What is healthy to cook from yams and potatoes? Recipes for fall dishes from a nutritionist

“It’s hard to find a person who doesn’t like potatoes. This vegetable, familiar to us since childhood. We fry it, bake it, mashed potato it. If possible, some people also grow it themselves. Speaking about the root vegetable, it seems that it is impossible to surprise anything. But, in fact, there is one type of this plant, which not all of us know about, namely yams. These foods combine with each other and make for a tasty and hearty meal”.

What is a yam?

Sweet potato, also called yam, is a starchy root vegetable. It contains beta-carotene, which gives it its distinctive yellow-orange color. Externally, it looks very similar to a regular potato, but the colors of the flesh and peel have several varieties and depend on the variety. There are only three of them:

• Dessert (Georgia Red, Bayou Bell, Garnet, Kumara Red, Victory 100, Burgundy, Beauregard, Betty, Caramel, Vardaman);
• vegetable (Japanese, Bushbok, Purple, Muscat, Bonita);
• fodder (Druzhkovsky, Brazilian, Indian, Tainung 65, Vinnitsa pink, American beige yam);
• ornamental (Light Green, Sweet Caroline Purple, Sweet Caroline Bronze Pink Frost).

The main producer of yams is China, but they are also grown in India, Indonesia, USA, Israel, Egypt.

What is the difference between yams and potatoes?

There is not much difference between these two types of potatoes. Both sweet and plain potatoes contain the same amount of key nutrients, including protein, potassium, and vitamin B6. They all contribute to a well-balanced, rich diet. The most important difference is the sweet flavor of yams, which is absent in regular potatoes.

What is the specialty of yams?

The yam itself is a root vegetable. They grow underground. Some of the bases of the plant are bulbous growths that store nutrients to fuel the plants during the colder months.

In addition to yams, root crops include:

• bulbs (fennel, onions);
• bulbs (celery root, water chestnut);
• rhizomes (ginger, turmeric);
• tap roots (beets, carrots, parsnips);
• tubers (potatoes, yams);
• tuberous roots, which is what sweet potatoes are.

All root vegetables carry benefits for the human body:

• Bulbs, roots, and tubers absorb the water and beneficial substances that the rest of the plant feeds on. This is what makes them so beneficial to humans;

• low in calories and high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

Benefits of yams

Any vegetable has many benefits and reasons to include it in your diet. The yam is no exception because it:

• contains vitamin C, which is essential for humans on a daily basis;
• is a source of vitamin B6, which is involved in protein metabolism and hematopoiesis;
• includes potassium, a mineral important for maintaining water-salt and acid-base balance;
• contains beta-carotene. This is a pigment found in certain fruits and vegetables: sweet potatoes, carrots, dark leafy greens;
• includes large amounts of vitamin A. The human body is able to convert the beta-carotene we consume into vitamin A, a nutrient essential for maintaining healthy bones and immune system. This vitamin also helps heart function by favorably affecting cholesterol levels;
• rich in complex carbohydrates, they provide us with a long-lasting feeling of satiety;
• helps lower blood pressure. People with high blood pressure should include in their diet foods rich in potassium, low in calories and carbohydrates. Besides yams, these can include broccoli, spinach, pumpkin, and melon;
• Reduces the risk of inflammation. Anti-inflammatory foods include: yams, kale, chard, beets, oranges and pineapples.

What’s the best way to cook?

The best recommendation when cooking both regular potatoes and yams is to try to add less oil, fatty sauces and salt. The preferred cooking methods are:

• boiling;
• steaming;
• frying on a non-stick surface;
• baking;
• adding to soups and casseroles.

In addition, you can follow trends in the topic of nutrition and be creative in cooking root vegetables. The secret lies in using atypical cooking methods: stewing, grilling or roasting, and then combining vegetables with a different flavor. For example, grill carrots with yogurt and pecans, topinambour with shallots and hazelnuts.

You can sprinkle potatoes with cottage cheese, add yogurt or low-fat cheese to not only experience a new flavor, but also increase the protein content. If you show a little imagination, root vegetables will become more interesting.

It’s worth remembering that there is no such thing as the healthiest vegetable or fruit, even if it is more expensive than others or less common. So don’t limit yourself to just potatoes, but don’t stop at yams either.

Eat a variety of foods to get a wider range of nutrients. Root vegetables such as turnips, yucca, topinambur, beets or radishes are also worthy of attention and deserve to be on your table.

Fall recipes from potatoes and yams

Batata cream soup

Sestavine:

• broth – 1 liter;
• yams – 700 g;
• carrots – 2 pcs;
• onion – 1 pc;
• garlic – 1 clove;
• ginger root – to taste;
• cream 20% – 100 ml;
• olive oil – 1 tbsp;
• salt and pepper – to taste;
• sunflower seeds – for decoration.

Priprava:

1. Wash, peel and coarsely chop carrots and yams.
2. Dice the onion.
3. Grate garlic and ginger on a fine grater.
4. In a saucepan with olive oil, saute all the vegetables for a few minutes over medium heat.
5. Pour the broth into the pot, bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes.
6. Chop the vegetables in a blender, adding spices to taste.
7. Pour the cream back into the saucepan, add the cream and allow to warm through.
8. Sprinkle with the seeds before serving.

Potato cream soup

Sestavine:

• potatoes – 500 g;
• onion – 1 pc;
• butter – 50 g;
• broth – 1.2 liters;
• salt and pepper – to taste;
• cream – 100 ml;
• onion (green) – 1 bundle.

Priprava:

1. Wash, peel and dice potatoes and onions.
2. Heat butter in a saucepan, fry onions.
3. Add the potatoes to the pot and fry for five minutes.
4. Pour the broth into the pot and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes.
5. Chop the vegetables in a blender, adding cream and spices.
6. Before serving, sprinkle with chopped green onions.

Recipe for yam and potato soup with bacon

Sestavine:

• yams – 2 pcs;
• potatoes – 4 pcs;
• carrots – 2 pcs;
• chicken broth – 1 liter;
• sour cream – 1 tbsp;
• dill – 1 bundle;
• salt and pepper – to taste;
• bacon – 200 g.

Priprava:

1. Wash, peel and cut potatoes, yams and carrots into large cubes.
2. Bring broth to a boil in a saucepan.
3. Bake the bacon in the oven at 180 degrees (about 10 minutes).
4. Boil the vegetables in the pot for about 20 minutes over low heat.
5. Add spices to taste.
6. Chop the vegetables in a blender, adding the cream and spices.
7. Serve with a spoonful of sour cream, dill and bacon.