Sweet Potato Awareness Month is an annual designation observed in November. This month, the holidays go into full swing, and what better way to celebrate than with loads of hearty, delicious, and... wait for it... HEALTHY food!

Sweet potatoes (aka yams) fall into the healthy category for sure, along with the hearty and delicious categories. And talk about versatile! They can be used in dozens of recipes, and their natural goodness doesn't even need added spices to make them taste like they came straight from the heavens.

To top it all off, they’re a great source of vitamins C and A are FULL of antioxidants, and other vital nutrients, are anti-inflammatory, and help support weight loss, BIG TIME. Several research studies had people replace hamburger buns, regular mashed potatoes, toast, pasta, and other processed carbs with sweet potatoes for a month, and along with eating a well-balanced diet, the average weight lost was 12 pounds. Many food scientists call them one of nature’s “super foods.”

So, whether you're baking, mashing, or folding... or cutting it into chunks with ground cinnamon sprinkled on top... OR enjoying the classic fall-favorite, sweet potato pie... It won't be difficult to celebrate Sweet Potato Awareness month…your body will thank you, too. To aid in your celebration, here are a few tested sweet potato tips:

·         After washing, thoroughly pat the potatoes dry. Excess moisture will steam the skin rather than crisp it up during baking.

·         Pierce whole sweet potatoes several times with a fork or knife to allow steam to escape and prevent them from bursting.

·         Rubbing the skin of whole potatoes or tossing cut pieces with olive oil and salt before baking encourages a crispy skin and enhances flavor.

·         If cutting into cubes or wedges, ensure all pieces are roughly the same size to promote even cooking.

·         Spread cut sweet potatoes in a single layer on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Overcrowding will cause them to steam instead of roast and caramelize. Use two pans if needed.

·         Roasting at a high temperature, around 400°F to 425°F, helps caramelize the natural sugars, resulting in a sweeter taste and crispy texture.

·         For even cooking and crisping, stir or flip cubed sweet potatoes halfway through the baking time, or flip whole potatoes once.

·         Sweet potatoes are done when they can be easily pierced with a fork or knife and the interior is soft and tender. Squeezing gently with an oven mitt is another reliable test; they should yield to the touch.

I’ll close with a recipe for a twist on a proverbial favorite, the twice-baked potato. The twice-baked SWEET potato takes this idea to a whole new level. We thank www.thepioneerwoman.com for this scrumptious recipe! And Happy Sweet Potato Awareness Month!

Twice Baked Sweet Potato

Ingredients:

6 medium sweet potatoes
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons salted butter softened
1/3 cup raw honey optional
CRUMBLE
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
3 tablespoons firmly packed, light brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 pinch cayenne pepper
4 tablespoons salted butter melted

Directions:

For the potatoes: Preheat oven to 425°. Wrap each potato with foil and prick with a fork a few times. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until soft.

Cool the potatoes completely. Reduce oven temperature to 350°.

For the crumble: Meanwhile, combine the flour, oats, pecans, brown, sugar, rosemary, and cayenne in a medium bowl. Add the brown butter and stir until the mixture comes together and forms clumps. Place the mixture in an airtight container and refrigerate until use. (This can be made up to 1 week in advance.)

To assemble: Remove the foil from the cooled potatoes and cut an oval out of the top of each potato. Scoop out the flesh and leave a 1/4-inch rim of potato and skin intact.

Mash together the potato, maple syrup, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, and butter in a medium sized bowl until smooth. Spoon the potato mixture back into potato skins. Top each with approximately 1/3 cup of the crumble mixture.

Place potatoes back into the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crumble is golden brown and toasted. Drizzle each potato with about 1 tablespoon of hot honey, if you like, and serve warm.

Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.