Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Lime & Honey

  

You are going to love the recipe I am sharing with you today.  Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Lime & Honey.  Do you love sweet potatoes as much as I love sweet potatoes?  If so, then this recipe is sure to become one you will turn to frequently in the summer months!

 

Sweet Potatoes are a wonderful vegetable.  Members of the Morning Glory family, they are an underground tuber and are filled with plenty of nutrients.  Rich in beta carotine, and high in fibre, these delicious tubers can be enjoyed boiled, baked, roasted, steamed or fried. 

 

They range in colours from white to orange and everything in between.  I have not actually seen the pink, yellow, purple or white ones, but I am quite familiar with the red/orange ones both dark in colour and lighter.  The ones you need to be using for this recipe today should have a dark red skin.  They have the orangest flesh and look the nicest.

 

They have been called a super-food and are not at all the same as regular potatoes which come from the night shade family.   Until today I had always thought they were better for me than regular potatoes, but I have learned today that they are not really that good for Type 2 Diabetics, so I am really disappointed to read that.  *sniff *sniff*

 

I don't know where I got the idea that they were low GI, because they definitely are not. Oh well, you learn something new every day!

 

As I said, you will want to use sweet potatoes with the darker orange coloured flesh for this recipe. They will be the most attractive.

 

Relatively few ingredients are needed, just the sweet potatoes, some olive oil, salt, a lime, honey and some chopped coriander to garnish.

 

Peeled sweet potatoes are cut into 1 inch chunks and tossed together with some olive oil and salt before roasting in a very hot oven until they are fork tender and just beginning to caramelise.

 

They are dressed with a simple dressing of honey, fresh lime juice and lime zest.  The flavours of this are amazing.

  

Very simple and yet delivering the perfect balance of sweet and tart . . .  I do so love lime, don't you?

 

The roasted sweet potatoes are tossed lightly in this dressing and then garnished with some chopped fresh coriander leaf (cilantro). You can leave that out if you are not a fan.  Just garnish it with some chopped parsley.

 

Alogether this is mighty delicious.  So simple.  Quick and easy as well.

  

It went down a real treat with some grilled chicken and an Avocado and Tomato Salad.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Lime & Honey

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Yield: 6

Author: Marie Rayner

Cubes of roasted sweet potatoes are dressed in a tangy sweet and beautifully balanced dressing of lime and honey

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds of red skinned sweet potatoes (these have the orangest flesh)
• 60ml olive oil (1/4 cup)
• fine sea salt to taste
• 2 TBS lime juice, plus more if need be
• 2 tsp finely grated lime zest
• 2 TBS honey
• 2 TBS chopped fresh coriander leaf to garnish (cilantro)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 230*C/450*F/ gas mark 7. Line one or two large baking trays with aluminium foil. Spray the foil lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into one inch cubes. Toss them together in a bowl with the olive oil. Spread them out onto  the baking tray(s).  Sprinkle 2 tsp of salt over top.
3. Roast the sweet potatoes in the preheated oven, stirring them every 10 minutes for 20 to 25 minutes, until they are fork tender and lightly gilded.  Watch carefully so they don't burn.
4. Allow to cool to room temperature.  Transfer to a serving bowl.
5. Whisk together the lime juice, zest and honey. Pour over the sweet poatoes and gently fold together to mix.  Taste and season with more salt if required and up to 1 t 2 tsp of additional lime juice if you think it needs it.  Scatter the top with the coriander leaf and serve.

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I am so, so, so disappointed to learn that I shouldn't really be eating sweet potatoes.  Here, all along, I was thinking that they were really good for me.  I guess I shall have to treat them as a rare treat as well.  Getting older is not for sissies, that's for sure! 

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Turkey Taco Salad

 

When I was cheffing at the Manor, once or twice a month my boss would entertain all of her friends from her internation women's club to lunch.  They were actually supposed to take turns, but she ended up doing it most of the time. 

 

First of all I think she was probably the wealthiest of them all and secondly I think she liked to show off to the others and get her money's worth out of me. I didn't mind as they were wonderful opportunities to stretch and exercise my skills.

 

All of the ladies would enter at the back entry way where I would greet them with a cold drink, usually an option of a glass of wine or an ice cold elderflower drink, which I would have gotten ready prior to their arriving.  It was my job to greet them because the Mrs, despite having had all morning to get ready would probably only just be getting in the shower, having spent several hours faffing about with flowers in the laundry room.  She spent an inordinate amount of money on her flower arrangements.  I can't even begin to tell you .  Let me just say that the flowers for one of her luncheons would have cost more than an entire month's wages for myself.

 

While she was faffing about with the flowers I would be setting the table for the luncheon which would have been either in the Conservatory,  the dining room, on the stone patio deck at the side of the house or under the arbour out in the back garden.  A lot depended on the time of year,  and what the weather was doing.

 

As well as that I would be trying to organise and prepare all of the courses for the luncheon.  First there would be three bite sized nibbles for them to enjoy with their elderflower/wine prior to the luncheon.  They would need to keep themselves occupied with something while they were waiting for her to make her grand appearance, so nibbles it was.  I usually tried to keep these simple because the ladies didn't really want to fill up too much.

 

Usually there would be a first course.  She liked to serve soup for the first course.  Depending on the time of year it would be either a hot soup or a cold soup.  She had beautiful dishes to serve them in.  One of my favourites was the soup dishes that looked like vegetables, each with their own leaf plate. they were really quite pretty.

 

After the first course they would enjoy the main course which would be either some poached salmon or chicken with vegetables or a salad of some sort. Of course this is simplifying things somewhat as it was never quite as simple as poached salmon, but always something fun and delicious and colourful!  This would be followed by a choice of two desserts.  And yes, I did all of it by myself. The preparation of everything, the serving, the clearing and the clean up afterwards. Let me tell you at the end of the day I would be zonked.  Thank goodness if I was working a luncheon I didn't have to cook supper that evening!

 

Things like this Turkey Taco Salad would have been popular luncheon options, although she would have preferred a salad that was a bit fiddlier than this one. This one is dead simple . . .  from start to finish and oh-so-delicious!!

 

I am sure the ladies would have enjoyed it immensely.

 

A crisp homemade tortilla bowl  . . .  created by draping small tortillas over muffin cups spritzed with canola cooking spray, so easy . . .

 

Filled with a spectacularly flavour filled turkey mixture, perfectly seasoned and beautifully spiced.

  

Garnished with some grated cheese, shredded lettuce and sliced spring onions  . . .  then drizzled with ranch dressing and sprinkled with cherry tomatoes.  This would have gone down really well with the ladies I am sure.  I think you will enjoy it as well. Quick, easy and delicious!

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Turkey Taco Salad

Yield: 6

Author: Marie Rayner

This is so delicious you would never think that it is basically also quite healthy!

Ingredients:

For the turkey filling:

• 1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• 1 TBS paprika
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp each fine sea salt and ground black pepper
• 1 tsp green tabasco sauce
• 240ml boiling water (1 cup)

You will also need:

• canola cooking spray
• 6 street taco sized flour tortillas
• 4 leaves of romaine lettuce washed, dried and shredded
• 6 TBS grated strong cheddar cheese
• 6 cherry tomatoes, washed and quartered
• 1 large spring onion, washed and finely chopped
• ranch dressing to drizzle

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.  Lightly spray a medium, six cup muffin tin with some canola oil spray. 
2. Gently fit the tortillas into each cup to fit and then lightly spray with more canola oil.  Alternately spray the bottoms of the muffin tin with the oil spray and press the tortillas over them allowing them to drape down the sides and spray again.  Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes until crisp.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
3. To make the filling, heat the oil in a large skillet.  Add the carrot and cook for a minute or so, then crumble in the turkey. Scramble fry. breaking it up as you go, for 5 to 7  minutes until it is beginning to brown and is no longer pink. Add all of the spices and seasonings.  Stir to combine and cook for a minute longer.  Add the  tabasco sauce and boiling water and cook for about 3 minutes, until most of the water has evaporated.  Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
4.  Place one of the crisp tortilla cups on each of six salad plates. Fill with the turkey mixture dividing it equally amongst the cups. Top each with 1 TBS of the cheese, some of the lettuce, the spring onion and cherry tomatoes. Drizzle with some ranch dressing and serve immediately.

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Turkey is a superfood, filled with plenty of vitamins and nutrients and is also thought to help lower your risk for cancer.  I don't know how they know these things, but I am sure they have done their studies of it.  Odd how I can't really stand the texture of ground beef, but I love ground turkey! 

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A Healthier Potato Salad

 

With the sunny weather and really warm temperatures we have been enjoying lately we have started to crave things like salads and grilled meats.  Simple meals.  Light meals. Summer Comfort Food.

 

Yes, there is such a thing as Summer Comfort Food. Wikepedia defines Comfort food as the following: "Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone, and may be characterized by its high caloric nature, high carbohydrate level, or simple preparation. The nostalgia may be specific to an individual, or it may apply to a specific culture."

 

I would tend to largely agree with that.  Comfort food indeed is not only delicious, but at once nostalgic, evoking memories of our childhoods, special family moments and memories, individual cultures.  This would greatly vary according your family and where you are from.

 

People tend to associate Comfort Food eating with the colder winter months, when we want to eat stews, bakes and stodgy, soul enriching foods. 

 Where I don't agree is that Comfort Food necessarily is that it needs to be highly calorific and filled with carbs.  I think there is plenty of comfort foods that are not any of those things.

 

One of my favourite comfort foods is Canteloupe melons. You might think that strange, and maybe it is.  When I was a child my best friend Susan's mother always served canteloupe melon with vanilla ice cream after dinner on Sundays.  I can remember being invited to have dessert with them and enjoying this "rare for me" treat.

 

We never had anything as exotic as canteloupe melons in our home.  I can still remember how beautiful they tasted, almost like a delicious perfume . . .  and the textural contrasts between the crisp ripe melon and that rich and creamy vanilla ice cream. Nothing starchy or stodgy there.

 

Her mother also used to make the most beautiful potato pancakes and it was a special day for me when I would be invited in to share them with her family. I must remember to ask her how her mother used to make them because I have been thinking about them a lot recently.  Those were starchy and stodgy, and yes comforting.

  

To me Potato Salad is definitely a comfort food dish. I can still see my mother standing at the kitchen counter, spearing  hot boiled potatoes with a fork as she peeled their skins off with a knife.  I my minds eye I can see her methodically cutting everything into cubes . . .  the potatoes, cucumber, celery, onions . . .  and sometimes eggs.

 

I loved to watch her work in the kitchen.  She was not a woman who tolerated little fingers interfering, but she did not mind me watching.her work so long as I stayed out of the way.

 

She made beautiful potato salads and coleslaws, soups, stews, breads, pies, etc. She was not a fancy cook, but she was a good cook.  She always said that she wasn't, but I would beg to differ. 

 

One thing that I really, really dislike is a potato salad that is absolutely swimming in gloopy mayonnaise.  It is so un-necessary.  Mayonnaise should not be the dominant factor in a potato salad.  It should be there, absolutely but  . . .  this is a "POTATO" salad and potato should be the dominant factor.

 

This is a somewhat healthier version of the traditional potato salad in that it uses half the amount of mayonnaise as my regular one.  I make up for that by combining it equally with a low fat plain yogurt.  This gives the dressing a lovely tang.

 

I have added plenty of crunch with the additon of chopped sweet pickles.  I use sweet gerkins, but you can use whichever sweet pickles you have to hand which you enjoy.

 

More crunch and texture comes from the use of chopped English Cucumbers. I wash it really well and leave the skin on.  I also remove the seed portion as it can become somewhat watery upon standing.

  

There is a hint of sharpness with the use of finely chopped red onions. Not quite as harsh as brown onions in flavour, they also add a hint of colour.  Some chopped hard boiled egg and a few other seasonings such as salt, pepper, Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar and some dried dillweed complete the picture. You can use fresh dillweed if you have it, but double the amount.  I like to garnish my salad with pretty things like radish roses, chopped chives and a sprinkl of paprika in homage to my dear mother who always felt a dash of paprika dressed everything up!

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Healthy Potato Salad

Yield: 4

Author: Marie Rayner

A healthier option for a potato salad that is every bit as delicious as a regular potato salad. In fact I think it is more delicious!

Ingredients:

You will need:

• 1 pound of red potatoes, boiled in the skins until fork tender
• 2 large free range eggs, hard boiled
• 2 sweet pickled cucumbers, dried and diced to 1/4 inch dice
• 3 inch piece of English cucumber, washed, trimmed and diced to 1/4 inch dice (I leave the skin on)
• 3 TBS red onion, finely chopped

For the dressing:

• 65g plain yogurt (1/4 cup)
• 65g mayonnaise (1/4 cup)
• 1/2 TBS Dijon mustard
• 1/2 TBS white wine vinegar
• 2 tsp dried dillweed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

To garnish:

• sweet paprika to sprinkle
• radish roses (optional)
• finely chopped chives

Instructions:

1. Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing until well combined and smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as required.  Set aside.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch diced. Put into a bowl, along with the diced cucumber, diced pickle and chopped red onion. Peel the eggs and chop coarsely. Add to the bowl.  Toss everything together to combine.  Add the dressing and fold everything together until well combined. 
3. Spoon into a serving bowl and cover tightly.  Place into the refrigerator and chill for several hours, or as long as overnight.
4. When you are ready to serve, sprinkle lightly with paprika and minced chived.  Garnish with radish roses if desired.

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Tag @marierayner5530 on instagram and hashtag it #EnglishKitchen

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We enjoyed this for supper along with sliced tomatoes and some cold chicken.  Todd added a buttered roll. We were both very happy with this. 

 

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