Sweet Orange by Kath Younger

You've probably heard buzz in the news telling you to "eat the rainbow". The more colorful your plate, the more nutrients it contains. While I sure love my leafy greens (especially drizzled with lemon juice, olive oil and honey!), and I love purple eggplant (grilled please!) and a bright red bell pepper (stuffed with goat cheese!), the vegetable color I love most in this world is orange.

Carrots. Pumpkins. Squash. And the beautiful orange sweet potato.

Sweet potatoes wind up on many of the top 10 lists for healthiest foods. Our orange veggies are colored so because of an antioxidant called beta-carotene, a red-orange phytonutrient that is a precursor for vitamin A. Sweet potatoes are also rich in vitamin C and potassium and are high in fiber. They are a complex carbohydrate perfect for fueling exercise or a hard days work. Eat them with the skin on to take in the most nutrients. If you don't like the skin's taste, roast it and you'll probably start to like it.

Nothing beats a simple roasted sweet potato. Roasted so that the sticky sugars caramelize on the skin. Seriously, nature's dessert. A favorite technique of mine for cooking sweet potatoes involves roasting them "low and slow" so that the insides become pillows of orange fluff and the outsides develop a crispy crust.

To cook sweet potatoes "low and slow", slice them about half an inch thick and arrange on a cookie sheet. There's no need to peel them because that's where most of the nutrients are! Rub with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pop into a 350 degree oven and bake for 30 minutes. Then, increase the heat to 400 degrees and roast for 20-30 minutes more, until the potatoes begin to brown.