Potato salad remix: Set the table for fall with a roasted sweet potato salad

As we approach the last holiday weekend of summer, a roasted sweet potato salad is an excellent way to usher in the flavors of fall.

We all know potato salad is the king of the cookout side dish.

Occasionally, cooks will add some exciting ingredients (like bacon and blue cheese) in an attempt to make their salad stand out. Others might add some not-so-good ingredients (like walnuts or peas) that will make their potato salad the butt of jokes for years to come.

If you want to stand out, try a salad with a potato more associated with casseroles.

The sweet potato.

The Library of Congress says sweet potatoes have been around longer than white potatoes. Archaeologists believe people first cultivated sweet potatoes between 2500-1850 BCE. (Scientists believe farmers didn’t grow white potatoes until the 1500s).

Even though the sweet potato has been around for centuries, it wasn’t until 1987 that agricultural experts in the United States developed what we now see in grocery stores nationwide.

That year, researchers at the Louisiana State University AgCenter developed a sweet potato that could thrive in Louisiana’s soil and climate conditions.

This sweet potato has firmer skin and orange, sweet flesh. It quickly became the most common sweet potato in the United States.

The Louisiana State potato has a name — the Beauregard. According to the website Specialty Produce, the researcher who invented the Beauregard also studied the Civil War. He may have named the potato after Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, a general who fought for the Confederacy.

So why does this sweet potato make a good potato salad?

It’s easy to roast, and roasting brings out its additional sweetness. That sweetness serves as a terrific compliment to the bite of the vinegar and the stone-ground mustard used for the dressing. Also, unlike its more summery cousin, it’s seasonless.

There is one drawback: Sweet potatoes are not easy to cut. But there’s a workaround we’ll review in a bit. First, I’m sure you have a few questions.

Keep the skin on or cut it off?

Sweet potato skins contain fiber, vitamin C, potassium, and more. They’re healthy and help you meet your daily nutritional needs. But some people can’t stand eating potato skins, so it’s up to you. In my opinion, taking the skin off seems to be an unnecessary step. 

Dice in small or large cubes?

Neither! You want a nicely sized dice so the dressing adheres to the potato, and you get all the flavors with each bite. Cube the sweet potatoes in a one-inch dice (though a little larger works fine).

Should I serve the salad hot or cold?

Cold! You want the potatoes to set because they’ll firm up. Hot potatoes can break down when stirring.

So what’s the recipe? 

I thought you’d never ask! Here it is… 

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

(feeds 6)

½ pound if cooked, diced bacon

3 large, sweet potatoes, cubed 

1 tablespoon olive oil

Dressing 

1 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons stone ground mustard  

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar  

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

½ pound of bacon, cooked and diced

2 green onions, diced

½ cup feta cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook the bacon, let it cook. Dice. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
3. Cut the sweet potato into one-inch cubes. NOTE: Sweet potatoes are tough to cut. To make it easier, use a fork to poke holes in the potatoes and place in the microwave oven for 2 minutes. That should soften the potatoes enough so they’re easier to cut without making them mushy.

1. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil. Cook the potatoes until they’re fork-tender. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 30 minutes before adding the dressing. 
2. Add all the dressing ingredients and combine in a bowl large enough to hold the sweet potatoes. Once the potatoes have cooled, add to the dressing and gently toss until the dressing coats the potatoes.

Serve. 

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Ray Marcano is a veteran journalist who loves to cook and write about food. He’s the former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror, and a Fulbright Fellow.  

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