🍠 Sweet Potato
Ipomoea batatas
What it is
A sweet, starchy root vegetable that grows under the ground, usually with orange insides.
How it looks
Long and lumpy with reddish-brown skin and bright orange flesh inside.
Taste
Naturally sweet and soft, almost like candy when it is baked.
Why it is healthy
Loaded with beta-carotene for vitamin A and gives you energy and fiber.
How to eat it
Bake it, mash it, roast it into fries, or add it to soups and stews.
How it grows
Grows from vines with the sweet root swelling under the soil in warm weather until fall harvest.
In season
Available all year, but freshest and sweetest in the fall.
History
Sweet potatoes first grew in Central and South America thousands of years ago and traveled around the world.
Fun fact
A sweet potato is not the same plant as a regular potato, even though they share a name.
Try this
Bake a whole sweet potato until soft and eat it with a little cinnamon for a sweet, healthy treat.