Hoisin Sweet Potato Open Faced Sandwich

Is the sweet potato the secret to longevity?  Here is a quote from the article that appeared in the Huffingpost written by Dan Buettner the author of the book The Blue Zones:

All Okinawans age 100 or more who are alive today were born between 1903 and 1914. During the first third of their lives, roughly before 1940, the vast majority of the calories they consumed — more than 60 percent — came from one food: the imo, or Okinawan sweet potato. A purple or yellow variety related to our orange sweet potato, the imo came here from the Americas about 400 years ago and took well to Okinawan soils. This sweet potato — high in flavonoids, vitamin C, fiber, carotenoids, and slow-burning carbohydrates — is one of the healthiest foods on the planet.

Realizing this fact and because sweet potato is so easy to bake in the microwave, it has been a staple in my diet.  It is good as is straight from the microwave sans anything.  I have used it to to make plant based burgers,, savory pancakes, and burrito that satisfied me.  I was watching the TV show The Chew and one of the hosts mentioned that sweet potatoes are being used like a piece of bread spread with all kinds of toppings.  But I love my bread and did not want to do away with it.  So I decided to have it and also eat my sweet potato by preparing this open faced sandwich.

I decided to have an Asian influenced open faced sandwich with sweet potatoes as the "meat" and Hoisin sauce, green onions and cilantro as toppings.  My oh my.  This is the bomb!

Hoisin Sweet Potato Open Faced Sandwich

• 1 six inch long whole wheat baguette 
• 1 small sweet potato, cooked or baked in the microwave or oven
• 1 piece napa cabbage
• 2 tsp Hoisin sauce (store bought or homemade using recipe below)
• 1 small bunch cilantro
• 1 tbsp green onions, sliced in small pieces

Split your baguette open.  Toast your baguette in the toaster.

Line the baguette pieces with napa cabbage and then spread the sweet potato slices on top of the baguette. Squeeze Hoisin sauce from the bottle on top of the potatoes and top with cilantro and green onions.  Enjoy!

Homemade Hoisin Sauce

(From CDKitchen)

(Makes 1/2 cup)

• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter or black bean paste
• 1 tablespoon honey or molasses or brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 20 drops chinese hot sauce, habenero or jalepeno
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Whisk all the ingredients together.   At first it does not appear to be mixing together, keep at it and whisk a bit longer.