Spinach in Mashed Sweet Potato

If you may recall, I am currently writing my thesis which is due in less than two weeks' time.  Being a nursing student, writing a thesis is not just reading journal articles and inventing a story.  In fact, I had to plan and conduct my own research study from scratch.  I did a qualitative study exploring the experiences of older Singaporean Chinese women coping with chronic illness, which involved a series of face-to-face interviews with real-life patients in a hospital.  I then had to listen to the audiotapes on repeat and transcribe the interviews into written form.  That was not the end.  I had to read my transcripts again and again, analysing the content and coming up with themes  Painstaking?  You bet!

The research process was undoubtedly arduous but strangely rewarding in its own way.  As it approaches its end, I like to share with you one of the themes which emerged from my study.  The theme is 'To eat is wealth', which is drawn from the translation of a common Chinese saying '能吃是福'.  Now I am not sure about other ethnic cultures in Singapore and around the world, but being a Chinese myself, I think the finding resonates in me.  

Food is the embodiment of life.  You feed your body with nourishing food.  You feed your soul through the enjoyment of good food.  Food is also the celebration of life.  You eat with people and talk over food.  You celebrate birthdays with birthday cakes.  You cook food for your loved ones.  Most good things in life come with food.  

To the older Chinese women whom I interviewed, food was life and life was food.  This was in spite of their chronic illnesses which often imposed on them dietary restrictions.  Having been feeling somewhat ill for the last two weeks, I think I can attest to such ingrained mentality towards food.  Even though I was bloated and lost my appetite, I still felt sad over not being able to cook and eat the food I wanted!  

So now, I present to you a simple but delicious recipe that goes pretty well into my tummy.  

 Spinach in Mashed Sweet Potato

(inspired from a couple of similar recipes which I have forgotten)

Ingredients

• 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes
• Baby spinach leaves (amount depends on how much you love greens)
• 1 red onion (diced)
• 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• 1 tbsp ghee/butter/VCO* 
• A few cloves (optional)
• 1 cinnamon stick (optional)

Directions

1. Steam sweet potatoes for 20-30 minutes until soft enough for a fork to penetrate easily.
2. Heat the cooking fat, and then add spices, red onion and garlic to stir-fry until the onion becomes soft and slightly brownish.
3. Add the baby spinach leaves and stir-fry for about 1 minute.  (Baby spinach wilts very fast, so make sure you don't overcook them!)  Then turn off heat.
4. Once sweet potatoes are ready, mash them up in a large bowl and then mix in stir-fried vegetables.  

Just an idea, if you like the mashed sweet potato to be more creamy, feel free to add (nut/rice/dairy) milk.

Verdict

I love it.  This is my third time cooking it.  The first was without spinach and the second was with fennel instead of red onion.  I think the third try is the best as I really like to see green against the yellow backdrop of the sweet potatoes.  Haha.

*In my humble opinion, I believe that ghee, butter and virgin coconut oil (VCO) are the best oils to use for high-heat cooking.  I don't believe in seed oils like sunflower or canola, even though they are aggressively promoted as 'healthy' oils.  Some emerging studies are showing that such oils may be more unhealthy than the much demonized saturated fats like butter and coconut oil.  I am traditional in the sense that if these oils weren't used in the past to make food, I shouldn't be using them at all.