 
Harpo's dishes the healthy vegetable, the potato as their July pizza
of the month. Whether mashed, baked or roasted, people often consider
potatoes as a comfort food. It is an important food staple and the
number one vegetable crop in the world.
Potatoes are available year-round as they are harvested somewhere
every month of the year.
The potato belongs to the Solanaceae or nightshade family whose other
members include tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and tomatillos. They are
the swollen portion of the underground stem which is called a tuber and
is designed to provide food for the green leafy portion of the plant. If
allowed to flower and fruit, the potato plant will bear an inedible
fruit resembling a tomato. All those naughty children around the world,
who dislike eating any vegetable and hate them like anything, share
another common interest. All of them like potatoes. This is the magic of
the potatoes. You will hardly find anyone who dislikes them.
 Today one cannot even imagine vegetables without potatoes. This
shapeless and ugly looking tuber, bearing the scientific name Solanum
Tuberosum, has cast a spell on us. Potato lovers (including me), and
those who do not like them, will be equally delighted to know that
potatoes have more in store for them than just carbohydrates and
calories. Let us uncover them.
The health benefits of potato include weight gain, good digestion,
healthy skin, aids proper brain function prevents diseases like scurvy,
rheumatism, inflammation, high blood pressure, heart ailments, kidney
stones and diarrhoea.
The juice of the potato is a good treatment for burns, bruises,
sprains, skin problems, ulcers, effect of narcotics, cancer of prostrate
and uterus and formation of cysts or tumors. Potatoes are a very good
source of vitamin C. They are also a good source of vitamin B6, copper,
potassium, manganese, and dietary fibre. Have a healthy meal with a
Potato Pizza from Harpo's Pizza.
Harpo's Pizza winners:
1. T.Sumithra, Colombo-14
2. Indira Sanderatne, Peradeniya
3. C.Pulle, Dehiwela |
