Sweet potato and coconut milk porridge

The sweet way to boost your immunity!

You may not think of your skin as part of your immune system but skin serves as a first-line defence system against bacteria, viruses, and other undesirables. To stay strong and healthy, your skin needs vitamin A. One of the best ways to get vitamin A into your diet is from foods containing beta-carotene (like sweet potatoes), which your body turns into vitamin A.

You may think eating sweet potatoes for a snack or breakfast is odd. Just trust me and try this once; I’m quite confident it will convince you to join me in my unconditional love for the flavour and amazing health benefits of sweet potatoes. There’s a reason they're called “sweet” and that's because they literally have such a delicious natural sweetness which actually works wonderfully in both sweet and savoury dishes. Baking even further intensifies the sweetness of sweet potatoes.

Besides being excellent for your thyroid and your metabolism, coconuts are rich in lauric acid, which your body converts into monolaurin. Monolaurin is the compound found in breast milk that strengthens a baby's immunity. Coconut milk is high in calories though so use in moderation or try ‘light’ coconut milk.

Serve 4

Ingredients

1 kg sweet potatoes, washed with the skin on. Purple sweet potatoes are preferred for this remipe but any colour will work just as well.

2 cups light coconut milk

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Bake sweet potatoes on a lined baking tray for 1 hour or until soft. Leave in the oven for another 15 minutes after turning off the oven.

Peel the skin off and roughly mash the sweet potato with a fork.

Warm the coconut milk on the hob and then add to the sweet potato.

*Tip: Bake sweet potatoes in batches and use them for snacks or breakfast later on. Pre-baked sweet potatoes can be stored up to 3 days in the fridge.