Sweet Potatoes & Yams.

Coming from a land outside these United States, I grew up without sweet potatoes and yams in my regular diet. Like oatmeal, these goodies were things that my mother told me I didn't like, even though I hadn't ever tried them. So, living my life convinced [by someone else] that I wasn't a fan, I avoided any dish that revolved around sweet potatoes and yams.

A couple months ago, after an invigorating Bikram session, I dropped into Whole Foods to make an unnecessarily expensive salad. I saw that they had baked sweet potatoes at their hot bar. I snuck a piece and I was amazed with the glorious taste in my mouth. What I was tasting was this buttery, sweet goodness. YUM! Ever since, these lil' tubers have been my new best friend.

Tonight, I had the kitchen all to myself. There were four yams hanging out in the fridge - mine, of course, as no one else in the house eats them. I chopped two of them up into cubes, zapped them for a minute or two in the microwave, and melted some vegan margarine in a pan. Plus, I threw some salt and onions in there while the margarine was melting. When the margarine was melted and the onions starting to brown, I threw the yams in there. With some stirring and flipping and general movement, I cooked the yams for about 5-7 minutes until they were soft enough to eat.

Let me tell you, this was a fantastic dinner. Sure, it would have been more complete if I had made a salad of spinach, edamame, celery, cucumber, bell peppers, tomatoes, and bean sprouts. But, I didn't have any of those at my disposal and I didn't feel like making another drive to a store that had fresh vegetables. It was too late and too wet outside. And, there is always tomorrow to reinforce my veggie intake. Anyway, the yams hit the spot. And, I have noticed that both yams and sweet potatoes seem to alleviate the emotional hooha that PMS puts us women through. Not only do they taste good, the starchiness of the food naturally boosts seratonin levels. And, they are naturally high in potassium and vitamin A. Potassium is great for regulating blood flow in the heart as well as alleviating muscular cramps. Vitamin A is great for the skin as it regulates oil production.

So, for those of you who haven't discovered the joy of yams and sweet potatoes, please experiment and explore. There are so many more options than sweet potato pie with marshmallow [yuck] or bland boiled yams. Vegan margarine, salt, onions, and garlic always go with sweet potatoes and yams. And, don't you forget that!