How many people do really care about knowing to cook, when we have the facility of having a cook. But what’s cooking in the Kitchen? Carbs? Cholesterol? Diabetes? Well, it depends on how aware an individual is about what’s on his plate. Given the fitness culture as of now people tend to look for foods that are well balanced and mouth watering but it’s seldom found. In the variety of all the vegetables available, the monopoly of Potatoes never fail. It’s the most cooking friendly food, boil it, roast it, fry it or grill; it’s flexible and edible in all form, and so is Sweet Potato. It might not be an exact substitute for potato, more like an alternative and it tastes almost similar and is a better and healthier substance.

Sweet Potatoes are as friendly as potatoes, these have a similar texture, hence the cooking discipline is almost similar, so if you have never tried cooking a sweet potato before, do not worry or ask Mr. Google for it; just think of it as a regular potato and carry on with the cookery without any second thoughts. It can be mixed with spices, curries and sauces; every region has a different spice palate and techniques of cooking and sometimes we miss certain paraphernalia but here are 5 Recipes that are kitchen friendly and simple to follow and don’t really make a mess.

5 Sweet Potato Recipes

1. Potato Wedges

Fries accompanies all meals that are too lonely to go out, even a salad sometimes. They are not just a side serve but an element that completes a dish, mostly burgers and fish and chips! Someone shouting “Extra fries” is always exciting than them shouting “Exercise”. But no worries, sweet potato is one of the top healthiest food available. These contain Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, Potassium and Iron; and a medium seized sweet potato contains of only 105 calories! Luckily there are many ways to whip them up.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients :- 2 large sweet potatoes or 3 medium sweet potatoes

                     3 tablespoon oil (vegetable, soy or olive oil)

                     1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper

                     can use about 1/4 teaspoon of other spices of your choice

Method of cooking: 

• soak the potatoes in cold water for 45 minutes, then dry them and peel
• cut them into long wedges, about 1 inch in thickness
• mix the potatoes and oil in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle salt-pepper and spices of your choice – Italian herbs, paprika, crushed garlic, Parmesan, etc., anything you like or have in store.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and don’t forget to spray the baking sheet with non-stick spray.
• now arrange the wedges on the prepared tray and don’t overcrowd the tray (arrange in a line or layer)
• bake until golden brown and tender, turn once or twice (as required to acquire the color), usually takes 18 to 24 minutes.

You can also dice them up for smaller fritters, follow the same method. Serve them with hummus, ketchup, mint chutney, hot sauce or mayo. These taste like potato french fries but are healthier and also not deep fried. A must try for parents who are not sure how to switch their children’s junk eating habits to healthier options, the might not eat carrots or salads but won’t say not to fries.

2. Sweet Potato Soup

Soups are a good way to start a meal. Restaurants or home, they are a basic filler and almost all cuisines have their own kind and styles of soups, from continental to desi, from clear-water to heavily loaded and spiced. Here is a shared recipe to a simple single food soup, which can be mixed with other vegetables if preferred.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 5 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger and 3 cloves of garlic chopped (Optional) 
• 2 Cups of vegetable stock or chicken stock and 1 cup of water; or as needed
• 2 cups of milk or cream, which ever you prefer (or as needed) 
• 1 lime – juiced and coriander and herbs to garnish.

Method of cooking:

• place potatoes and ginger and garlic (optional) in a saucepan. Pour the sock (vegetable/chicken) with 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. make sure the heat (flame) is high.
• after one boil reduce heat to medium low and cover the pan, allow it to simmer for about 25-30 minutes, until the sweet potatoes have softened.
• now leave open for about 2-3 minutes, then puree the potatoes and add lime juice. (if you have transferred the boiled potatoes to a food processor for blending, return it to the saucepan after blending)
• now add milk or cream and stir, add a little water to bring it to the desired consistency.
• now heat until warmed through. Serve in a soup bowl and garnish with cream or coriander or crushed herbs and seasoning.

And if you don’t want to make a single vegetable soup, you can mix carrot or broccoli with the sweet potato in the first step (boiling it together); could use coconut milk instead of cream and add clove if you like it’s aroma (cloves also help in aiding digestion, protecting the liver and controlling diabetes).

3. Sweet Potato Curry With Lentil

A man only qualifies as a good cook when he can prepare a balanced curry with the enticing aroma. Well, it’s not that hard, you only have to know the correct spices to use. Here is a simple recipe to cook up a curry in about 30 minutes!

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:- 2 tablespoon oil (vegetable or olive)

                    1 Onion – Chopped

                    1 teaspoon cumin seed and 1 teaspoon mustard seed (any color)

                    1 tablespoon curry powder (spicy or medium – according your choice)

                    100 grams of red/green lentil (or could mix both)

                    2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

                    500 ml vegetable stock

                    400 grams tomato – Chopped (one medium tomato)

                   400 grams chickpea -soaked overnight and drained

                     and coriander to garnish 

Method of cooking:

• heat the oil in a large pan, add onions – cook till it changed color to pink, then add all the dry spices, stir and cook for about 1 minute.
• add the lentils, sweet potatoes, stock and the tomatoes, 2 teaspoon salt and stir.
• bring to a boil then cover with a lid and allow it to simmer for 20 minutes. When the mix is tender add the chickpeas and cook for 5 minutes.
• sprinkle garnish and serve with Bread (Indian naan bread) or Rice and yogurt.

4. Sweet Potato Pie

Now, this recipe needs eggs, which is the correct way to make but it doesn’t mean that vegetarians can’t try this. In place of eggs you can use vegetable oil and baking powder, not soda – POWDER! 1 teaspoon of baking powder per egg.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Bake Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:-  ^1/3 cup butter or ¹⁄₃ cup margarine, softened

                          ¹⁄₂ cup sugar

                       2 eggs, lightly beaten

                          ³⁄₄ cup evaporated milk

                       2 cups mashed sweet potatoes

                       1 teaspoon vanilla extract

                          ¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground cinnamon

                          ¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground nutmeg

                          ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt

                       9 inches unbaked pie shells

Method of cooking:

• In a mixing bowl, add cream butter and sugar
• Add eggs; mix well.
• Add milk, sweet potatoes, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt; mix well.
• Pour into pie shell.
• Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.
• Reduce heat to 350 degrees; bake 35-40 minutes longer or until pie tests done.
• Cool; Store in refrigerator.

Serving pies is always fun, everybody loves it and can always experiment with icing, toppings and creams, you can top it with marshmallows before placing it in the oven.

5. Sweet Potato Cake

Dessert is the heart of all meals and what’s better than a Cake! In fact it also make nuts fun to eat! But also baking is pretty tedious, there are many microwave recipes to baking cakes and muffins quickly but sometimes they lack the quality of a good home made cake, making them heavy or flaky or dry from the inside. So, it’s always suggested to use an oven – the conventional way!

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Bake time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:- 4 large eggs

                     2 cups sugar

                     2 cups canola oil

                     2 teaspoons vanilla extract

                     2 cups all-purpose flour

                     2 teaspoons baking soda

                     2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

                     1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

                     1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

                     1/2 teaspoon salt

                     3 cups shredded peeled sweet potatoes (about 2 medium)

                     1 cup finely chopped walnuts

FROSTING:  1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

                     1/2 cup butter, softened

                     1 teaspoon vanilla extract

                     2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Method of cooking:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan (or any that you have) but keeping in mind the width of it according to the amount of batter (it should get the space to rise)
• In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla until well blended.
• In another bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, spices and salt; gradually beat into egg mixture. Stir in sweet potatoes and walnuts.
• Transfer to prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40-45 minutes.
• Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until blended.
• Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Spread over cooled cake.
• Refrigerate leftovers (stays good for about 10 days).

Nobody says no to cake! but also it’s important to look after that little holiday weight. So try this recipes out, and don’t feel restricted with your options. Yes it does take a little longer to cook but also it keeps you in good shape longer. Bon Appetit!