to grow in the Seattle area because they need warm: as in over 75 degree weather. We have been successful with them in our heated green house. Sweet potatoes thrive in a sandy soil and will need either a lot of room to spread out or to be trellised. If grown outside, they will need to be dug up before the first frost.

Buying Tip:
To guarantee the most food value, choose sweet potatoes which are a deep uniformed orange. Look for ones that are firm without any soft areas, blemishes or cracks.

Store whole sweet potatoes in a large paper bag in a cool (55-60 degrees), dry location where they will stay fresh for up to a month.

To store longer, wash and bake or boil just until it is slightly soft. If boiling them, do not let them sit in the water, remove and dry them immediately. After cooling, wrap them individually and freeze in plastic freezer bags.

Our fresh produce recipes show it is as easy to eat well as it is to open a box!