On Sunday I found this funny sweet potato at the Farmers Market and had to buy it - doesn't it look just like a pig's trotter? How perfect for today when I decided to try my friend Kirsten's Sweet Potato Salad recipe, which has a savory warm bacon dressing.
I love roasting the sweet potatoes this way - I actually did not stir them at all and let them caramelize and get a little sticky - so wonderful, it's hard to keep from eating them right off of the pan. The dressing is a gorgeous and colorful combination of vegetables, bacon fat, fresh ginger and cumin.
You only use a little of the bacon fat and the rest is olive oil, so it's not as unhealthy as it might sound. The citrus from the orange is a nice combination, and even though it said four portions, I was able to eat two at one sitting with no problem.
The only change that I made was to add orange zest to the dressing before squeezing the juice, and I added some salt and pepper after tossing the salad. Delicious!
Kirsten's Sweet Potato Salad
- 2 sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into pieces
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 thick slices of bacon
- 1 bell pepper, cored and chopped
- 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Juice from 1 orange
- 1 pound fresh spinach
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Put potatoes on a baking sheet, drizzle with two tablespoons of the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Roast, turning occasionally, until crisp and brown outside and tender inside, about 30 minutes. Remove and keep on the pan until ready to use. While potatoes cook, put bacon in a stainless steel or other nonreactive skillet and turn heat to medium. Cook, turning once or twice, until crisp. Drain on paper towels and pour off fat, leaving darkened bits in the pan. Put back on medium heat; add remaining oil to the pan. When hot, add bell pepper, onion, and ginger to the pan. Cook, stirring once or twice until just softened, about five minutes; stir in cumin and bacon (broken into pieces). Stir in orange juiceand turn off heat. (The recipe can be made up to an hour or so ahead to this point. Gently warm dressing again before proceeding.) Put spinach in a bowl large enough to comfortably toss the salad. Add the potatoes and warm dressing. Toss to combine. Serves four.
10/29/09 Update:
I made it the next day for lunch, and added some garbanzo beans. Delicious - this is going to be on my regular lunch rotation for sure.
