Sweet potato salad with cranberries and pecans
“What are you cooking this week?” asked my grandma. I told her I was making sweet potatoes. “They’re good for your eyes!” she said.
My grandma loves her sweet potatoes, as does most of my family. I, however, only eat them when they’re mashed or pureed as in soups or pies. Other preparations—such as sweet potatoes with marshmallows or sweet potato fries—are just a bit too much for me. I can’t explain it.
But at my cousin’s wedding in August I had a revelation. My cousin Lisa, like everyone in my family, loves to cook. And when her daughter Sarah announced her wedding, Lisa said, “I’m catering it.” It was a huge party and preparing a dinner for so many folks was a herculean task, but Lisa gathered up her friends and with their help she pulled it off with grace and elegance.
It was a fine feast made all the better because it was prepared with love. Everything was delicious, but there was one salad that stood out on a table overflowing with goodness. The salad was nutty, creamy, earthy yet sweet and was the sort of dish that made you pause because you weren’t quite sure what you’d eaten, but you quickly took another bite because you knew you wanted more. I couldn’t figure out exactly what it was, but I loved it anyway.
Then it hit me.
“Wait. Are these sweet potatoes?” I asked the people sitting at my table. My mom said that they were. “But it tastes so good and I don’t like sweet potatoes!” I said. She agreed that it was one incredible dish. In fact the whole table was chatting about this simple salad comprised of sweet potatoes, crunchy pecans and tart dried cranberries tossed in a curry-laced dressing. It was quite the surprise.
The next day, I insisted that Lisa give me the recipe. It turned out to be one of her friend’s recipes and she promised to send it to me. “This would be perfect for Thanksgiving!” I said.
Now, while this is a cold salad, sweet potatoes, pecans and cranberries are in season and this dish still says autumn to me. Even if you’re the kind of person that often finds sweet potatoes a bit cloying I know you’ll enjoy this.
Plus, as my grandma says, sweet potatoes are good for your eyes!
Sweet potato salad with cranberries and pecans
Ingredients
- 4 pounds sweet potatoes, about 2 or 3 large, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon coarse-ground mustard
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup roughly chopped pecans, lightly toasted
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet. Place the cubed sweet potatoes on the sheet and bake until cooked but firm, about 35-40 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, curry powder and mustard. Stir in the green onions, cranberries, pecans and cooked sweet potatoes. Adjust seasonings and add salt and pepper to taste. Chill for at least 3 hours before serving.
I'd eat sweet potatoes any way you gave them to me – YUM. But this salad you've made – it has two of my other faves (cranberries and pecans) so it's a for sure hit!
Oooh, it's like a cross between sweet potato casserole and curried chicken salad! It looks amaaaaazing. We are definitely not waiting till Thanksgiving to try this!!
The sweet potato salad looks amazing. Congrats on the book, Lisa. I saw it at B&N the other day.
What a different way to enjoy sweet potatoes. I happen to have 2 just begging to be made into this. Yay!
This is too perfect. I was saying to my friends last week that I wanted to make something different for Thanksgiving and the example I gave was "maybe something like sweet potatoes with curry spices.". I didn't think of serving them cold, but it sounds exactly right. Something like this might just do the trick. Maybe I'll replace the mayo with yogurt for the vegans' sake and throw in that brown sugar to regain the sweetness. Thanks for this and for all your great recipes. I'm so glad I found this blog.