I know of a sweetness which far surpasses any conceptions you may have attained in your sweet-ignorant life. So sweet is my discovery, that you will never eat another meal and feel as satisfied. Your level of healthiness and kitchen creativity will never be the same.

We teenagers need every second we can catch and every calorie we can muster to direct towards our homework and after-school activities. We do not have time to be hungry. And we definitely do not have time to compile a healthy, filling meal, correct? That’s where my discovery creates efficiency.

Also, my sweet surprise takes about ten minutes to prepare. Your body will easily fall in love with the amount of beta-carotene antioxidants infused in the sweet potato. Sweet potatoes correlate to healthy insulin levels in people with type two diabetes. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), one medium sweet potato contains 438% of recommended Vitamin A for a 2,000 calorie diet. Finally, glycosides in sweet potatoes show antifungal and antibacterial properties.

To introduce you to the sweet potato and its inevitably close impact on your future would be incomplete without giving you a brief history of the sweet potato itself. The vault of recipes you are about to read have been tested and tasted for greatness, and they excel in every aspect of their existence. I argue that this limited window of sweet potato recipes will keep your tummies kindled for a while, but various other recipes exist to quench your creative thirst. In fact, the realm of sweet potato possibilities exists for a range of meal, snack, and dessert ideas. If this vegetable’s sweetness alone doesn’t satisfy your craving, try the double-sweetness of honey-roasted taters.

Savory Seasonings: Sea salt, regular salt, paprika, ginger, nutmeg, garlic

My preferred proportions: few dashes of sea salt, couple dashes of paprika, dash each of nutmeg and ginger

Sweet Condiments: Brown sugar, cinnamon sugar, cinnamon, butter, cool whip

My preferred proportions: one to two teaspoons brown sugar, one teaspoon cinnamon sugar, plenty of cinnamon (a spice that increases your metabolism and is healthy for you), one to two teaspoons butter, one to three teaspoons light cool whip

Baked:

This is the recipe that sparked into the revolution of my dinners. After the bombardment of this simple recipe into my life, I have not stopped eating sweet potatoes; neither will you. Easiest to prepare, the extra wait on this version of the sweet potato is well worth it.

Materials: sweet potato, oven, preferred condiments, tin foil, knife, condiments

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven for 350 degrees °F

2. Wash sweet potato with water

3.Place potato on a small sheet of tin foil

4. Slit a few cuts into the top of the sweet potato with a knife

5. Place sweet potato in the preheated oven on top of tin foil for 60 minutes

6. Withdraw your prize from the oven and smother on your favorite condiments

7. Enjoy!

Fries:

After possibly 5,000,000 baked sweet potatoes, this is the recipe with which I am currently obsessed. Thought it requires more preparation, the baking time is shorter and the pay-up is reward enough for anyone!

Materials: oven, cutting board, sweet potato, knife, butter spray, cinnamon sugar, cinnamon, baking sheet, other condiments

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 °F

2. Rinse and scrub sweet potato in the sink

3. Spray  baking sheet with butter spray

4. Cut sweet potato into fry shapes and spread onto the baking sheet

5. Spray with butter spray and sprinkle cinnamon and about a teaspoon of cinnamon sugar

6. Bake for 30 minutes

7. Withdraw from the oven and add preferred condiments

8. Nom nom!

Boiled:

Though I am currently pleasantly traversing through the sweet potato fries stage of my obsession, my mom is smitten with the boiling method. Boiling sweet potatoes is the healthiest method for preparation. Boiled sweet potatoes contribute to a lower glycemic index (better blood sugar), and anti-inflammatory characteristics are attributed to their anthocyanin content.

Materials: sweet potato, boiling pot, stove, water, knife, cutting board, potato peeler, condiments

Instructions:

1. Scrub sweet potato in the sink and dry with a paper towel

2. Peel sweet potato

3. Cut sweet potato into chunks

4. Place sweet potato cubes into empty pot

5. Pour enough water in pot to completely cover potatoes

6. Turn on stove between a medium and high setting for boiling

7. Once you can poke the sweet potatoes with a fork, and they have acquired your desired softness, drain them 8. Apply your preferred sweet condiments and enjoy!

Chips:

Who could think of a better combination? These are much more satisfying and wholesome than their artificial supermarket counterparts. This recipe calls for extra virgin olive oil, which helps to absorb the healthy beta-carotene in the chips, but butter spray will work just fine as an alternative.

Materials: sweet potato, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, any preferred savory seasonings (see list), knife (or mandolin), cutting board, baking sheet, oven

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees °F

2. Scrub sweet potato with water and dry with paper towel

3. Slice sweet potato into 1/8 of an inch slices

4. Drizzle slices with oil, toss, and spread them on baking sheet

5. Bake, flip once, until centers are soft and edges are crisp (about 22-25 minutes)

6. Sprinkle with condiments and enjoy!

Is it not amazing that one simple tuber can contribute to a lifetime of health and nutrition? By implementing these recipes into your teenage life now, you are setting yourself up for the essential lifelong practice of trying new and healthy alternatives to our fast food obsessed world.

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Works Cited

“Sweet potatoes.” The world’s healthiest foods. George Mateljan Foundation, 1995-2013. Web. 12 Sept. 2013.

“Sweet potatoes, Fresh.” United States Department of Agriculture. USDA, April 2009. Web. 12 Sept. 2013.

“Baked Sweet Potato Chips.” Martha Stewart. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc, 2013. Web. 12 Sept. 2013.