I'm A Potato Girl...

I've known this about myself for a while now, but it does feel good to get it off my chest and out in the open. Yes, I confess it with all my heart--I love potatoes. Potato salad, french fries, potato cakes, mashed or smashed potatoes, baked potatoes, potato wedges, cheesy potato casserole, augratin potatoes -- yeah, it's all good. I would be happy with potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Well, I could manage it, but it probably wouldn't be a good idea. [Disclaimer: the writer of said blog is not advocating a diet composed of potato products only. She is merely trying to illustrate her enjoyment of this marvelous vegetable. AHEM!]

Now I've always loved potatoes, but since going on Weight Watchers in April, I've become even more of a potato girl (if that is possible). A little bit (and I really do mean just a dollop) of low or fat-free sour cream, and I'm happy. YUM! They are so filling, and they just--well...they complete me. There I said it. WOW! It's a beautiful relationship between this girl and the potato. [sigh!]

While we're on the subject of potatoes, there was a bit of a debate at the dinner table on Thanksgiving Day regarding the sweet potato vs. the yam controversy. I know, it sounds like a rough conflict, right. Who knew? I certainly didn't, but my eyes have been opened, and I can't go back to the way things were before. Well, let me just share with you what I learned...

1. Yams and sweet potatoes are not even remotely the same thing. They aren't even related by marriage.

2. The Yam is a tuber of a tropical vine (Dioscorea batatas) and is generally sweeter than the sweet potato. This tuber can grow over seven feet in length, and is more popular in Latin America and Caribbean markets. WAIT! Did I just type that? SEVEN FEET? OK, it's official, I've never met a yam. I think I'd recall meeting a 7 foot potato, don't you?

3. Sweet Potatoes also hail from a tropical vine (Ipomoea batatas), but there the similarity ends, the experts tell us. (I'm trying not to take this too seriously, but doesn't it appear that the yam and the sweet potato have the same last name? Hmmmm...anyway, let me get back to my report on what I have learned.). Sweet potatoes are yellow or orange tubers that are elongated with ends that taper to a point. The most common variety has a thick, dark orange to reddish skin with a vivid orange sweet flesh and a moist texture. This is the vegetable that is often mistakenly called "yam" in error, and probably what most American households used in their marshmallow-laden concoction or nut-encrusted casserole on Thanksgiving Day.

So that was probably far more than you wanted to know, but there it is. And now for my final thoughts on the subject: Be careful with whom you debate this topic. You don't want to be drawn into this centuries long argument with those who have done some serious research on the matter. It's a slippery slope. DANGER! DANGER! You don't really care that a yam is not a sweet potato or vice versa. What you really want is to just get back to enjoying more of the orangish goop on your fork no matter what tuber it is derived from, but to those skilled in the art of the differences between yams and sweet potatoes, this is a serious consideration and needs to be discussed at length. To them, you are in need of some education on the subject whether you want it or not. Just trust me on this one, for your own sanity's sake, you want to steer clear of this argument!

This all begs the question: Would a yam by any other name taste as sweet? Hmmmm...hard to say. I can't speak for the yam since we've yet to meet, but I sure am a fan of the delicious and nutritious sweet potato. I love 'em, and I've been calling them yams for years, and they still taste the same now that I know their true identity.

This has been a vegetable moment with Mel. Tomorrow we will discuss the tomato. Is it a fruit, a vegetable or neither? Stay tuned.