Lazy sweet potato – a happy monday meditation

Sweet potatoes are ideal for lazy days: just bake, then mash and mix with yogurt, butter or olive oil.

– Yotam Ottolenghi

Time to flex my nutritionist muscles. That is what I studied in college. I started meditating on the benefits of sweet potatoes recently when again, after eating a baked sweet potato for lunch, I just felt happy, inside and out. I wanted to find out what was in the sweet potato that made me feel that way. Lazy sweet potato – a happy monday meditation. Sounds like it could be a haiku, non?

A happy monday
with lazy sweet potato
time to meditate

– Charlotte le Blog

healthy

Sweet potatoes are anti-inflammatory because of high levels of beta-carotene, vitamin C, and magnesium. One cup of baked sweet potatoes equals two times the daily recommended intake of beta carotene! Because they are rich in beta-carotene, plus vitamins and fiber, sweet potatoes help the body process the carbohydrates gradually, releasing the sugar slowly and keeping your hunger at bay for longer. They also contain manganese which can increase your metabolism.

happy

So what about my happy feeling then? Sweet potatoes help in reducing stress levels because they satisfying the body’s craving for carbohydrates and sweets. The carbohydrates in sweet potatoes also help with serotonin production. And because they are rich in nutrients and fiber and therefore help your body process the carbohydrates slowly, the sweetness is released more slowly, still providing that happy effect that you get from sweets. So there you go! Instead of going for a cookie or donut, eat a roasted or mashed sweet potato. Or a sweet potato pancake!

glowy

Beta-carotene is a glow, and mood, booster because the antioxidant in it helps reduce free radical damage to brain cells. Also, when you consume beta carotene, it gets converted in the body to active vitamin A, or retinol.

In traditional Chinese medicine, sweet potatoes build vital energy and promotes yin or fluid, moving energy of the kidneys. This helps combat dryness and inflammation,

Sweet potatoes help you relax. They’re high in magnesium, which has been shown to calm the brain.  It also helps produce collagen. Lentils and black beans are high in magnesium too, top your sweet potato with them and you get a double glow. Just like regular potatoes, sweet potato are a great source of hyaluronic acid – triple glow!

recipe

Even though a simple baked sweet potato is the best (especially for a lazy day 🍠) there are so many delicious recipes out there to try! How about starting your day with a sweet potato? Make it into a pancake with this simple 2-Ingredient Sweet Potato Pancakes recipe or this Vegan Sweet Potato Pancakes with 3 Ingredients!

Goop has 43 recipes with sweet potatoes on their website. One of the most delicious recipes I’ve tried, it was part of my rentrée refresh, was their Indian Spiced Black Dhal-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes. So good, so healthy, so glowy! And I’m definitely making this soon, gingery coconut sweet potato and rice stew with chili oil, from Half Baked Harvest. Plus a great excuse to use this awesome chili oil!

Of course aforementioned Wild & the Mood has patate douce on the menu – in juice form! Introducing The Tiger, with orange, pomme, patate douce, cardamome, curcuma, and poivre noir. Making it this week for sure! And if it somehow is a not so lazy Monday? Here is a recipe for Sweet Potato Galettes from Yotam Ottolenghi!

Lazy sweet potato – a happy monday meditation, and usually for Meatless Monday dinner I like to make soup. How about a simple happy soup for your lazy Monday? Enjoy your week. À bientôt!

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Lazy Monday Cumin Sweet Potato Soup

I found that freshly grinding cumin seeds gives the most lovely smell and flavor. Cumin contains iron, which combined with all the nutrition in the sweet potato, makes this not only a delicious, simple dinner, but a very healthy one also!

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, French

Keyword: fall, soup

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 3 sweet potatoes, cubed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp thyme, chopped
• 1 tbsp rosemary, chopped
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 cups water enough to just cover potatoes
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp Better than Boullion, vegetable
• ground pepper
• pink sea salt

Instructions

• Heat large pot over medium heat ( I like to use my Creuset Dutch Oven), add coconut oil.

  Add onions and cook until they get soft and begin to caramelize. Stir in garlic, thyme, rosemary, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook a few minutes more. Stir in sweet potatoes and cook about 5 minutes until they begin to caramelize also. Add water until it just covers potatoes. Add Better than Bouillon. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer, about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

  Turn off heat. Blend, using an emersion blender, until smooth. Add more salt, pepper or cumin to taste. Garnish creatively. A swirl of coconut milk, some hemp or pumpkin seeds, cilantro, maybe? Enjoy!

What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.     

– A.A. Milne