Saturday, 2 February 2013

Five reasons to enjoy sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes are go! 

Keep a pack of these nutritious, inexpensive and delicious vegetables always handy in your store cupboard to enjoy all round health benefits. Awesome!!
I must admit that I never used to like these as I enjoyed the white sweet potatoes so much  more. That is until the price went off the scale! 
So it is now good to know the nutritious value of the yellow sweet potatoes. They are power packed with goodness. A must for your kitchen supplies.

Five reasons to enjoy sweet potatoes

1. Rich in betacarotene, which gives it the beautiful yellow orange colour and provides vitamin A; great for your eyes and for bone strength.

2. Awesome source of Vitamin C which we all know wards off the flu and colds. But did you also know that this vitamin is essential in bone and tooth formation and in the production of collagen which helps maintain a youthful elasticity to your skin? 

3. Sweet potatoes are a source of Vitamin D. This vitamin  plays an important role in our energy levels, moods, and helps to build healthy bones, heart, nerves, skin, and teeth, and it supports the thyroid gland. If our bones are healthy then our hair will be healthy too!! 

4. Sweet potatoes contain iron. We know we need iron for our energy supply but iron also plays other important roles in our body such as giving us a resistance to stress, proper im­mune functioning, and the metabolizing of protein, among other things.

5. A great source of magnesium which helps us to relax and stay stress free. We appreciate any natural help we can get from Mother Nature to stay calm and relax. 

Check this source for even more reasons to include sweet potatoes in your weekly shop! 
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/9-reasons-to-love-sweet-potatoes.html


Awesome Tips!!   

  1. Great for a quick meal or to take to work for lunch.
  2. Make extra and freeze a batch.



Recipe Suggestion

Big Flavour Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup
1 tbs Sunflower Oil
2 garlic cloves
Grated Ginger
1 onion chopped
500g sweet potatoes peeled and chopped
1 cup red lentils
1 jalapeno pepper (optional)
1 tsp cumin
1 stock cube in 4 cups water

Method
Heat the oil adding onion, ginger, garlic and jalapeno pepper stirring until the ingredients are soft and have released their flavours
Add the sweet potato, lentils and 4 cups of stock to pan and stir gently
Reduce heat and leave to simmer for 20-25 minutes until the texture is as smooth as you enjoy.



Sometimes I add coconut cream for a different taste, yummilicious!!
You can blend if you prefer a smooth texture.

Serve with whole wheat bread or pitta





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