[1] The beautiful sweet potato, bursting with flavor—and beta carotene (photo © Umami Information Center | Facebook).

[2] Chili Butter Sweet Potatoes are just one of the delicious sweet potato recipes below (photo © Gelson’s).

[3] Black beans become crispy and crunchy in this recipe (photo © Bush’s Beans).

[6] Until they are ground,cumin seeds resemble caraway seeds. They have a savory, nutty flavor that becomes earthy and aromatic when used as an ingredient in cooking (photo © The Spice House).

[7] Coriander is the name for its dried seeds of the cilantro plant, but it tastes nothing like the herb. It has a deep, nutty flavor and a slight, citrus aroma (photo © Savory Spice Shop).

[8] Honey is mixed with butter and hot sauce to create the chili butter (photo © National Honey Board | Facebook).

[9] Sliced red chiles are one of the garnishes (photo of cayenne © Good Eggs).

February is National Sweet Potato Month, celebrating a tuber that’s delicious baked, fried, French-fried, mashed, roasted, turned into chips and pasta (gnocchi, ravioli), made into pies, muffins, and other baked goods.

February 22nd is National Sweet Potato Day. September is National Fruits & Veggies Month.

Delicious recipes follow. But first, from the Foundation For Fresh Produce:
 
 
10 WAYS TO SERVE SWEET POTATOES

1. Bake, Roast, or Steam ’em. Pick a cooking method and enjoy! Use whole, unpeeled sweet potatoes as a side dish to any meal.

2. Mash ’em. Steam peeled sweet-potato chunks for about 10 minutes until tender, and mash with a dash of orange juice.

3. Top Your Salad. Make a salad topping from diced sweet potatoes, pineapple, apples, and celery, plus cashews. Serve over salad greens.

4. Sweet Potato Fries. Quarter sweet potatoes and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 400°F for 40-60 minutes. For a spicy twist, add a dash of cayenne pepper.

5. Grill ’em. Slice sweet potatoes into ½ inch rounds and grill until lightly browned. Drizzle with lime juice.

6. Sweet Potato Salad. Substitute sweet potatoes for regular spuds in your favorite potato salad recipe.

7a. Sweet Potato Pancakes. Make sweet potato pancakes by simply adding mashed sweet potatoes to regular pancake batter.

7b. Sweet Potato Latkes. These savory sweet potato pancakes are a modern adaptation of the classic. Here’s a recipe.

8. Add A Twist To Sandwiches. Cut thin slices of cold cooked sweet potatoes and add to your favorite sandwich or wrap instead of tomatoes.

9. A Sweet Side Or Snack. Dice cooked, peeled sweet potatoes and drizzle with maple syrup for a side dish that’s sure to satisfy any sweet tooth.

10. Sweet Potato Chips. Use a mandoline to thinly slice large sweet potatoes and brush lightly with olive oil. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp.

> The history of sweet potatoes.

> The difference between sweet potatoes and yams.

> Chile, chili, chilli: What’s the difference?
 
 
RECIPE: CHILI BUTTER SWEET POTATOES WITH CRISPY BLACK BEANS

In this recipe, black beans are roasted with garlic, cumin, and coriander so they get spicy and super crispy. They crunch like potato chips!

You may want to make subsequent batches of the beans as a garnish for other recipes, or for snacking with a beer.

The butter sauce with Cholula and honey is also a keeper.

The result, with garnishes of chiles and cilantro, is crunchy-soft, spicy-sweet, sprightly, and rich.

Thanks to Gelson’s Markets for this recipe. Find many more wonderful recipes on Gelson’s website.
 
Ingredients For 8 Servings

 
Preparation

1. PLACE two oven racks in the lower third and upper third of the oven. Place one rimmed sheet pan on the lower oven rack and preheat the oven to 425°F. On a second rimmed sheet pan…

2. TOSS the black beans and garlic with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the cumin and coriander. Season with salt and spread evenly. Roast until crispy, stirring halfway through, 25 to 30 minutes.

3. TOSS the sweet potatoes in a large bowl with ¼ cup of the olive oil to coat. Season with salt. Place the sweet potatoes cut sides down on the preheated sheet pan, and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until fork tender and caramelized.

4. MAKE the chili butter: In a large bowl, mash together the butter and honey until smooth. Add the hot sauce, 1 tablespoonful at a time, blending well after each addition. Season with salt.

5. REMOVE the sweet potatoes from the oven and brush them with the chili butter.

6. PLATE the potatoes. Arrange the sweet potatoes on a large platter and drizzle with the excess honey butter. Garnish with the crispy black beans, chiles, and cilantro. Serve hot with lime wedges.

Leftover potatoes can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
 
 
MORE SWEET POTATO RECIPES

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

ChocolaTea™, our Top Pick Of The Week, is a special drink: a naturally sugar-free, dairy-free, vegan, dark chocolate beverage. It’s made from fermented, dried, and roasted organic cacao beans*.

It isn’t tea.

It isn’t a creamy drink like hot chocolate or cocoa (unless you want it to be).

Nor is it a product called drinking chocolate† (photo #6).

It’s a “cousin” of those, in a category all its own.

If you’re a fan of dark chocolate, we hope you’ll love this discovery as much as we do.

(We discovered ChocolaTea when it was picked as a Top Trend at a recent specialty food trade show).
 
 
CHOCOLATEA IS BREWED CHOCOLATE

The drink is brewed or steeped, like French Press coffee or loose tea leaves. Just add boiling water and the result is beautifully smooth and chocolaty.

ChocolaTea can be served like coffee and tea:

 
The company’s proprietary cacao bean blend and roasting process yields a ready-to-brew drink that is very different from what you’d get by simply grinding cacao beans.

(NOTE: Don’t try it—it won’t work.)

Drunk plain, ChocolaTea is only 20 calories per cup (photo #1), delivering the flavor of chocolate without the calories of hot chocolate or cocoa.

(The difference between hot chocolate and cocoa.)

ChocolaTea is:

 
 
THE FLAVORS OF CHOCOLATEA 

They’re all delicious, yielding deep, smooth, dark chocolate flavor.

We tasted four flavors. Our personal faves are Dark Chocolate and Dark Chocolate Mexican. Our next order may well include Dark Chocolate Chai.

 
 
HOW TO BREW CHOCOLATEA

The ground chocolate arrives in a bag like ground coffee (photo #3).

For a hot brew, a French press is the best way to go, but a fine mesh tea brewer also works.

For a cold brew, you can use a cold brew coffee maker pitcher with a very fine mesh filter basket.

The ChocolaTea website sells different teaware items as well as the ground chocolate.
 
 
GET YOUR CHOCOLATEA

Head to GlobalTeas.co.
 
 
KNOW YOUR CHOCOLATE

> Chocolate Glossary

> The history of chocolate.
 
 
________________

*For the record, fermented, dried, and roasted is the process that almost all cacao beans undergo prior to becoming chocolate or cocoa (the exception is raw chocolate, which is not roasted). Here’s how chocolate is made.

†Drinking chocolate consists of shaved, chopped, or roughly ground-up chocolate bars that melt into hot chocolate when mixed with hot milk or hot water (photo #5).

‡Cacao beans naturally contain a small amount of caffeine.

[1] Brewed in a French Press and ready to drink: 20-calorie ChocolaTea (photos #1 and #3 © Global Teas).

[2] Yes, you can add a bit of milk, just as with coffee (photo © Valrhona).

[3] Chocolatea is sold in bags like ground chocolate or loose tea.

[4] Chocolatea is made from ground, roasted cacao beans (photo © Theo Chocolate).

[5] Drinking Chocolate is a completely different product, composed of shaved, chopped, or roughly ground pieces of chocolate bar that melt into a drink when covered with hot milk or water (photo © Dolfin Chocolate).

[6] Cacao beans are most popularly turned into chocolate bars. Here’s the process (photo © Omnom Chocolate).

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

Here’s our weekend baking project, a cherry dessert for George Washington’s birthday, February 22nd.

This dessert has a tender crust and tart cherry filling, topped with melt-in-your-mouth meringue. Created by Kathryn Dawley of Gray, Maine, we present it here courtesy of Taste Of Home.

What’s a slab pie?

It’s a pie that has been sized to fit a rectangular pan instead of a round pie pan. It has been called the pie version of a sheet cake.

Cut into squares or rectangles instead of triangular slices, a slab pie creates more pieces than a standard round pie. It can typically serve twice as many people.

You follow all the same steps as you would to make a regular pie, but with more crust.

> George Washington’s favorite foods.

> Myths about George Washington (including the cherry tree, the silver dollar, and his false teeth), and how Presidents Day began.

> The history of cherries.

> The history of pie.

> The different types of pie and pastry: a photo glossary.

> More about slab pies and slab pie recipes.

> Thirty more delicious cherry recipes.

> The year’s 15+ cherry holidays.
 
 
RECIPE: CHERRY MERINGUE SLAB PIE 

You can add a bit of red food coloring to make the canned cherry filling brighter.

Prep time is 25 minutes and bake time is 25 minutes, plus 4+ hours cooling and chilling.

Makes 12 servings.
 
Ingredients For The Crust

 
Ingredients For The Filling & Topping

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 375°. Make the crust: In a small bowl, mix the flour and salt; cut in the shortening until crumbly. Add the egg, stirring with a fork.

2. PRESS the mixture onto bottom and up sides of a greased 11×7-inch baking dish. Bake until lightly browned, 20-22 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce the oven setting to 350°.

3. BEAT the egg whites, vanilla and cream of tartar in a small bowl on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high after each addition until the sugar is dissolved. Continue beating until stiff glossy peaks form. Fold in the almonds.

4. DRAIN the cherries, reserving the juice. Add enough water to juice to measure 1 cup; pour into a saucepan. Stir in the tapioca, egg yolks and remaining sugar; let stand 5 minutes.

5. BRING to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly; cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cherries, lemon juice and, if desired, the food coloring.

6. POUR into the crust. Immediately spread meringue over top, up to the edges of the crust. Bake until the meringue is golden brown, 22-25 minutes.

7. COOL for 1 hour on a wire rack. Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.
 
 
MORE CHERRY HOLIDAYS 

[1] Cherry Meringue Slab Pie. The recipe is below (photos #1 and #4 © Taste Of Home).

[2] Look for tart canned cherries (photos #2 and #5 © Oregon Fruit Products).

[3] A drop or two of red color brightens the canned cherries (photo © McCormick).

[4] Any pie can be remade as a slab pie. Here’s the recipe for this Apple Cranberry Slab Pie.

[5] Cranberry Meringue Slab Pie. Here’s the recipe.

[6] Slab pies can have lattice or full crusts as well. Here’ the recipe for this Strawberry Rhubarb Slab Pie. Here’s the recipe (photo © Pillsbury).

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.