Yam Butter

This is by far one of my favorite dishes. I've been making it for about four years and every time we have it, we're in heaven. Adapted from The Balanced Plate (which is filled with wonderful whole food recipes, but not famous for offering simple or easy cooking), this dish has a nice, short list of ingredients and can be put together in less than 20 minutes. Anytime there are sweet potatoes around is a good time to serve sweet potato butter, however, it really is wonderful in the fall and winter. It's called butter because of its creamy, rich flavor - and because it's delicious spread on bread and crackers instead of dairy butter. Serve as an appetizer with whole-wheat crackers, as a side dish, or as a main dish. I also use it in dark bread sandwiches with greens.

Serves 4 as a side dish.
Keeps 4 days refrigerated.

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into chunks
  
• 2 tablespoon olive oil - plus more to adjust consistency
• 1 clove garlic
  
• 1 teaspoon rosemary9fresh or dried), finely chopped
  
• 1 teaspoon sage
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely grated
  
• Generous pinch of sea salt
• Pepper to taste

1. Steam the sweet potatoes in a steamer or large pot with steaming basket* for about 15 minutes or until soft. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt during this process.
2. In a food processor, combine all remaining ingredients and combine well until smooth. You can also use a potato masher, but be sure to really mash it well. Add more olive oil and/or almond milk if it seems too dry.
   
3. Garnish with pepper and serve immediately.
   

*To steam vegetables, put about three inches of water in a large pot. It's good to have a steaming basket, which you can get at any kitchen store. Put the veggies in the basket, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil, and cover with a tight fitting lid with a steam release hole (or leave a crack between the lid and pot to let the steam release. Turn up the heat and steam tender - usually only a couple of minutes for dark green veggies, longer for potatoes and artichokes.