Since January, I've been volunteering with a local non-profit, Apple Seeds Inc. It has an incredible mission of inspiring healthy living through garden-based education. It basically combines 2 of my favorite things: gardening and teaching nutrition.
Well, last week, I got to harvest nearly 400 pounds of sweet potatoes. Which until last week, I never knew what that entailed. Now I know it takes removing hundreds of pounds of vines, with a machete and brute strength, followed by turning the soil, and finally digging through the soil with the excitement of a 6-year-old on Halloween to fill baskets and baskets of sweet potatoes. That day, felt like coming home to me.
I come from a long line of Sweet Potato Eaters.
My Cajun French grandfather, Steven "Reno" Dupuis, grew up eating crawfish and speaking French long before it was cool, and apparently ate sweet potatoes every day of his life.
Reno, was a sweet potato farmer and distributor most of his adult life, which means sweet potatoes were a part of my mother's daily meals too (and mine, and my kids). Reno's loving gregarious spirit has held strong to my Dupuis family, as has the Beauregard Sweet Potatoes.
While the Dupuis family likes their yams baked at 400 for an hour. I like to celebrate the versatility of the Sweet Potato, and a staple in our house is the Sweet Potato Black Bean Taco/Quesadilla recipe. Enjoy the recipe for this simple, staple with the beloved sweet potato.