Green Options

It’s sweet potato central here at my house now that they’re in the farmers market. But while sweet potatoes are very nutritious, they also have that sweet flavor that can overwhelm many diners. One option is to prepare them as though they were savory instead of sweet.

Sweet potatoes are just starting to show up at my local farmers market. The first sweet potatoes of the season are not as sweet as those that come later. Farmers will set some by to cure, thus developing the super-sweet flavor familiar from holiday dinners. Fresh from the ground, they’re still sweet. But they’re not so sweet that they should be called dessert.

Sweet potatoes have a lot of nutrition packed into relatively few calories. According to NutritionData, a single serving (1 cup) of sweet potatoes has 769% of the daily value of Vitamin A. They’re also high in vitamin C and several B vitamins, as well as minerals such as Manganese, Potassium, Copper, and others. The low glycemic load of sweet potatoes gets them into low-carb diets and many weight lifters include them in their meals.

An omelet with homemade cheese and chives for breakfast, spinach salad with tomatoes and homemade cheese for lunch, in a pasta sauce, with fruit – homemade cheese is so versatile.  It’s also incredibly easy to make with tools and ingredients you already have around the kitchen. 

A quick trip to the farmers market Saturday afternoon netted me several more pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. The canteloupe vanished soon after arriving home. My daughter had me cut it open and scoop out the seeds for her and she sat down on the sofa with a melon baller. Ten minutes later, it was gone.

While she gobbled down the melon, I surveyed the fridge for dinner. I needed to use up some leftovers from a party earlier this week where I served dips and chips. I had a half jar of salsa and some sour cream left over. With the red potatoes and jalapeños I bought today, I had the makings of a good side dish for dinner.

In the 1930s, Americans still ate mostly local, seasonal food prepared in traditional fashion. That was all soon to change. The national highway system enabled goods to travel across country quickly. Refrigerators and freezers were becoming commonplace in ordinary homes. Madison Avenue found new advertising techniques to convince consumers to buy processed, packaged foods. Old traditions were dying out fast and the unique flavors of the different regions of the United States would soon find competition with the blander, more uniform flavors of chain restaurants.

The Work Projects Administration assigned writers to document local recipes and food customs from all over the United States in an effort to preserve a moment in history — as well as employ writers who would otherwise have starved during the Great Depression. The writings were to have been collected in a single volume called America Eats, but with World War II, the economy improved and writers no longer had to be dependent on the government for employment. The notes and essays sat in storage for many years. Mark Kurlansky, author of many acclaimed nonfiction books, including Cod and Salt, selected several of the writings from America Eats for the The Food of a Younger Land.

I’m not a morning person.  When I get out of bed, I want an easy dish to make for my family.  This red potato frittata is a big hit in my house.  It’s a big hit with me because I can do it with my eyes half-closed.

Frittatas are well-known for their ability to absorb leftovers.  Just gather whatever is in your fridge, dump it into an oven-safe dish, and pour eggs over it.  Simple. 

My daughter looks forward to shopping at the farmers’ market.  I think she’s excited because she never knows what will be there.  When one booth owner mentioned that he would have blackberries the next week, she talked about that to anyone who would listen and pestered me about it until we went back.  If my husband or I purchase a head of lettuce at the grocery store, even if she’s with us, she won’t eat it.  But she eats the lettuce she buys at the farmers’ market, just like she eats the lettuce she grows in her little garden.

I confess that I would do many things to get my daughter to eat her veggies – including eating vegetables I hate – but I, too, like gardening and going to farmers’ markets, so this one is no sacrifice. 

“The salad is bitter this year.”

My daughter is referring to the lambsquarter (Chenopodium album).  I pull a leaf from the waist-high plant and taste it.  She’s right; it’s bitter.  We usually eat the lambsquarter raw, but today I’ll need to cook it before she decides to never eat it again.

Sometimes referred to as goosefoot or pigweed (and sometimes spelled lamb’s quarter), this wild relative of spinach and quinoa has been eaten by people for thousands of years.  High in vitamins A and C, and with a sprinkling of B vitamins and several minerals, lambsquarter is an excellent green for the health-conscious  — and for growing kids.