{"id":4287,"date":"2011-02-22T22:15:59","date_gmt":"2011-02-23T05:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/?p=4287"},"modified":"2011-02-22T22:15:59","modified_gmt":"2011-02-23T05:15:59","slug":"sweet-potato-salad-recip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/sweet-potato-salad-recip\/","title":{"rendered":"Savoring the sweet potato"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Although I’ve always liked sweet potatoes, I’ve never really thought of them as anything but holiday food.\u00a0\u00a0 Once Christmas is past, they’re out of mind.<\/p>\n

All that changed a couple of weeks ago when my\u00a0 friend Susan Cohen took me to Poulet, a take-out\/eat-in deli in Berkeley,\u00a0 before her poetry reading.\u00a0 There in the glass case among the salads was an intriguing dish pairing sweet potatoes and black beans.\u00a0 It looked so appealing, I had to try it.<\/p>\n

The first bite was amazing.\u00a0 A spicy jolt of lime and chile dressing banished all the usual associations with brown sugar and cinnamon.\u00a0 Suddenly, the familiar sweet potato was exotic and exciting.\u00a0 Its earthy sweetness played the essential bass note in a jazzy riff of lively flavors.<\/p>\n

The next day, I was still thinking about that salad. I knew I had to make it myself and I found this Mark Bittman recipe<\/a> on the New York Times web site that seemed very close to what I ate in Berkeley.<\/p>\n

But I wanted to play with this fascinating juxtaposition of sweet, fruity, spicy and savory flavors.\u00a0 The fact that sweet potatoes are\u00a0 among of the most nutritious vegetables in the produce department only added to the appeal.<\/p>\n

The sweet potato tops the 10 best foods<\/a> list compiled by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which calls it a nutritional all-star.\u00a0 It’s packed with carotenoids, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber.<\/p>\n

Don’t be confused by the names.\u00a0 There are many varieties and the red-skinned, orange-fleshed tubers labeled garnet yams at the supermarket are actually sweet potatoes, according to botanists.\u00a0 They’re native to Central and South America but have been adopted around the world. In the U.S., they’re mostly grown in North Carolina and California with smaller production in Mississippi and Louisiana.\u00a0 They’re available year-round.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Although most people mash sweet potatoes, they’re very good roasted like squash in chunks so they hold their shape.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That’s the way I prepared them for this recipe.\u00a0 To keep things simple, I roasted the red onion slivers and garlic cloves along with the potato chunks.<\/p>\n

Pleasantly bitter arugula made a good counterbalance to the sweet and savory roasted vegetables.\u00a0 If you toss it with the vegetables while they’re still warm, the arugula will wilt a bit, softening its bite.<\/p>\n

The dressing was inspired by one Rick Bayless uses for a jicama salad in “Mexican Everyday”<\/a> (Norton, 2005).\u00a0 It whizzes together lime juice, zest, cilantro, a jalape\u00c3\u00b1o and oil in a blender. The bright flavors are a perfect foil for sweet potatoes.<\/p>\n

Try this salad and you may find your perspective on sweet potatoes shifting, too.<\/p>\n

SWEET POTATO SALAD WITH LIME AND CHILE DRESSING
\nServes 4<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

2 pounds orange fleshed sweet potatoes (aka garnet yams)
\n1 medium red onion
\n1 head garlic
\n2 tablespoons plus \u00bd cup extra virgin olive oil, divided use
\nSalt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
\n1\u00a0jalape\u00c3\u00b1o pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
\n\u00bd cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
\n\u00bc cup freshly squeezed lime juice
\nZest of one lime
\n2-3 large handfuls of arugula<\/p>\n

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.\u00a0 Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.\u00a0 Peel sweet potatoes,\u00a0 cut into 1-inch cubes and place on prepared baking sheet.\u00a0 Peel onion, slice in half lengthwise, cut each half into thin vertical slivers and add them to sweet potatoes on the baking sheet.\u00a0 Separate head of garlic into cloves, peel cloves and place on baking sheet.\u00a0 Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the sweet potatoes, red onion slivers and garlic cloves and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss vegetables with oil and spread out in a single layer. \u00a0 Bake for\u00a0 30-40 minutes, until sweet potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.\u00a0 Don’t worry if the onions\u00a0 char a little on the tips.<\/p>\n

While the vegetables are cooking, whirl the jalape\u00c3\u00b1o, cilantro, lime juice, zest and remaining \u00bd cup olive oil together in blender.\u00a0 Add a little salt to taste if desired.<\/p>\n

When vegetables are tender, let cool briefly, then toss with about half the dressing in a large serving bowl.\u00a0 Add the arugula and toss again, adding more dressing if needed.\u00a0 Serve warm or at room temperature.<\/p>\n

Aleta Watson<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although I’ve always liked sweet potatoes, I’ve never really thought of them as anything but holiday food.\u00a0\u00a0 Once Christmas is past, they’re out of mind. All that changed a couple of weeks ago when my\u00a0 friend Susan Cohen took me to Poulet, a take-out\/eat-in deli in Berkeley,\u00a0 before her poetry reading.\u00a0 There in the glass … Continue reading Savoring the sweet potato<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4287"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4865,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287\/revisions\/4865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}