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.)

Berry Mallow Yam Bake

[originally posted at Half-Past Kissin' Time on December 20, 2007]

Here is my holiday recipe offering. Highly recommended for your Christmas table; beautiful and delicious!!) Mr. 4444 didn't like yams, and I couldn't stand cranberries, but together, they are wonderful, and we both love this dish. No holiday meal is without it, especially if the kids have anything to say about it.

Berry Mallow Yam Bake
½ C flour
½ C firmly packed brown sugar
½ C dry oatmeal (the long-cooking kind, NOT instant)
½ tsp cinnamon
1/3 C butter or margarine
2 C fresh or frozen cranberries
2 Tbls. sugar
1 can (17oz) cut-up yams, liquid drained and reserved
Mini marshmallows ("optional" only for the foolish; it's the best part!)

In a small bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, oatmeal and cinnamon. Cut in butter as for pastry; blend until crumbly. Set aside.

Sprinkle cranberries with sugar (package also says to rinse them in cold water first). 

In 2 qt casserole, layer half the yams, half the cranberry mixture

 

and half the crumb mixture. Repeat layers, ending with crumbs. 

Pour the reserved yam liquid over all 

(if you double or triple the recipe, don't use it all, or it will be too wet).

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes, or until heated through. 

If desired, place mini marshmallow over the top

and return to oven just until marshmallows are puffed and lightly browned.

NOTE: This is SOOO good, we double the recipe, as there would otherwise be no leftovers (and the kids love them) Put in a large casserole dish or cake pan. Then it’s just right for 4 adults and 2-4 kids. It not only tastes good, but it looks very pretty.

Note: we can never find the cranberries any other time of year than Thanksgiving, so stock your freezer if you hope to make them again before the next year!!!!

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