{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Plant Powered Collective","title":"Roasted Sweet Potato Recipes for Brain and Gut Health: Seeds, Plant Variety, and Restorative Sleep","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1689,"description":"\nShow Notes\n\nOne tray of roasted sweet potatoes can become far more than a repeated side dish.\nIn this episode of the Plant Powered Collective Podcast, I explore how one familiar ingredient can become several delicious, nutrient-rich meals when we change the fragrance, acidity, texture, flavor base, and presentation.\nThe sweet potatoes began as one of several nourishing toppings at a make-your-own nacho dinner with friends and their three boys. I made extra so I could use them as the foundation for meals throughout the week.\nThose extra sweet potatoes became two completely different dishes:A warm sweet potato, beluga lentil, and charred radicchio salad with pear, orange, sherry vinegar, pistachios, and pumpkin seedsA miso-glazed sweet potato and soba noodle plate with edamame, shiitake mushrooms, bok choy, ginger, quick-pickled cucumber, and toasted seedsThe ingredients are delicious, but their purpose goes beyond flavor. Sweet potatoes provide fiber and colorful carotenoids, including beta-carotene in orange varieties. Lentils contribute plant protein, fiber, folate, iron, potassium, and other nutrients. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds add unsaturated fats, plant protein, minerals, earthiness, and the textural contrast that soft foods often need.Vinegar, citrus, ginger, herbs, and quick-pickled vegetables add acidic fragrance and brightness. They help make simple plant foods more interesting without requiring heavy sauces or complicated preparation.\nThis episode also continues the conversation about nourishment around the plate. I share how I am focusing on restorative sleep by limiting evening screen time and lowering the lights in my home as the sun goes down. This is part of supporting my brain today, building a foundation for my future brain, and creating a calmer evening rhythm for my father, who is living with dementia and primary progressive aphasia.Controlled studies have found that prolonged evening exposure to light-emitting screens can suppress melatonin...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/m2cQX15G4OBVwYhoNlq8JcB0Nvfy6CcbdhOu7TLDPbs/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83N2Qx/MGJiOGRmNjYyZjQz/MGQzYjI3NWM2NTAy/Nzg1MC5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}