Sweet Potato Tomato Mashato

Tonight I prepared a delightful side dish! Sweet potatoes are rich in nutrients and very healthy!

There are many benefits to eating sweet potatoes. They are one of the BEST sources of beta-carotene you can find and raises vitamin A in blood levels. Including some fat in your meal will increase the benefit of the beta-carotene gift this root veggie offers you. (putting a nice generous slab of earth balance or EVOO in the mix while you cook them will give you just the right amount. The best way to prepare these veggies is to steam them or boil them as this method preserves anthocyanins (which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties) and have a better blood sugar effect including low gi value.

I am a huge fan of sweet potatoes. Be sure to use organic potatoes! Did you know that potatoes that are not certified organic are treated multiple times with pesticides and chemicals to keep them from sprouting? They are saturated with unatural and unhealthy chemicals....so be sure to use organic whenever you can. You will find that there are quite a few of my recipes which include sweet potatoes. I think one of my favorite ways to eat them is in vegan sushi!

The ingredients: 3 cardamom seeds

1 onion chopped

1 garlic clove minced

2 large tomatoes

4 sweet potatoes

1 tsp evoo

1/2 jar tomato sauce - I used roasted garlic Muir Glenn

At first I spent time with each of the potatoes, washing their skin. I reflected on how thick and rough the protective layer was. The way that it changed in color when saturated. I was grateful for the benefits I would receive from eating this delicious group of root vegetables. After washing the potatoes I chopped them into small chunks preparing them for steaming. I lined them up on the chopping board and went to work on my onion. Onions can be very cruel, but I've found if you give them time to cool down they will be less intense. If you chop off the edges of the onions and stick it in ice water for 5 minutes you will weep a bit less while chopping.... but sometimes we all can benefit from a good cry. If you've been keeping something inside that you just want to let out - go ahead and weep!

I steamed the potatoes for 7 minutes and then set them aside in a bowl. While the sweet potatoes watched I combined my chopped tomatoes, onions and cardamom seeds in water and let them come to a slow rolling boil. After the tomatoes and onions boiled for a few minutes I used an immersion blender to create a delicious puree and a base to stir the sweet potatoes and tomato sauce in. A few more minutes to heat all of the ingredients evenly and a splash of Braggs Amino Acids. I personally like to mash these up like mashed potatoes, but they would be great either way.

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