Roasted Sweet Potato Salad w Black Beans & Chili-Lime Dressing

Apologies to whoever I got this recipe from! I tried to find you via Google but came up empty. Regardless, it's all over the Internet, which tells everyone it's good! [Update: Thanks, Blogging Under the Influence!!!]

I don't know how anyone could get tired of eating sweet potatoes or potato salad, but let's just say you are. In that case, this is a delightfully-different spin on potato salad and on sweet potatoes in general. First of all, it's a mixture of textures and flavors not usually associated with sweet potatoes (kind of like my yummy Berry Mallow Bake that way.) Also, it's served warm or room temperature, which I absolutely loved (since you know Mr.4444 rarely brings the meat in from the grill at the time he originally planned!) Let's get started!

Ingredients:
4 medium sweet potatoes (I used two of the ginormous ones pictured), cut into 1" chunks
1 large red onion, chopped
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
salt and freshly-ground pepper
*1-2 tablespoons minced, fresh, hot chili (such as jalapeno)
1 clove garlic, peeled
juice of two limes
2 cups cooked black beans (canned are fine), drained
1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and finely-diced
*1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

*Before I begin, I must confess that I am missing two ingredients from my version (too lazy to run back out to the store for cilantro and a jalapeno. Even without those, it was delicious.

Instructions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Chop the sweet potatoes and onions like this...


Put them in a large bowl and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil. (Knowing what I know now, I might put a little less oil in this stage next time; when I cooked the potatoes, they were so wet, they were fully cooked before having the chance to brown.)

Toss to coat...
...and spread out in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with sale and pepper.

Put them in the oven and roast, turning occasionally, until potatoes begin to brown on the corners and are just tender inside, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and keep on pan until ready to mix with dressing.

While the potatoes and onions are filling your kitchen with the scent of heaven, prepare the dressing. Juice the limes...(I like to use a strainer, since that's all I have to keep the seeds out of the juice, but I just asked Santa for a juicer thingy, so hopefully, I've behaved myself enough this year.)

Put chilies in a blender or mini food-processor along with garlic, lime juice, the remaining olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Process until blended, making sure not to do this....

Just look at that golden goodness:

Drain the beans.
Don't forget to watch the potatoes. Mine looked like this when they came out:

Put warm vegetables in a large bowl with the beans and bell pepper. Toss with dressing and cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Serve warm or at room temperature, or refrigerate up to a day.

Serves 4-6

Isn't it pretty?

The final product, as my mom would say, "Looks good enough to eat!"

And eat we did! Here are the verdicts:

*Mr.4444 and I loved this dish and had two helpings each.
*Kyle (age 17) had one serving and said it was "good."
*Kendall (age 14) could not get past the onions and the fact that I made her try it without actually looking at it first. (Sorry, Kendall.)

Theresa's Beans

I'm certain that my SIL, Theresa, is an excellent cook (my brother looks healthy, and we've shared a few recipes), but I never get to taste many of her other dishes, because this one is always requested at family gatherings. Super easy, and very delicious!

Ingredients:1/2 lb. bacon (there's no getting around this one--so yummy!)
1 lb ground beef (or for you health nuts, I suppose you could use something less fattening)
1/2 to 1 whole onion, chopped
1 cup Ketchup (or Catsup for you Yoopers out there)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp vinegar
3 cans (15-20 oz) baked beans (I just use whatever kinds I have on-hand)

First, cook the bacon and chop it into pieces.Reserve the grease if you have no regard for your health, and saute the onions in that next. Today, I just cooked the ground beef and onions together and left out the bacon grease. (Not because I felt like being "healthier," but simply because I forgot! Besides, beef grease or bacon grease-either way, you're gonna die of heart disease, right?)Add the ketchup, brown sugar, mustand, and vinegar to the drained ground beef and onions. Mix and simmer 15 minutes. I accidentally skipped this step today, and it turned out delicious anyway, but next time, I'll probably follow directions! (And yes, I was spacey today. What else is new?)

Add the beans and bacon. Mix and bake in 350-degree oven 45 minutes (covered) or cook in a crock pot for about 4 hours.I'm sorry I do not have a photo of our delicious meal of chicken, corn-on-the-cob, pistachio salad, Theresa's beans from dinner tonight, but we honestly ate every single bit of them, and I had nothing to take a photo of when it was all said and done and I remembered. That should be proof enough for you that making these beans will make you popular (but you might never be able to bring anything else to a family gathering, so beware!)

Paula Deen's Red Potato Salad with Bacon

My good friend, Dawn, was kind enough to get me a subscription to The Food Network magazine. (Thanks, Dawn!!) This month's issue has a "He-Made, She-Made" potato salad cook off between Paula Deen and Aaron McCargo, Jr, and both recipes looked so good that I decided to make them (though not in the same weekend.) Mother's Day seemed like a great day to try a new recipe. I chose Paula's Red Potato Salad with Bacon to make today, and I'm glad, because it was delicious. Here's the play-by-play:

Before I begin, I have to explain the first photo, which I took when my camera was set on Macro. For the record, I don't know macro from macaroni, so when it turned out terribly, I decided to go to Picnik (my favorite phot0-editing website) and just do something fun with it, so here it is.Ingredients:
6 cups cubed red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled (about 1 and 3/4 lbs)
2-3 strips of bacon
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cup chopped sweet pepper (any color or combination)
1/4 cup minced red onion
2 sliced scallions
1 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoons mayo (Paula might die, but I used Miracle Whip)
3/4 teaspoon salt x 2

First, clean your potatoes. Again, I love Veggie Wash for this (and they are not paying me to say that!)Place the potatoes in a large pot, and cover them with water.Add 3/4 tsp sea saltand bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until tender, 8-12 minutes. Drain and cool slightly.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon (or just take it out of the box, like I did. Don't you love precooked bacon?!) After the bacon is cooked and no longer dripping with grease, cut it up.Clean and cut up the rest of the veggies...(BTW, I only used part of these peppers; Mr.4444 grilled up the remaining parts for supper--yummmm.) Isn't that picture gorgeous? I even looks misleadingly like my kitchen sink is immaculate! Believe me (and anyone who has ever been to my house), my kitchen sink is never immaculate.)

Here's another pic, which pretty much sums up the remaining ingredients (besides the potatoes, of course) in a neat little package:In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, mayonnaise, 3/4 tsp of salt, and pepper.Cut up the potatoes and add with other veggies to a large bowl. Pour previous whisked mixture over veggies, and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate or serve at room temperature.We ate when it was room temperature, and it was terrific; the dijon mustard and red wine vinegar made this a unique potato salad, but one that everyone liked. Now to put it up against Aaron's Classic Potato Salad. (I'll keep you posted!)