Sweet Potatoes Take Center Stage
Thinking about your Thanksgiving menu? If you’re a traditionalist, sweet potatoes will be served, as over 50% of American families include this root vegetable in their Thanksgiving feasts. Sweet potato casserole comes to mind first but baking, roasting and mashing, or making fries are all tasty options.
Sweet potatoes are a little sweet, but the name simply distinguishes two different potatoes. Sweet potatoes belong to the morning glory family and regular potatoes belong to the nightshade family.
There are two basic types of sweet potatoes, divided into a dry or moist category according to texture. They are long and tapered with smooth skin varying in color from yellow, orange, red or purple to beige. Depending on the variety, the flesh color ranges from white to orange and purple.
The tan-skinned, pale-fleshed sweet potato is dry when prepared. This variety makes excellent chips and hash browns and are a good substitute for standard potatoes. I like to make creamy mashed potatoes using both.
Moist types of sweet potatoes boast a deep orange flesh and a dark, copper brown skin. They are fluffy and moist (and erroneously called yams). Most common varieties we see in California are Garnet and Beauregard. These moist varieties generally outsell the others by about 10 to 1. Most of the starches in these sweet potatoes are converted to sugar during cooking, resulting in the delicate, sweet taste preferred by many.
Sweet potatoes are a very robust vegetable. When stored in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area they keep for up to three months. Storing them in the fridge can make the core of the sweet potato harden.
I see “yam” signs at the markets and in the grocery stores. It really isn’t a game changer since I’ll pick out the best-looking ones, but sweet potatoes and yams are two different vegetables.
A historical mix-up explains: enslaved people in the Americas used the word “nyami” to describe the orange sweet potatoes they found in the Americas since it reminded them of home. True “yams” were not available. It also became a convenient marketing tool to distinguish the dry sweet potato from the sweeter, orange fleshed sweet potato.
True yams can grow very large (anywhere up to five feet). They are cylindrical in shape with brown, rough, bark-like skin that is difficult to peel, but softens after heating. Flesh color may be white or yellow to shades of purple.
Ube is a true purple yam and native to the Philippines. The rough, dark brown, bark-like exterior is a far contrast from the stunning, bright purple interior. Purple sweet potatoes may be labeled ube, but real fresh ube is not commercially farmed on a large scale in California. Home gardeners pride themselves with success on growing true ube in large containers or grow bags.
Thanksgiving Vegetable Roast
1 pound carrots, peeled
1 pound parsnips or turnip peeled
1 or 2 sweet potatoes, peeled
1 small butternut squash, peeled and seeded
1 red onion
¼ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: chopped rosemary or parsley
Cut carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, squash and onion into 1-inch pieces. Place in a single layer on a large baking sheet (or use two sheets). Drizzle with oil, salt and pepper. Toss well. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes until all the vegetables are tender. Turn the vegetables once half way through the cooking time. Sprinkle with herbs. Serves 6 to 8.
The Orinda Farmers’ Market is open every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Orinda Way in Orinda Village. More information is available at cccfm.org Facebook.com/OrindaFarmersMarket and Instagram @OrindaFarmersMarket or call the market hotline at 925.322.6228.
