Tag Archives: sweet potato

Sweet Potato & Kale Breakfast Hash

Sometimes all you have time for in the morning is a bowl of cold cereal before you rush out the door. But sometimes, you want something warm, hearty, and filling. And also healthy. And also pretty quick to make… Seems like a tall order right?

Well, this is one of my best kept not-secrets! It is hands down one of my favorite hot breakfasts, and I talk about it all the time when people ask for super healthy, but also cheap, and also fast, recipes.

With a power duo of sweet potatoes and kale, you have a whole slew of vitamins and nutrients and fiber running around your body, and it’s not even 9am yet!

Or, you could easily make this a breakfast-for dinner situation, or serve it over brown rice for an even more filling anytime meal. Sweet potatoes are scandalously cheap for how nutritious they are, and you can use whatever green is on sale, kale, collards, swiss chard, spinach all work great here.

sweet potato and kale breakfast egg bowl

It is simple and perfect just the way it is, with only 3 ingredients. However, you could also top it any way you choose. I’ve enjoyed hot sauce, salsa, avocados, or adding black beans or chickpeas (in addition to or in place of the egg).

The best part? You can turn it to simmer, put on a lid, and walk away for 15-20 minutes. That gives you time to shower, dress, do some yoga, or find the kids’ shoes, and still have a hot and fresh breakfast ready when you are.

Protip: you can also make one big batch of this at the beginning of the week or on the weekend. Just roast a big pan of sweet potato, or heck any type of squash too, and steam some greens and keep it in the refrigerator. The all you do is heat it up and toss on an egg and you’re ready to take on the world.

Ingredients:

  • 1 sm-med sweet potato
  • 4-6 stems kale, stems removed
  • 1 egg (cage free/pastured if you can)
  • Optional: lemon juice, garlic salt, hot sauce

sweet potato and kale breakfast hash

Step 1: Dice your sweet potato, the smaller the faster it cooks. I usually don’t peel mine, I want all those lovely vitamins. Spray a pan with cooking oil, brush with olive oil, or add a tbsp broth or water. Add the sweet potato, cover, and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until soft when poked with a fork.

sweet potato and kale breakfast hash with egg

Step 2: Rinse the kale, and remove the stems. Tear into bite sized pieces. Once the sweet potato is soft, add the kale and cover again for another 5-7 minutes. The kale should wilt and become soft. If you like, add a squirt of lemon or lime juice and some garlic salt here.

sweet potato and kale breakfast hash with egg

Step 3: Remove the sweet potato and kale to a plate, and crack in an egg. Or, you can just cook it right into the greens! Once the egg is cooked to your liking, top your plate, and dig in. I usually leave it just a touch runny, to swirl the potatoes around in the yolk. You could also add in some toast for dipping.

 

Best Ever Sweet Potato Biscuits (And They’re Vegan!)

 

Sweet potatoes are a beloved vegetable here in the South, where they star in everything from sweet potato pie to sweet potato fries. They are in the same family as morning glories, and grow best in warm climates. They are only distantly related to the white baking potato. They are also distinct from the species Dioscorea which is a genuine yam (source).

Sweet potatoes have been named the most efficient staple food to produce, yielding the most nutrition per acre of land (source). They provide simple starches (carbohydrates) as all root crops do, but they also are rich in dietary fiber, of which nearly 95% of Americans do not eat enough! (source 1 and source 2)

Dietary fiber is so important for gut health, lowering your risk of colon cancers, and maintaining a healthy weight. Fiber helps you feel full, decreases risk of diverticulitis and IBS, helps stabilize blood sugar, and lowers cholesterol levels. The American Dietetic Association recommends 20-35 grams per day, but the majority of people don’t even come close to that. And a truly healthy diet would actually be more like 70-90 grams per day!

The good news is, adding more plant foods into foods you already eat is a super simple way to increase your fiber intake painlessly. Adding sweet potatoes into delicious, flaky biscuits sneaks all kinds of fiber, vitamins, and beta carotene into your breakfast or dinner side dish, and brings a fun vibrant orange color to the table.

Baking your own biscuits may seem scary, but the process is very simple. It does take some time, about 3 hours total start to finish, which makes it a good weekend or day off project. But you can scale up to make a huge batch, and freeze the extras! It would be a great way to introduce kids to the kitchen as well.

Based loosely on this recipe (doubled) from Genius Kitchen. Makes approximately 22 biscuits.

This recipe is designed to be vegan, but you can easily use dairy milk, and/or butter instead of coconut oil, if that’s what you have.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups baked mashed sweet potato (about 2 medium sized sweet potatoes)
  • 2/3 cup soymilk or almond milk
  • 2-3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tbsp baking powder
  • 3 cups flour
  • 4 tbsp sugar
  • 8 tbsp coconut oil
  • 2ish tsp salt

peeled microwaved sweet potato

Step 1: Either roast your sweet potatoes at 350 for 45 minutes wrapped in foil, or microwave for 10-12 minutes wrapped in a wet paper towel. The skin should peel right off, leaving you with soft, cooked sweet potato flesh.

mashed sweet potato and soymilk

Step 2: In a bowl, combine the mashed sweet potato, the milk, and the apple cider vinegar. Mix together to combine.

Best ever sweet potato biscuits

Step 3: In a different bowl, mix your dry ingredients: flour, salt, sugar, baking powder.

Best ever sweet potato biscuits

Step 4: Add the coconut oil, a little colder than room temperature. Use a fork, mixer, or potato masher to mix the coconut oil into the dry ingredients.

Best ever sweet potato biscuits

You should end up with a crumb-like texture.

Best ever sweet potato biscuits

Step 5: Add the wet potato mash into the dry ingredients, and mix just well enough to combine. You don’t want to over-mix. Refrigerate for about 30-60 minutes.

Best ever sweet potato biscuits

Step 6: Spread flour over a solid surface, this is where you will roll and cut your dough. Take it out of the refrigerator, and cut it into four equally sized pieces.

Best ever sweet potato biscuits

Step 7: Press the dough flat with your hands, then use a rolling pin to roll it out to about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. They puff up a little while baking, but not much. Then use a glass or cookie cutter to cut the dough into rounds.

Best ever sweet potato biscuits

You can re-roll the dough and cut it again up to about 3 times. Then it becomes harder to work with.

Step 8: Bake on a foil-lined pan or glass pan at 425 for 8-10 minutes, until they begin to brown on the top. I rotated the pans between the top and bottom rack at 5 minutes.

Best ever sweet potato biscuits

Let cool on a wire rack, or just tear into them with your bare hands!

Best ever sweet potato biscuits

Delicious with jelly, butter, or honey, or just plain right out of the oven. They are just a tiny bit sweet on their own, and can easily compliment savory meals like chili as well.

 

 

 

 

Sweet Potato Lentil Meatloaf

 

Everyone knows the iconic meatloaf, a loaf of meat.  You may have fond memories of your mother serving it as a child, you may have a secret family recipe, you may have only seen it on TV, or you may be a whiz at making vegetarian versions for faux-meat-loaf. Heck, maybe you don’t actually know what meatloaf is. Whatever the case, I will bet you you can adapt this recipe to suit your tastes!

When dating/living with/married to die-hard meat lovers and trying to stuff more vegetables into a resistant person’s diet, you need some tricks up your sleeve. This recipe is great because it combines two of my favorite strategies: shred the veggies so you barely know it’s there, and add lentils to meat to bulk it up without affecting taste too much. If you want a vegetarian version of this dish, easy peasy just leave the ground turkey out and double down on lentils, or try half lentils and half black beans.

Lentils and sweet potatoes

This recipe creates a moist, tender, tasty loaf which is packed with all kinds of healthy goodies.  The sweet potato gives it vitamin A, beta carotene, fiber, vitamin C, and other nutrients.  The lentils give you tons of healthy fiber, protein, folate, iron, and other nutrients. If you add the meat, it keeps the carnivores happy too, and has a texture not much different from meat alone.

Lentil and sweet potato meatloaf

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound ground turkey (or pork, beef, chicken)
  • 1 cup cooked lentils
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1 egg
  • 1 med-large sweet potato, shredded
  • Spices to taste (suggest garlic salt, pepper, Italian seasoning)

For the Sauce:

  • 1 small can tomato sauce
  • 2 tbsp hot sauce
  • 2 tbsp ketchup

If you are staying away from processed things (good for you!) and or feel ambitious and want to make your own ketchup (see here) or hot sauce (right here) then go for it!  You can use other sauces if you don’t like ketchup such as BBQ sauce, Worcestershire, mustard, or Thai chili sauce. Or  you can go sauce-less & have your meatloaf naked!

Lentil and sweet potato meatloaf ingredients

Step 1: In a large bowl, combine lentils, meat, oats, eggs, and any spices you are using. Optional additions here: diced onion, garlic, or bell peppers.

Mixing in the sweet potatoe

Step 2: Shred your sweet potato , and add that to the mix.

Naked lentil and sweet potato meatloaf

Step 3: Spray a bread pan with cooking oil, and spread the mixture into the pan, smoothing down the top.

Lentil and sweet potato meatloaf with sauce

Step 4: In a small bowl or just on top of the loaf, mix the sauce ingredients together and spread evenly over top.

Lentil and sweet potato meatloaf ready to bake

Step 5: Bake in a 350 oven for about 75 minutes.

Lentil and sweet potato meatloaf

And that’s all there is to it! Slice it up and serve it up. I made some cheesy potatoes and fresh corn on the cob and it was a delightful summertime meal.

Lentil and sweet potato meatloaf slice

Of course, with meatloaf leftovers the best thing to do it make meatloaf sandwiches! Add some shredded cheese, maybe some extra sauce, and it has a whole new life. Mmmm-mmm!

Lentil and sweet potato meatloaf sandwich

 

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Sweet Potato & Eggplant Vurgers

 

Veggie burgers have so much more potential than a frozen patty of flour, preservatives, and mushy veggie starch. I’ve written previous articles on making burgers out of pinto beans and quinoa, or incorporating broccoli slaw. A veggie burger is as simple as some cooked vegetables and some thing(s) to bind everything together into a patty.

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This recipe combines some of end-of-summer stars and healthy whole grain oats into a sweet and tasty patty that can be eaten on its own, in a bun or wrap, or over a salad of greens or grains. As always, substitute in whatever other veggies you have and like for those you don’t have or enjoy.

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Ingredients:

  • 1 small-med eggplant
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes
  • 1/2 red onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup shredded radishes
  • 1 cup whole oats and/or flour
  • 2 tbsp spices of choice
  • 1/4 cup olive oil

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Step 1: Dice up the eggplant, onion, and sweet potato. Peel the sweet potato if you don’t want pieces of peel in your burgers. You can pre-boil the potato if you want it to cook faster, or you can put it into a pan with a lid and slow-cook prior to adding the eggplant and onion. Cook all veggies until soft enough to mash with a fork.

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Step 2: In a large bowl, mash all the veggies together with a fork or potato masher. Add the oats & shredded radish, and mix until it begins to become sticky, such that you can shape patties from it. You can also add an egg if you need extra binding.

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For spices, I added in some garlic salt, paprika, and black pepper.

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Step 3: In a frying pan, pour the oil and heat it to medium. Shape the patties into small rounds with your hands. Fry the patties a few at a time, making sure they aren’t touching. Fry until crispy and brown, about 5-6 minutes each side.

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Step 4: Place the patties on a wire rack or paper towels to drain extra oil off the patties.

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You can use these just as you would a regular burger and top with pickles, lettuce, tomato, hot peppers, ketchup, mayo, etc.

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Less than 5: Honey Sweet Potato Snack

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Happy almost 4th of July! Whether you are having a small family get-together, a backyard BBQ, or going out to a picnic-and-fireworks party, enjoy our independence from the Crown and be safe! I’m sure there are overwhelming amounts of recipes involving burgers, apple pie, and anything red white or blue flooding the internet. So I went another way: to highlight a simple, humble veggie that I think doesn’t get enough attention.

Little bright orange jewels, so good for your health, sweet potatoes are more than a Thanksgiving side dish. Any time of the year, they can add nutrients and fiber to your diet and become an easy side dish or snack, even a main dish or dessert.

sweet_potatoes_570

Sweet potatoes are one of nature’s best sources of beta-carotene, the provitamin-A carotenoid. And an adequate supply of Vitamin A ensures  proper growth and development, immune system function, and healthy eyesight. Vitamin A deficiency is estimated to affect roughly 1/3 of children under the age of 5 worldwide, leading to developmental problems, eyesight deficiencies, and blindness. However Vitamin A is fat-soluble, not water-soluble, which makes it harder for your body to get rid of excess, leading to the possibility of toxicity if over-supplemented. Always ask a doctor or physician before starting a supplement regimen.

Not all sweet potatoes are orange, they can also be purple due to anthocyanin pigments. These molecules have important antioxidant properties and anti-inflammatory properties. World’s Healthiest Foods states: “Particularly when passing through our digestive tract, they may be able to lower the potential health risk posed by heavy metals and oxygen radicals.”

They also clear up the common confusion: sweet potato vs. yam. They can be very similar in terms of size, shapes, and skin colors, though they both come in a variety of flesh colors. Turns out, sweet potatoes are FAR more common in the US than are yams, so at a store it is pretty safe to assume you are buying a sweet potato, even if a sign says “yams”.

Anywho, sweet potatoes were on sale, and I wanted to incorporate more into my diet, so I bought a few. Luckily they keep for a long time so I could figure out what to do with it. Turns out, these can be the simplest snack ever. Simply take one to work with you, and whenever you need a tide-me-over between lunch and quittin time, or breakfast and end-of-board-meeting, pop it in the microwave, top as you please, and you have a filling, healthy snack. This is a sweet treat, though you could go savory instead with, say, goat cheese.

Ingredients:

  • 1 small-med sweet potato
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • -or- 1 tbsp sugar + 1 tsp cinnamon

So simple, just stab the potato a few times with a fork to let steam escape. Microwave the potato for 8-10 minutes, until soft. Break it open, drizzle on some honey, and enjoy! With about 100 calories per cup, this is a super healthy choice all around.

Try using sweet potatoes anywhere you would use regular potatoes for extra fiber and vitamins. Make sweet potato chips, roast chunks in the oven as a side dish, boil and mash them with some brown sugar and butter (just be careful of amounts, it’s easy to overwhelm the health benefits with sugar and fat!), throw some into soups, stews, and curries. See how you can creatively add some sweet potatoes into your 4th of July festivities!

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