For week #28 of my 2018 challenge to try one new whole-food plant-based (WFPB) recipe each week, I tried purple (Okinawan) sweet potatoes. I've been wanting to try these for a long time, but I had a hard time finding them in my area. I was happy to find that Schnucks grocery store in Champaign, Illinois carried them! I picked some up, along with some other fresh veggies, and made this simple veggie plate. 

Why purple potatoes? Two reasons:

1. I first heard of purple sweet potatoes when learning about the Blue Zones, which are five geographical locations in the world where people live the longest and healthiest lives on Earth.  Okinawa, Japan is one of the Blue Zones. A staple in their diet is the purple sweet potato, which is loaded with antioxidants. For a nice summary on the Okinawan diet, including a brief video, check out this page. 
2. Their bright, vibrant color just looks amazing. :)

What I like about purple sweet potatoes (besides the fact that they are super-healthy):

• Their delicious, slightly sweet taste nicely complements a variety of meals.
• Did I mention their amazing color? :) They make a meal visually interesting. (Remember, we eat with our eyes too!)

What I ended up using/doing:

There's nothing complicated about this week's recipe. I simply:

• Cooked some veggies on the stove (steamed the whole sweet potatoes in a large saute pan with a little water until soft, boiled a few corn cobs in water, and sauteed a bunch of asparagus until bright green). Use whatever veggies you like. If you've got the grill fired up, that would be a great way to prepare them too!
• After dishing the cooked veggies onto a plate, I added a little sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.
• I drizzled some fresh dill dressing (which I shared last week) over the veggies. This is optional, of course, but quite delicious. 

That's it!

With the leftovers, I prepped some "veggie bowls" to bring to work and warm up in the microwave (keeping the dill dressing separate in a small container, and adding it after the vegetables were warmed).  It worked great. 

Enjoy!

This post was originally published on July 15, 2018.