Southwest Potato Salad

This is a distant take on a potato salad but using the more beneficial to your health spud, the Sweet Potato. There is much confusion over what is a Yam and what is a sweet potato. All I know is I prefer the more orange-fleshed Garnet variety. It's a superficial preference as I just like the color. There may be more health benefits as the presence of orange denotes a high instance of Beta-carotene.


As most recipes are really variations on a theme, this is somewhat more organic in inspiration. Tim and I were visiting my parents in Texas over Memorial Weekend and I was tasked with creating a side dish based on the bounty available. Here's what we came up with.

Ingredients:

• 2 Large Sweet Potatoes, skin on, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 Poblano Peppers, whole
• 1 Large yellow onion, cut into thick slices
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 3 - 4 green onions, thinly sliced white and green parts
• 1/2 t Cinnamon
• 1/4 t Cayenne
• 1/2 t Kosher Salt
• 1/4 t Granulated Garlic (what we had on hand, was actually in a grinder with the salt)
• Olive Oil
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1/8 C Basil, Chiffonade
• Balsamic Glaze (or Balsamic Creme)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place sweet potatoes on baking sheet and thinly coat with olive oil. Toss with the cinnamon and cayenne. Roast for 40 minutes.

Thinly coat the onions and Poblano peppers with oil and season with some salt and pepper. Grill until a nice char has been achieved. After grilling, put the Poblanos in a zip top bag for 10 minutes. Dice the onions and set aside. Once the Poblanos have "steeped", remove from the bag and peel off the outer skin. Remove the stem and seeds and dice.

Combine the sweet potatoes, onions, Poblanos, celery, green onions with the remaining salt, garlic, black pepper, basil. Add in just enough Balsamic Glaze, between 1 t to 1 T to taste. You want this flavor to be more subtle than the star. Toss to combine. Enjoy hot, warm or cold.