Think spinach – but cheaper. Much cheaper.
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| Sweet potato leaves as you might find them at a store or market* |
At my local
farmer’s market, I can get a full plastic grocery-sized bag of these sweet
potato greens (which are literally just the green, above-ground part of the sweet
potato plant) for $1.00. When I compared
the volume of plant-to-cost ratio of $2.99 per bunch spinach at Whole Foods, I would
guess that I got 5 times the volume of plant. So, 5x $2.99= $14.95 at Whole Foods vs. $1 at my farmer's market.
That’s a savings of nearly $14 off the bat!
But wait, there’s more! For fully-grown adult spinach, you
generally have to eat the leaves and either discard or separately cook the more
fibrous stems to get something edible. The allure of spinach for most people is
the leaves – a quick wilt in some olive oil, salt, and pepper—maybe some
chopped garlic and crushed red pepper flakes with a squeeze of lemon at the
end—and you’re done! Most people I know toss out the stems. They’re just not worth
the extra effort to the non-foodie who’s not on a tight food budget.
Sweet potato greens are different. I took my kitchen shears
and cut the stems midway. Basically, I cut off the largest, thickest part of
the bottom of the stems, but left about 6 to 8-inches of stem attached to the
leaves. I roughly chopped this (stems with leaves) and cooked as above for
simple spinach. This is excellent with an over-medium egg (or sautéed tofu) and sprouted-grain toast for a complete and healthy breakfast.
What are SWEET POTATO
GREENS?? Sweet potato greens are literally just the top of the sweet potato
plant. The orange part in the picture is what you're used to seeing in a
traditional market; it grows under the ground as a root. The greens that I talk about in this post are the green parts you see in this picture; they grow above ground. The greens are often
discarded in the United States and most other countries who eat this prized
tuber. In other places, like Thailand and Northeast China, they also eat the
greens.
 |
| Sweet potato plant right after being pulled from the earth** |
Taste is where it’s at!
The results were very similar. If you didn’t tell someone,
they’d never know. By my palate, they have a little less bitterness than
spinach. This is due to the lower oxalic acid content. Oxalic acid is compound
found in many greens that contributes bitterness and inhibits calcium
absorption. Bonus – get more of that calcium from the sweet potato greens! In a
hearty portion, you’ll also get 3-4 grams of protein, some iron, fiber, vitamin
C and vitamin A.
Price check in: You can
chop and cook the thicker stems, just like adult spinach and have little to no waste.
Recipe Recommendations: Use anywhere you’d use spinach leaves
o
Salads
o
A couple of handfuls raw into smoothies
o
Spinach enchiladas
o
Pasta
o
Cooked first then added to wood-fired pizza
o
Simple Sautéed spinach
o
Palak recipes (Indian recipes using spinach)
o
Quiche
o
Soups
o
Wilted/Warm Spinach Salads
o
Casseroles
o
Spinach Dip
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| I ate my breakfast too quickly to take a pic! Another delicious sweet potato greens saute pic # |
Wrap-up:
For the life of me, I cannot figure out why more people don’t
eat these greens! Clearly, availability is a big issue in the United States,
but we have plenty of sweet potatoes. All it would take to get greens more
widely available would be for people to start asking for them at grocers and
farmer’s markets. Who wouldn’t want to make money on something that they
generally throw away?
Next time you’re at a farmer’s market or Asian market, look
out for sweet potato greens, try something new, improve your health and save
some $$!
**Photo credit: ces.ncsu.edu
#Photo credit: www.greenthumbish.net
