Sweet Potato Escape Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pancakes

Add some color (and nutrition) to your regular pancake mix by adding a little sweet potato mash to a batter made from flour, eggs, milk, melted butter or oil, and baking powder. Heat a little oil (peanut works well) in a griddle or frying pan, and drop a spoonful of the batter onto the pan. Fry for a minute or so, or until bubbles start to form in the batter, and then flip the pancake once to cook the other side. These pancakes go well with maple syrup and fresh fruit. If you need a gluten-free and dairy-free alternative, you can even make an unleavened pancake out of nothing but sweet potato mash and eggs. Mix the two ingredients until fully combined and add some of your favorite spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg or a pumpkin spice mix. Cook the batter as you would a normal pancake, but take care to flip it only when the first side is fully cooked.

The sweet potato is thought to have originated in Central or South America, and evidence of human consumption of the vegetable has been found that dates as far back as 8,000 B.C. in Peru. Christopher Columbus brought the plant back to Europe following his 1492 journey to the New World, and Spanish and Portuguese explorers were responsible for introducing the vegetable to Africa, India and parts of Asia.

Answer: Fries

Is there anything better than sweet potato fries? I actually prefer these to fries made from regular white potatoes. Here's the secret to making crispy sweet potato fries. While some cookbooks recommend washing the starch off regular russet potatoes to ensure a crispy fry, the trick to making crispy sweet potato fries is to add starch. Toss the prepared potatoes in some potato starch or corn starch before cooking to ensure a crispy exterior. The traditional cooking method is to deep fry the vegetables in very hot oil until crispy, but a healthier option would be to spread them out evenly on a tray and bake them in a hot oven. The vegetables tend to stick to foil, so it's best to use parchment or a greased cookie tray. These fries go well with ketchup or ranch dressing.

Cooking tip: Sweet potatoes should be placed in a bowl and covered completely with water if they are not being cooked immediately after peeling and cutting, as they will oxidize and darken upon exposure to air. Keep your julienned sweet potatoes in a bowl of water until you are ready to cook them, and then transfer them directly into the bowl containing the corn starch. The water acts as the perfect bonding agent for dredging in the starch.

Answer: Mash

Sweet potato mash can be made the same way you make regular mashed potatoes, but substituting sweet potatoes for the usual starchy russet potatoes. The typical method is to boil them in salted water until tender, draining them and then mashing the vegetables with some butter, milk and/or cream. Some recipes suggest browning your butter first to give the mash a more nutty taste. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay has a sweet potato mash recipe that calls for the addition of one pureed chipotle chili (the canned variety in adobo sauce), to lend the mash a smoky, spicy kick. Sweet potato mash pairs well with pork chops or ham.

Some Thanksgiving traditions involve making a casserole out of sweet potato mash topped with marshmallows or brown sugar, but there's actually no need for all that sugar. Sweet potatoes contain an enzyme that converts their starch stores into sugars as the root matures and during the cooking process, resulting in a finished dish that is sweet to the taste. To enhance the sweetness of the vegetable, try slow-roasting them in their skins instead of boiling them, and scooping out the flesh once they're cool enough to handle.

Answer: Soup

This satisfying soup is fairly easy to make. Most recipes revolve around the same method. Sweat some chopped onion and garlic in butter or oil in a large pot until soft but not browned, and add some stock or broth. Add the prepared sweet potatoes that have been peeled and cut into chunks, and simmer until the vegetables are cooked and tender. (You can also use leftover sweet potato mash, or sweet potatoes that have been roasted or steamed.) Transfer the soup to a blender in batches or liquidize everything in the pot with an immersion blender, and then season to taste. This naturally sweet and creamy soup is ready as is, but some recipes call for additional flavors like curry or ginger. Finish the soup with a little cream, crème fraiche, or yogurt for a more decadent treat.

Sweet potatoes are high in Vitamin A, E, and C as well as a good source of manganese, calcium, potassium, iron, and fiber.

Answer: Cake

A sweet potato cake can be made by adapting a simple pound cake recipe. Start by creaming butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then beat in your eggs one at a time until fully incorporated into the batter. Fold in the flour, and add whatever flavoring you desire, like vanilla or citrus zest and/or juice. The vegetables go in last, and can take the form of peeled and shredded sweet potatoes, roasted, boiled or steamed sweet potatoes, or even leftover sweet potato mash. Bake in a loaf or Bundt pan and decorate with icing sugar or a simple glaze made from icing sugar and orange or lime juice, or omit the icing altogether and just decorate simply with some chopped nuts.

With a name like that, you would expect sweet potatoes to be contraindicated for diabetics, but they may actually be a better choice than regular potatoes. Depending on the method of preparation, sweet potatoes are lower on the glycemic index than potatoes, so they are less likely to produce a spike in blood sugar levels. Check with your doctor or nutritionist to be sure.

Answer: Hummus

Sweet potato mash supplements or takes the place of cooked chickpeas in a new take on this popular meze dip. Combine cooked sweet potatoes in a blender or food processor with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, seasoning, and spices like cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper, and blitz everything into a smooth puree. Some form of flatbread is definitely required to scoop up this delicious dip. Finish the hummus with a splash of olive oil or the garnish of your choosing (paprika, sumac, parsley, chopped tomatoes or pine nuts are popular), and serve with some lightly toasted pita bread for a nutritious, vegan-friendly starter or snack.

Traditional hummus made from chickpeas is a staple throughout the Middle East and North Africa. On the other hand, the humble sweet potato was designated the state vegetable of North Carolina and Louisiana in 1995 and 2003 respectively.

Answer: Salad

Roasted sweet potato help make a simple green salad a little more substantial, while adding some gorgeous color to the dish. Peel and cube the sweet potatoes, and then toss them with a little oil and some seasoning (salt and pepper to taste at a minimum, but feel free to add spices like cinnamon or nutmeg). Roast them in a single layer in a hot oven until they are fork-tender, but not overly mushy. Cool completely before adding to the salad of your choosing.

Sweet potatoes are available in a multitude of different varieties, with flesh color ranging from yellow, orange, red or purple. Sweet potatoes shouldn't be confused with true yams, which come from a different botanical family. A certain variety of sweet potato from Louisiana was marketed under the name 'yam' as part of a branding exercise, to distinguish them from a different variety of sweet potato. The USDA now requires these vegetables sold as 'yams' to be also labeled 'sweet potato'.

Answer: Gnocchi

Gnocchi dates back to Roman times, and a more recent variation makes judicious use of the flesh of boiled or baked potatoes to create a light, fluffy texture. Sweet potatoes lend a vibrant orange color to these little dumplings. Start by cooking your sweet potatoes in their skins, and passing the flesh through a ricer or mashing them in a large bowl. Add a couple of eggs (some recipes substitute a cheese like ricotta) and your desired seasonings, and finish with just enough flour for the mixture to come together into a soft dough. Try not to overwork the dough to prevent your gnocchi from becoming tough. Roll out portions of the dough on a floured surface into long ropes, and then cut into equal-sized dumplings. Use the tines of a fork to create the classic indentations on each dumpling, which are great for holding the pasta sauce. Cook the gnocchi in a large pot of boiling, salted water until they float to the surface. Remove the dumplings from the water with a slotted spoon, and toss with your desired pasta sauce - popular combinations include a simple sauce made from brown butter and sage, or pesto.

The Environmental Working Group or EWG is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. that issues an annual guide in the levels of pesticides in produce sold as food. For 2015, regular potatoes made the 'Dirty Dozen' - a list of the 12 fruits and vegetables found to have the highest levels of pesticides - while sweet potatoes made the 'Clean 15' - a list of the produce with the least amounts of pesticide residues.

Answer: Pie

Sweet potatoes are the star of this baked dish that originated in the southern United States. Start with a shortcrust pastry made from butter or shortening, flour and a little cold water or buttermilk as a base, or use a pre-made pie crust. Add the filling made from sweet potato mash, melted butter, sugar, eggs, milk and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, and bake in a hot oven until the filling is set and cooked through. Serve with a little whipped cream, or go all out and pair it with a generous scoop of ice cream on the side. Many Americans favor sweet potato pie as the traditional Thanksgiving dessert. As observed by Deb Perelman, author of the "Smitten Kitchen" blog and series of cookbooks, "I suspect most Southerners already knew this, but they are so much better in baked goods than pumpkin, more creamy and dense, with more flavor and depth."

The sweet potato is celebrated every April in the town of Benton, Kentucky in a Tater Day Festival that features baking and canning competitions, a carnival and a parade. The festival dates back to 1842.

Answer: Roasted or grilled

Roasted whole sweet potatoes are common in kushiyaki restaurants that serve yakitori and other skewered meats and vegetables. In Japan, they are even sold out of carts by street vendors. The sweet potatoes are left whole and in their skins, often wrapped in some foil to ensure even cooking, and slow roasted or grilled for at least an hour, until the sugars start to caramelize and the flesh is soft and moist. They are usually served without any accompaniment, or with just a dab of butter.

Sweet potatoes feature prominently in the cuisines of Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines, partly because of their ease of cultivation even in areas prone to typhoon flooding. Sweet potatoes were introduced in Okinawa from China in the 1600s, and have become entrenched in Japanese culture. They can be found in everything from homemade soups to Kit-Kat bars.