Good Food: Sweet Potato Breakfast Bowl / by emily penn

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Welcome to the Better Breakfast Bowl Series! A better breakfast bowl tastes amazing, keeps you full & gives you the energy you need to get through your day. It’s full of satiating healthy fats, fiber & complex carbohydrates. Best of all, it’s fast to make. While better breakfast bowls are ideally enjoyed sitting down before getting into your day, they’re also portable for those days when that’s just not possible. 

the good

The Sweet Potato Bowl is the best way to eat vegetables for breakfast without even realizing you’re doing it. Sweet potato's natural sweetness makes this bowl feel like a real treat, but it’s packed with essential vitamins & minerals.

The creamy addition of your favorite nondairy yogurt or chia pudding plus nut or seed butter makes it almost seem like dessert! Top with some crunchy granola, nuts or seeds for the ultimate combination of crunchy, creamy, and comforting.

This breakfast is on heavy rotation during the colder months since it’s a little heartier and has a little more of that stick-to-your-ribs feeling. That being said, it can be enjoyed all year round if that’s what you’re into!

the medicine

Sweet potatoes are jam packed with nutrients including vitamin C, antioxidants, beta-carotene, fiber, and more. They are considered a complex carbohydrate, meaning they’re broken down more slowly by your body – keeping blood sugar stable and providing a steady stream of energy.

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If you opt for yogurt you’re getting probiotics, which are vital for gut health. If you use chia pudding you’re getting fiber & omega 3 essential fatty acids from the chia seeds. I like to throw a little yogurt in my chia pudding for the best of both worlds!

My go-to nut/seed butters are almond butter and sunflower seed butter. Both are full of healthy fats, protein, fiber and vitamin E – an important antioxidant that contributes to skin health.

I use cinnamon anywhere I can for its natural sweetness and its blood-sugar regulating effect.

tips

My absolute FAVORITE sweet potato to use for this bowl is the Japanese sweet potato – they have a light purple skin and are white on the inside. They are SO creamy and have this marshmallow flavor that is out of this world.

Roast or steam several sweet potatoes at once so that you have enough for a few meals. They last up to a week in the fridge! I’m partial to steaming them because it’s fast and creates a really creamy texture.

If you have time or desire a warm breakfast, you can gently reheat the sweet potatoes. I throw them in a pan with a dab of coconut oil and add the salt and cinnamon.

If you’ve never made chia pudding the basic recipe is this: 2-3 tbsp chia seeds + 1 cup of nondairy milk. Put into a jar with a lid and shake until chia seeds are well distributed, or whisk in a bowl. You can make several servings at once as it will stay good up to 4 days in the fridge.

If you have a busy week, pre-assemble the bowls in to-go containers in your fridge. It takes only a few minutes and you’ve got breakfast on deck almost all week!

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Sweet Potato Breakfast Bowl

prep time 5 minutes / total time 5 minutes
A delicious & nutrient-dense way to start your day! Steam or roast several sweet potatoes ahead of time & you can have breakfast effortlessly all week.

ingredients
1 cup cubed sweet potato, previously roasted or steamed
¼ - ½ cup your favorite nondairy yogurt or chia pudding
2 tbsp nut or seed butter
¼ cup fruit (optional)
½ tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

toppings
hemp seeds
raisins
cacao nibs
granola

directions
1.    If desired, reheat the sweet potatoes in a pan with a dab of coconut oil, the cinnamon and the salt.
2.    Assemble all ingredients in a bowl or to-go container.
3.    When ready to eat, add desired toppings.
4.    Enjoy! I hope you feel full, happy & ready to take on your day!