Mexican Sweet Potato and Chicken

Wintertime is a great time of year to use sweet potatoes -- they have a wonderful warmth and comfort to them.

If you are trying to lose weight or tend to gain weight easily, it's important to remember that starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes are just that -- starchy. At a meal with 1/2 to 1 sweet potato per person, you don't need more carbohydrates such as pasta, riceor bread.

If you are used to eating pasta/rice/bread with each meal, this might sound startling. Almost every woman I see in my office who wants to lose weight is eating too many carbohydrates throughout the day. Carbs are not bad for you, but too many will definitely lead to weight gain.

Too few carbs (eg. Atkins diet) may help you lose weight quickly, but it will (a) cause other imbalances in your system and (b) be temporary because low-carb is extremely difficult, as well as unhealthy, to maintain long-term.

Here's a simple recipe that I conjured up one day with what I had in my fridge and it turned out delicious. As always, there are no measurements. Don't forget to cook a non-starchy vegetable on the side!

Ingredients:

Sweet potato - 1/2 to 1 per person; chopped into small cubes

Chicken breast - 3-4 oz per person; cooked without oil or with minimal oil (roasted, steamed, poached, stir-fried) and sliced

Fresh cilantro - chopped

Garlic - minced or organic garlic powder

Cherry tomatoes - halved

Extra virgin olive oil - 2 teaspoons per person.

Salt - Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt - to taste

Organic salsa -- I especially like Banditos Medium and Neal Brothers Medium. (I buy at Highland Farms.)

Instructions:

1. Steam the sweet potato cubes.

2. Mix steamed cubes with cherry tomatoes, cilantro, garlic and salt to taste.

3. Add salsa to taste and mix.

4. Top with sliced chicken breast (cooked any way you like from the above options) and drizzle with 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil.

Enjoy!

TC