Autumn's gold rush: discover a wealth of sweet potato recipes - includes recipes, glossary and related information on sweet potatoes - Cover Story

Vegetarian Times, Oct, 1995 by Karen Cope Straus, Jane Weston Wilson, Ken Charney

In Vietnam, a popular country dish consists of sweet potatoes and leafy greens in a coconut-milk gravy flavored with curry. In Cuba, boniato (white sweet potato) is fried and sprinkled lightly with salt and sugar. The word boniato has even entered Cuban slang as a word meaning "sweet and harmless." And although sweet potatoes are eaten in the United States, it is only here that they are relegated to the role of holiday side dish.

But with flavor-packed, healthful ethnic dishes gaining popularity, sweet potatoes are poised to power past their sidekick status.

Because sweet potatoes and yams have some similarities, they are often confused with one another. In the South, sweet potatoes are often called yams, and canned or frozen sweet potatoes are sometimes labeled yams. But whatever you, the food producer or the grocer might call them, the orangey tubers in your shopping cart are almost certainly sweet potatoes. True yams, the edible, starchy, tuberous roots of a group of plants from Africa, are rarely grown or marketed in the United States.

The confusion in America with sweet potatoes and yams began in colonial times when African slaves saw a similarity between the native sweet potato and their nyami. Although yams are sweeter and more moist than sweet potatoes, the New World vegetable was a familiar taste of home. The African name was eventually shortened to yam. Since then, sweet potatoes have been a mainstay of African-American cooking. Noted African-American scientist George Washington Carver reportedly had 500 ways to prepare them.

Following are seven recipes for sweet potato dishes developed by Jane Weston Wilson and Ken Charney.

Sweet Potato

Facts

* Sweet potatoes are the large tuberous root of a vine native to Central America. The vine is related to the morning glory family, not the nightshade family from which white potatoes, eggplant and tomatoes spring.

* Two varieties of sweet potato are common in the United States: a pale sweet potato and a darker-skinned variety Americans mistakenly call yam.

* The pale sweet potato has thin, light yellow skin and pale yellow flesh. It is dry and crumbly, much like a baking potato. The darker sweet potato variety has thicker, dark skin and orange, sweet flesh that cooks up moist.

* Sweet potatoes are available fresh sporadically throughout the year. Canned and frozen sweet potatoes are available year-round.

* When buying fresh sweet potatoes, choose small- to medium-sized ones with smooth, unbruised skin. Store sweet potatoes in a dark, dry, cool place (around 55 degrees Fahrenheit). Do not refrigerate unless cooked first.

* Sweet potatoes lend themselves to baking, broiling, boiling, grilling, deep-frying, steaming, microwaving and sauteing. Sweet-potato chips make colorful garnishes, and you can mold deep-fried, shredded potatoes into clever serving baskets.

* Sweet potatoes are nutrient dense with dietary fiber, complex carbohydrates and vitamins A and C.

Sweet Potato

Cornbread with Corn

and Green Chilies

Cornbread gets a texture and flavor boost with the addition of cooked, mashed sweet potato to the batter.

1/2 cup margarine 1/4 cup granulated brown sugar 1 egg plus 1 egg white 1 Tbs. orange juice 1 cup cooked mashed sweet potato 1/2 cup soymilk or skim milk 3/4 cup yellow or white cornmeal 3/4 cup unbleached flour 1 Tbs. baking powder 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. cardamom (see glossary) 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup thawed frozen corn kernels 4-oz. can chopped green chilies, rinsed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In an electric mixer or food processor fitted with steel blade, add margarine; cream until fluffy, 1 1/2 minutes. Add brown sugar; pulse 1 minute. Add egg, egg white, orange juice, sweet potato, and soymilk or milk. Add dry ingredients; mix well. Fold in corn and green chilies by hand (batter will be thick).

Divide mixture into 29-inch pie tins coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Remove to rack; cool. Makes 16 servings.

PER SERVING: 144 CAL.; 3G PROT.; 6G FAT; 22G CARB.; 13MG CHOL.; 300MG SOD.; 2G FIBER. OVO-LACTO

Sweet Potato, Red

Cabbage and Apple

Salad

This salad combines sweet and tart flavors. Try different types of apples for flavor variations.

Salad: 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch circles 2 unpeeled Granny Smith apples, cored and thinly sliced 1 cup coarsely chopped red cabbage 1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts 2 scallions, trimmed and sliced diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces

Vinaigrette: 1/3 cup cranberries, rinsed and patted dry 2 Tbs. parsley or cilantro 2 tsp. Dijon mustard 1/3 cup canola oil 1/4 cup red wine vinegar or rice vinegar Juice of 1 lime (about 2 Tbs.) 1 Tbs. brown sugar, or to taste Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Salad: In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook sweet potatoes in boiling water to cover until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; rinse under cold water. Peel potatoes when cool enough to handle. Combine sliced potatoes, apples, cabbage, peanuts and scallions in serving bowl.