Good Nat ured By K aren Fr ye

Jewel of Fall

T h e versat il e an d d elicious sweet pot at o

By K ar en Frye

As the season moves f rom the heat of summer to the chill of fall, you will see more sweet potatoes at local markets and roadside stands. Nor th Carolina is one of the countr y’s best producers, and Moore Count y, where some of the far ms are second and third generation, is no exception.

Defining our diet for the season is a step toward better health. T he sweet potato is a war ming food, mak ing it especially good to eat in the winter months. L ook for foods that are g row n within a 50 -mile radius and incor porate these f r uits and vegetables into your diet as much as possible.

T he sweet potato is versatile. You can bake or steam it and ser ve with a little butter for a delicious side dish. Years ago, when the area was more ag rar ian and far mers spent much of their time outside in the fields, they would car r y a baked sweet potato wrapped in a brow n bag in a pocket for an energ y-g iving snack. I like to peel and cut a sweet potato into little cubes, roast them in the oven, toss the cr ispy cubes with some salt, and add them to my salad like sweet potato croutons. You can make sweet potato soup by boiling them in water, adding onions (or any favor ite vegetable) and mak ing a purée.

My family think s of the sweet potato as a holiday food. My g randmothers were both exceptional cook s and would put out beautif ul spreads of food, much of it g row n in their gardens. T he candied sweet potatoes, with a lot of butter and a little brow n sugar, was one of the y ummiest foods on the table at T hank sg iving and Chr istmas and always the first to disappear.

T here are many health benefits to eating sweet potatoes. T hey’re r ich in vitamin A, beta carotene and lycopene — all valuable antioxidants. T hey are one of the few vegetables that boost the body’s pro duction of B12, a vitamin most commonly found in red meat, sig nificant for a plant-based diet. T hey have lots of vitamin C, potassium, iron and fiber. T hey can help reduce inflammation in the intestinal tract. A nd they can increase the production of dopamine, serotonin and gamma aminobut yr ic acid (GA BA), allowing for sounder sleep.

Get your sweet potatoes locally, if possible, to suppor t the far mers. Find some recipes and see how your health will improve this winter by eating one of the tastiest foods there is. PS Karen Frye is the owner and founder of Nature’s Own and teaches yoga at the Bikram Yoga Studio.

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