yam = yum.

okay, okay, it's time to get back to the sweet potato drawing board with red diane yams.

it's chilly. it's rainy. thanksgiving is thursday. what better time to get my festive on and play with sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, and cranberries? right? well, lucky for me, i'm smack dab in the middle of testing all the sweet potatoes i can get my hands on. so satsuma-imo, golden sweet, and beauregard down, it's on to good old diane. the red diane yam is a hybrid between the garnet and the beauregard yams. again, all of these are sweet potatoes and not yams at all. the diane is red on the outside with bright orange flesh on the inside. meaning she's high in beta-carotene and good for the eyes. even if looking at her she's not so good on the eyes. oh, the poor ugly sweet potato. thank god she is so gosh darn tasty, birds and tigers agree on this. through salty miso to tangy sweet cranberry, the sweet potato is doing us right.

cranberry orange garlic sweet potato and brussel sprout delight

1 cup rice (wild & brown mix)

garlic, 5 cloves

1 medium orange

cranberries, 1 bag

1 large red diane yam, peeled & cut into rounds

10 brussel sprouts, cut in half

2 cinnamon sticks

sea salt, to taste

in one pot, add rice, 2 cups water & 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic. cover. bring to boil. reduce heat & simmer, according to directions on rice (~40 minutes). once simmering for about 10 minutes, add 1 cinnamon stick.

in another pot, when rice is about halfway done, add 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped, sweet potatoes & brussel sprouts. add about an inch of water & 1 cinnamon stick. cover. bring to boil and reduce to simmer for about 10 minutes.

squeeze the juice of half an orange over sweet potatoes & brussel sprouts. add cranberries. place orange on top. cover and continue to simmer, until cranberries are soft and all vegetables are cooked through and tender.

combine vegetables with rice. squeeze remaining orange over mixture, season with salt, and enjoy.