Question: Rice, Potatoe, Pasta Vs Squas and Sweet Potato - All Starch?
By: Rich Grant
Published: April 7, 2010

I love to cook with rice, potatoes, and pasta and supplement with squash or sweet potato.

My wife complains TWO STARCHES. So what's the deal Are squash and sweet potato a veggie or just a starch. 

I say Veggie. Sorrry, get tired of corn that she doesn't complain about and we can only have peas and broccolli and asparagus so many times. Not fresh alot in our area.

Answers:
Chris Paulk

Winter squash, sweet potatoes and corn are all starchy foods. They contain different kinds of starch than your rice or pasta, and contain other beneficial vitamins- Vitamin A, C, Betacarotene, Folate & Calcium.
It would be really hard to go wrong with a sweet potato or squash in your diet and everyone has a differing opinion about what you should or shouldn't eat, so just use some variety and maybe new recipes to quell the argument.
A few ideas:
Butternut squash risotto with fried sage leaves
Sauteed greens from the sweet potato with a root vegetable mash (sweet potatoes, carrots and rutabagas)
Pasta tossed with garlic, olive oil, asparagus, peas, Parmaesan, & teeny tiny cubes of sweet potatoes.
Wild rice salad tossed with either tiny cubes of sweet potatoes or winter squash, pinenuts, dried cranberrys, golden raisins, garlic, shallots and toss with a very light lemon and olive oil.
Mexican corn salad with rice, corn, small strips of freshly roasted poblano or anaheim chilis, grape tomatoes, onions, fresh basil, and  cilantro, and a vinaigrette of lime juice, cumin, oregano and olive oil.
Just a few ideas.
Curt

Dump the potatoes and rice and eat the sweet potatoes & squash.  They are WAY more healthy.  Corn may be more starchy than all of them.  What area do you live in that you can't get fresh vegetables?  Broccoli, asparagus, caulifllower, kale, bok choy, nappa cabbage, cabbage, beets, carrots, leeks, sweet peppers (red, yellow or orange), brussel sprouts, snow peas.  There are also salad and everything that can go into it.  Replace vegetables with fruit.  I could go on for an hour.  Use your imagination.