Sweet potatoes vs. yams: A delicious, nutritious mix-up

Sweet potatoes vs. yams: A delicious, nutritious mix-up

http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2010/apr/13/sweet-potatoes-vs-yams-a-delicious-nutritious-mix/
Sweet potatoes are many things — nutritious, delicious, gorgeous — but they’re not yams.

The name confusion began because there are two types of sweet potato — hard and pale, and soft and orange.

The hard, pale guys came along first, and when their more appealing brethren became available, they were sold as yams.

We’ve been mixing them up ever since.

Belonging to the morning glory family, sweet potatoes offer fiber, potassium, manganese, iron, vitamin C plus phenomenal amounts of vitamin A (beta-carotene).

They may be called sweet potatoes in your market, or they may be called yams, which is just wrong, but in any case, they’re roughly 200 calories per cup, cooked.

Yams are in your market’s produce section and resemble blocks of wood.

They may be sold in chunks, not as the whole yammy deal, which can grow upwards of 7 feet long.

Some say they get their name from the African word nyam, which means to taste.

Call them what you will, yams don’t have the A-appeal of sweet potatoes but do contain diosgenin, a phytosteroid providing some hormonal support for women while not making a guy go all girly.

They’re also rich in fiber, vitamin C and B6 and potassium, averaging about 150 calories per cup.

While the sweet potato is tawny and smooth-skinned, the yam is bumpy and dark on the outside.

Ah, but on the inside, yams are moister and sweeter, with lighter-colored flesh.

Neither needs — nor deserves — to be buried beneath a lava flow of marshmallow.

Roasting enhances their natural sweetness. Spread slices on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and roast for 30 minutes at 425 degrees, giving them the occasional stir. Easy and awesome.

Caribbean Veggie Pepper Pot

Great with corn bread or ladled over cooked brown rice, this lively stew is like sunshine in your stomach.

1 tablespoon coconut oil or canola oil

1 onion, chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh garlic

1/4 cup chopped fresh ginger

1 jalapeño pepper (or 1/4 habanero), chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice

1 sweet potato (about 1 pound), peeled and chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 bunch collards, callalloo or spinach, chopped (3 to 4 cups, loosely packed)

4 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 bay leaf

Juice of 1 lime

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion, garlic, ginger and jalapeño, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften, about 5 minutes.

Stir in allspice, sweet potato and carrots. Add greens a handful at a time and stir until they wilt, about 3 minutes.

Add broth and bring heat to high. When broth comes to a boil, add thyme and bay leaf. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Squeeze in lime juice and season with salt and pepper.

Yield: 4 servings

Nutrition information per serving: 193 cal (17 percent from fat), 3.9 g total fat, (3 g saturated), 0 mg chol, 36 g carbo, 6.1 g pro, 1,614 mg sodium, 6.3 g dietary fiber

Ellen Kanner writes about vegetarian concerns. She blogs at www.edgyveggie1.blogspot.com.