Another Last Hurrah

I couldn’t resist. Yes, I know it is officially fall, but the weather yesterday felt like summer was still in full swing.

(This photo was taken at 5:30 pm after it had already cooled down several degrees!) Mother Nature, I’ll take two more months of this weather, please. Thankyouverymuch.

To celebrate this glorious summer-ish day, I made a summer-ish dinner. Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Thai Bean Burgers (<–Mama Pea’s recipe). Burgers and potato salad. It doesn’t get much more summer-ish than that, does it?

 The inspiration to make the sweet potato salad came from my friend Ashley who posted her sweet potato salad recipe on facebook last week. It reminded me of the recipe I’ve had tucked in my recipe binder in the “to try” pocket for months now. When I told Ashley this she said she’d like to see my recipe to compare the two. Ashley, this one’s for you. (I think my actual words on facebook were, “Oh, it’s on girlfriend!”

So this is me, bringin’ it.

No one in my family really cares for traditional potato salad–none of us likes mayo, and we only eat white potatoes once in a blue moon. (How often is a blue moon, you ask? Not exactly sure, but it is not often. You can probably Google it if you really want to know.)  

But when I found and printed the original version of this recipe, I thought it would be worth a try because of one ingredient: sweet potatoes! Put sweet potatoes in anything and it is immediately improved by 120%, am I right? And? There is no mayo in sight. Perfect.

The blue moon must have been full this week because for some reason I bought two white potatoes. I have no idea why, but I then forgot the sweet potatoes on my second trip to the grocery store this week. I wasn’t going back to the store again, so the russet potatoes were going in the salad, and luckily I already had two sweet potatoes at home. My aging-brain malfunction turned out to be a happy accident.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
• 2 medieum russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
• 2-3 T grapeseed oil (or other high heat oil)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 cups pineapple chunks (fresh or canned–drained if using canned)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
• 3/4 cup scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro

Dressing:

• 2 T apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp agave
• zest of 1 orange
• 3 tsp dijon mustard
• 3 T olive oil
• tiny pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 425*. In a roasting pan, combine the potatoes, grapeseed oil, salt and pepper. Stir around until everything is coated. Roast for 25 minutes or until fork tender. Allow to cool. Meanwhile, add the rest of the rest of the veggies, fruit and cilantro to a large bowl. To prepare the dressing, whisk together all the ingredients in a small bowl or place in a jar and shake well with the lid on. Add cooled potatoes to the large bowl, pour on the dressing and toss to mix well. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

I can now say that this is one potato salad that we do like. I really enjoyed the two types of potatoes together and think that maybe it would have been too sweet with all sweet potatoes? But maybe not. I might even try it without the pineapple next time since there was the hint of orange-sweetness from the orange zest in the dressing. The jalapenos gave it a nice balance (since they are seeded it was not spicy at all).

But even as-is, this was a really tasty new salad. It is definitely something I will make again.

Packed with nutrients and without any heavy mayo, it is a much healthier potato salad option (and more picnic-friendly too). We always hear about how sweet potatoes are so much better for us than white potatoes, but actually, it is a toss-up between the two in terms of nutrients. Sweet potatoes are loaded with beta carotene and vitamin C, but white potatoes are high in potassium and iron. They are about the same in calories, fiber, carbohydrates, and several other vitamins and minerals. By mixing the two, we get the best of both worlds.

So whether it is still summer where you live, or if you are in the depths of autumn, I highly recommend this salad. It would go great with a football game or a mid-hike lunch break.

Happy weekend, everyone!