For years, every fall as I dug down into the earth to harvest the tubers of my sweet potato plants and begin the process of curing them in my basement so that their starches would turn to sugar and make them deliciously sweet, I lamented the fact that I had no better use for all those lush green leaves, than to heap them onto my compost pile. It was obvious that many critters found the leaves delicious -- I learned long ago that I could only grow the plants in protected (fenced) areas -- lest someone come and eat every last leaf. But it wasn't until recently that I decided to see what I could find about the culinary uses for sweet potato leaves, and was surprised to find that in many part of the world, they are a commonly consumed green. In general leafy greens contain more nutrients per calorie than any other category of food -- and sweet potato leaves are no exception. When I checked out their specific nutrient profile on the USDA database I found that Kale is a better source of calcium, vitamins C, A, and beta carotene, but sweet potatoes have kale beat in terms of most of the B-vitamins (except for folate) And when it comes to the phytochemicals Lutein and Zeaxanthin, sweet potato leaves have about double what is found in kale!.
You can use sweet potato leaves much as you would spinach and they are very mild tasting. But because they are much lower in oxalic acid, sweet potato greens will not leave that funny astringent taste in your mouth, that you may notice after eating spinach.
I have also been juicing the leaves and stems -- along with carrots and celery. The sweet potato leaves add little in terms of flavor, but the resulting juice mixture is far thicker and creamier than any other vegetable juice I have ever made.
You can use sweet potato leaves much as you would spinach and they are very mild tasting. But because they are much lower in oxalic acid, sweet potato greens will not leave that funny astringent taste in your mouth, that you may notice after eating spinach.
I have also been juicing the leaves and stems -- along with carrots and celery. The sweet potato leaves add little in terms of flavor, but the resulting juice mixture is far thicker and creamier than any other vegetable juice I have ever made.
