I recently read The Blue Zones Solution – or perhaps more accurately I should say I listened to the audiobook while driving to and from work (I heart audiobooks – they allow this busy Mama to keep up with all the books I don’t have time to sit and read anymore)…but I digress. In The Blue Zones Solution they talk at length about the foods consumed by the world’s longest lived people, and I found myself fascinated by these lists of possible super foods! Among them – the Okinawan purple sweet potato. As though the world knew I had just listened to this amazing book – it delivered these purple beauties to my nearest Sprouts Market and I was able to give them a try. Turns out – they are amazing! Not as sweet as the white and orange varieties of sweet potatoes we see more commonly here in the states – they lend themselves beautifully to pairings with spicy and savory dishes. In particular they are a wonderful substitute for noodles! Thanks to my handy dandy spiralizer (first my hand held model and now this fancy counter top model) I am spiralizing these bad boys up on the regular!
The best part though isn’t how much I like them, or how healthy I now know them to be – the best part is how much my two Wee Laird’s love them! The first night I made them for my husband and I and made the boys some traditional whole wheat penne. Upon seeing our fancy purple noodles they wanted nothing to do with the penne. Then after the first bite they were hooked! They devoured them the first night and Bear even held up his bowl for seconds! Needless to say I haven’t looked back!
There are two super easy ways to prepare these spirals – one is stove top and the other is oven baked. Stove top is great if you’re in a hurry as they cook in about 4-8min and only require tossing 2-4 times. But if you don’t want to stand in front of a pan – and you have a few extra minutes 10-20min depending on if you like your spirals soft or crispy (we like a little of both) – going the oven route is crazy easy as well and mostly hands off. Just take a spatula and give them a gentle toss half way through baking.
We are absolutely in love with these Blue Zones friendly, gluten free, grain free, power house of a noodle replacement! We hope you’ll give it a try, and if you do – please drop us a line and tell us what you think! From all of us here in the Wee Laird’s Kitchen – happy cooking!
Peel sweet potatoes and prepare spiralizer 
Display spiralized potatoes artistically for a picture ðĪŠ 
Saute sweet potato spirals in a little olive oil and salt over medium heat 4-8min. 
Serve with your preferred sauce. We love these with spaghetti sauce ð 
Alternate method: drizzle with olive oil and salt per tastes. Bake@400 10-20min 
Serve with spicy marinara and watch them disappear ð
The Wee Lairds Kitchen 