Patrons of a New Hampshire food cooperative are about to find out much more about the beloved tuber, as a local food entrepreneur intends to teach them.
Lisa Johnson, owner and founder of Yummy Yammy, is one of many local businesspeople teaching classes at the prominent Coop Food Stores, highly successful community-owned natural and conventional grocery stores in the Lebanon and Hanover NH area.
Entitled "Sweet Potatoes: Beyond Thanksgiving & Marshmallows", Johnson's course is designed to introduce participants to ways to enjoy the nutrient-dense vegetable for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
"We'll cook up two soups together," describes Johnson, "plus home fries for breakfast, oven fries for dinner, top-your-own sweet potato bar, quick steamed sweeties, and even tropical sweet potato popsicles. All in a two-hour class! And we'll also taste-test every variety of sweet potato the Coop carries in its produce department."
Sweet potatoes are down in per capita consumption since their peak in the early 1900's, but are enjoying a recent resurgence among vegans, vegetarians, Paleo dieters, the kale-loving crowd, and the general population due to appreciation of their naturally sweet taste, blood sugar stabilization, and wholesome nutrient density.
"They're already sweet," explains Johnson, "but people tend to put sugary stuff on them. I mean, explain to me putting brown sugar, butter and marshmallows on this sweet vegetable, and calling it a side dish!"
The Coop Food Stores holds frequent cooking classes for its 10,000+ members and the general public. Most are 2-hour hands-on classes such as this one, where participants learn to make everything on the menu. However, Eli Morse, the Coop's Culinary Director, has also begun offering half-hour stints over lunchtime that feature already-cooked foods for participants to plate themselves, and while they eat, Eli delivers a brief description of how they were prepared.
"We're trying it out," says Morse, "because our members have a variety of schedules and we like being flexible for their needs."
Coop managers affirm that as one of the oldest food cooperatives in the country, the Coop Food Stores is continuing its history of careful attention to serving members' needs, not just by providing the food on the shelf, but helping people learn how to make the most of it.
Johnson's class, Sweet Potatoes, Beyond Thanksgiving & Marshmallow, is held on Wednesday, November 12, 11 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Cost: $15 Non-member, $12 Member.
About Yummy Yammy
Yummy Yammy produces the world's only sweet potato salsa. All their superfood salsas are made with 100% pure flame-roasted sweet potato as the main ingredient instead of tomato. Yummy Yammy is a Vermont company delightfully bringing sweet potatoes to the nation.
