Wasabi Miso Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Growing up in the Midwest, my grandmother would often tell me she’d never met a potato she didn’t like.  We’d laugh when she said this, but I certainly couldn’t argue with her. Mashed, roasted, baked, fried, or au gratin… potatoes were always good.  Grandma would even eat them raw, with a dash of salt for good measure.  From time to time I’ve caught my own father enjoying a salted raw potato, but I suspect the tradition will stop with me.  Why waste a perfectly good potato when you could easily whip it up as a beautiful white fluff of comfort?

Now I can’t say for sure, but I don’t remember my grandmother ever “meeting” a sweet potato. To be honest, I’m not sure I even knew what a sweet potato was until college.  I had to dive deep into their nutritional profile before admitting they just might be superior to the beloved white potato of my childhood. Much like their counterpart, they can be boiled, pureed, or made into crave-worthy fries.  You may enjoy a baked sweet potato with a dash of cinnamon and honey. You may even put them in your smoothies or roasted atop a savory winter salad. One thing I highly suggest you do is try them mashed – with miso, coconut butter, and wasabi.  That’s right, wasabi!

The sweetness of potato paired with decadently smooth coconut butter and a hidden snap of heated wasabi is slightly confusing but altogether wonderful to your taste buds. Add some mildly sweet and salty white miso for the perfect combination of flavors you’d never expect to be the most delicious potato you’ve ever eaten. This recipe, comprised of simple, yet distinct flavors comes together effortlessly and is sure to be a new favorite!

Why we love it:

• Coconut Butter is a medium-chain fatty acid (about 60 percent fat) that aids in weight loss, boosting immunity, warding off viruses, helping prevent disease, providing a performance boost for athletes, containing beneficial fiber, giving hair a shine and providing iron.
• Sweet potatoes contain a good amount of fiber as well as vitamin A, vitamin C, manganese and several other vitamins and minerals. They are especially high in beta-carotene, which is a powerful antioxidant that can help promote healthy vision, improve respiratory health and even protect your skin. This vitamin is especially important in terms of immunity, it helps stimulate the production of immune cells that fight off disease and infection.
• Wasabi, known by some as “Japanese horseradish”, contains high levels of isothiocyanates.  These antioxidants help fight and prevent disease by reducing inflammation and eliminating free radicals and harmful bacteria.  Regular consumption of wasabi has been shown to benefit heart health, prevent cancer, and treat respiratory conditions and arthritis.
• Ginger contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds including shogaols, gingerols, and 6-dehydrogingerdione (DGE).  It has been used throughout history to treat an array of illnesses and is especially known for its ability to fight nausea, the common cold, and pain from from arthritis to headaches to menstrual cramps. (Reinhard, Tonia, MS, RD. (2014). Superfoods: The Healthiest Foods on the Planet, 2nd Edition.)
• Like other fermented products, miso contains beneficial bacteria, enzymes, yeasts, and other microorganisms that promote health.  The Japanese are devout in their consumption of miso for its nutritional values, such as rebuilding healthy intestinal flora and promoting toxic elimination. (D’Amico, Serge. Fortin, Francois. (1996). The Visual Food Encyclopedia.)

Wasabi Miso Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 sweet potatoes peeled and diced, or whole if baking
• Sea salt
• 2 – 4 Tablespoons wasabi powder
• 3 – 6 Tablespoons filtered water
• 2 Tablespoons ginger – finely grated
• 2 Tablespoons melted coconut butter
• 2 Tablespoons butter, ghee, or olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons white miso

Directions:

1. Place the sweet potatoes in a saucepan.  Cover with filtered water by 2” and add a teaspoon of sea salt.
2. Bring to a boil and cook until easily pierced with a fork, about 10 minutes. Drain. (Alternative – roast whole until tender, 45-55 minutes.)
3. Mix the wasabi powder and water to form a paste.  Let stand 5 minutes. Mix with the ginger, coconut butter, butter and miso.
4. Mash the sweet potatoes, or use a food processor, and mix in the wasabi-miso mixture.
5. Season to taste.

(Recipe adapted from the Balanced Plate)

For a sweet, sweet potato treat try these gluten-free Sweet Potato Brownies

Chef Kylee Snyder is a recent graduate of NTI’s Natural Food Chef Program. She currently leads nutritional cooking classes and provides holistic health coaching that has been known to cause deep affection towards vegetables. Find her on Instagram @rendezfoodhhc.

Image:  Elena Veselova/Shutterstock.com