Part of the joy of the veggie diet is variety and exploring exotic options.  Last week we asked our vegetarian readers who hail from  Puerto Rico to dish on their fave root veggie recipes.

To dig into this theme a little more, lets look at the nutritional info of five popular Puerto Rican root vegetables:

Cassava:

Cassava (a/k/a Yuca) – is packed with healthy carbs, fiber, Folate, Choline, Maganese, and Vitamin C.  It even has a bit of protein and Omega Fatty acids.

Green Plantains

Green Plantains  – feature a balance of carbs and fiber.  In addition they have a lot of Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Magnesium, Potassium, and Vitamin C.

Batata (sweet potato)

Raw Batata (a/k/a sweet potato) – is absolutely PACKED with Vitamin A.  One serving gives you 377% of your daily value.  It also has a lot of fiber.

Yautia

Yautia – provides carbs and a bit of Vitamin C and copper, however it lacks some of the nutritional punch of its root competitors, though a tasty addition.

Llame (“name root”/yam)

Llame (a/k/a root yam) – is packed with fiber.  They also are a good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Potassium and Maganese.

Below is a quick Llame recipe to get you started (based on a slight modified version of this one):

A yummy yam (llame) salad!

• 1 pound of Llame/Yams, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 pound of Batata/Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 tablespoons Organic Lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 teaspoon Chile Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• 1/4 cup Cilantro leaves finely chopped
• Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 medium Organic Bell Pepper (use Red Bell Pepper) seeded and cut into 1/4 in dice
• 4 whole Scallions (white and light green parts) finely chopped

Directions:

Place the roots in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until just tender, 7 to 10 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.

While the roots is cooking, make the dressing. Whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, cilantro, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Add the red bell pepper and scallions to the potatoes and toss with the dressing. Season again with salt and pepper. Serve warm or refrigerate and bring to room temperature before serving.

*Thanks to NutritionData.com for the nutritional tables.  For detailed figures on the nutritional content of each root, go to their page and search using the English name when necessary.  Note nutritional information may differ from that in the recipe, due to raw values versus cooked values.

(((Editor Note: Awesome article, Jason. – Thanxs!)))

Readers:

Any questions on root vegetables from Puerto Rico? Ask away!