Maple Curried Sweet Potato Salad

I happened to see this dish on TV while at the doctor's office! It was perfect, because not only is it vegan, but it contains green onion and fresh cilantro (which I have left overs of!). I also wanted to get some sweet potatoes to make sweet potato chips with, so that worked out well, too. This recipe is very flavorful and not for those with a mild palatte! Original can be found here. This recipe is low-fat and high protein.

It is somewhat ingredient heavy, but very simple to throw together. The first part is the 'meat' of the salad, and the second part is the dressing. The original recipe says to peel the sweet potatoes, but I would suggest leaving the skin on. As always I've made slight modifications to the recipe.

Ingredients:

5 cups sweet potatoes, chopped (about 2 large ones)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Pinch of Salt and pepper

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 roasted red peppers, chopped (1 small jar)

½ cup green onions, diced

¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. After dicing up the sweet potato, toss with salt and pepper, olive oil and cayenne. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and put in the oven for about 15 minutes (or until just soft).

Chop the red pepper and rinse the black beans (this drastically reduces the amount of sodium). Add to your sweet potato bowl. Chop the green onion and cilantro.

Next, prepare the dressing while waiting for the potatoes to cook.

Ingredients:

¼ cup fresh squeezed lime juice (about 2 limes)

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

2 tsp curry

½ tsp fresh ginger, grated

2 Tbsp maple syrup

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Whisk all ingredients together, adding the olive oil last.

When sweet potatoes are finished, add them to the bowl with the red peppers and black beans. Pour on the dressing and mix in. Stir in cilantro and green onions. Voila!

Makes 8 servings.

(Sorry for the mediocre photo... we were hungry!)

Approx Per Serving Nutritional Facts: 

Calories: 391, Calories from fat: 87, Fat: 9.6g, Sodium 58mg,

Carbs: 65.9g, Fiber: 12.6g, Sugar: 5.6g, Protein: 13.4g