There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who love sweet potatoes, and those who don’t. In our house it’s about 50-50. I was raised on sweet potatoes. My mom was raised on sweet potatoes. Growing up, Mom cooked them all the time and served them with a little butter, hot out of the oven. We also ate cold sweet potatoes out of the fridge. We LOVED tempura sweet potatoes, a rare treat. To this day I love a good cold sweet potato, sliced as a snack. My kids think this is sick (sick, not in a cool way).
I first made Sweet Potato Salad with Orange Maple Dressing a couple of years ago, and have since tried a few different variations. This is a great dish to serve as a side with a summer barbecue, winter meal, or a spring brunch. It is served cold or room temperature as a salad. We had it last week with salmon-yum! Try this on your Easter brunch table. The sweet potato people in your family will love it.
Sweet Potato Salad with Orange Maple Dressing
Ingredients
Dressing:
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons fresh peeled minced ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons honey
Salad:
- 4 pounds red skinned sweet potatoes yams
- 2 pounds white skinned sweet potatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped green onion
- 1 cup fresh parsley optional
- 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts toasted * (or sugared see below), coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1 small Fuji apple cubed
Instructions
For Dressing:
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Whisk all ingredients to blend in small bowl. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.
For Salad:
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Steam or bake potatoes until tender. Cool and peel. Slice into cubes about 3/4 inch. Transfer potatoes to large bowl. Completely cool to room temperature. Add green onions, parsley, pecans, raisins and apple. Pour dressing over salad ingredients. Toss gently to blend.
Recipe Notes
-Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
-If you want to prepare the day before: cook the potatoes, peel and chop. Prepare the dressing and store in the refrigerator until day of serving salad. Chop the green onion and parsley. Place on top of the potatoes. Refrigerate. Next day, toss all remaining ingredients.
-I like to sugar the nuts in a teflon pan. Heat the pan over medium to med high, pour the nuts into the pan, sprinkle with about 1/4 cup sugar. Stir and cook just until sugar is melted and coats the nuts. Pour onto a piece of foil, cool and sprinkle with a couple more tablespoons of sugar.
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Thanks for the bigger font!!! I love Sweet potatoes…..
I’m seriously THINKING about making this.
Just for the record…. I am the kid that DOES like the sweet potatoes 🙂
Si – Thanks for recommending a Teflon pan in your process!
Speaking on behalf of DuPont, it’s nice to see how Teflon affects peoples everyday lives.
If you’re interested in any more info, or just want to check out some cool recipes, feel free to take a look at http://www.teflon.com