Sweet potatoes just don’t get the credit they deserve. They’re full of nutrients, with one medium-sized potato providing 35% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin C, and more than a day’s worth of vitamin A, according to the USDA.

And sweet potatoes are also extremely versatile! As long as you can stand the added (natural) sweetness, they serve as a great subsitute for plain, white potatoes in a variety of dishes, especially soups and baked goods. Slice them into french fries instead of plain old potatoes. Try them raw instead of carrot sticks . . . no, seriously, it works.

In order to test the bounds of the sweet potato’s adaptability, we at the Neighborhood Farm Initiative tried using sweet potatoes in a “regular potato” recipe that has been a staple for centuries, in one form or another, at Hanukkah. It’s everybody’s favorite potato pancake, the latke!

The hardest thing about this recipe is all of the grating. The carrots and potatoes should all be grated, and the onions diced into tiny pieces.

Place the grated potatoes in a colander over a bowl. Salt lightly and let stand 15 minutes. Then rinse potatoes and press out excess water.

But once that’s over, the fun begins!

Combine all ingredients and mix well. If the batter has too much liquid, just add more flour. Fry in vegeta

ble oil until light brown and crisp. Use your hands to form the latke “dough” into little pancakes, then fry

in vegetable oil.

Place just-cooked pan cakes on paper towels or newspaper to soak up excess oil for about 10 minutes.

Serve latkes immediately with sprinkled fresh chives or sour cream

if you like. Your sweet potato latkes are the star of the meal, so they pair well with something simple. We baked a simply dressed salmon, just salt and pepper and lemon juice, and we steamed broccoli and then tossed it with some slivered almonds sauteed with garlic and butter.

Enjoy!

Ingredients for Sweet Potato Latkes (Thanks, Danielle and your dad!)

for 4 to 6 servings

1 cup grated carrot, 1 cup grated white potato, 1 cup grated sweet potato (all firmly packed)

2 Tablespoons diced onion

1/3 cup parsley

(optional 1 small crushed garlic)

4 beaten eggs

1/3 cup flour (if the mixture has too much liquid, add more flour)

1 teaspoon salt

a dash of fresh black pepper

juice of 1/2 lemon

fresh chives