Thanksgiving is long-gone and maybe you’d rather be stamping out gingerbread cookies and wondering if glace cherries deserve another look. But I think you shouldn’t discount this sweet potato salad yet. I had some leftover sweet potatoes and yams in the fridge and decided this would be the perfect way to use ’em up. And yes, in Canada, we call the deep orange sweet potatoes “yams” to differentiate them from their lighter skinned companions.
The taters get all roasted in the oven and then coated in a creamy yogurt-based dressing that has flavour to spare. It’s also studded with toasted pecans and chewy dried cranberries which add good texture and colour. This salad is my version of autumnal heaven. It’s sweet and spicy and crunchy and tangy and I’d be happy to eat a tiny bowl of this daily.
The original version called for mayo, but I wanted to keep this a little lighter so I used 0% greek yogurt instead for the win. I used garam masala but any of your favorite curry powder would be fine here. I also think that if you wanted to go a bit Southwestern, you could toss in some chipotle and limes instead of the curry and see what happens – I think it could be kinda spectacular. Green onions and cilantro would be nice too!
Oh, and I’d love to pimp some of my non-food stuffs for a moment….I will be selling my cards, birthday calendars and brand-new recipe cards at Got Craft? this Sunday on the Drive in Vancouver. Please stop by my table and say hello! I will also be at Toque the following weekend as a fundraiser for the Western Front. And if you don’t live in Vancouver, you can always purchase my lovely paper goods on etsy. Shop now for stocking stuffers and holiday gifts!!
elsewhere: Take a peek over at Poppytalk this week and bake up a batch of everything but the kitchen sink cookies. It will soothe what ails you.
curried sweet potato salad with cranberries & pecans
(adapted from Homesick Texan)
3 large sweet potatoes (yams), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 T olive oil
1/2 c greek yogurt
1 T garam masala paste (I always use Patak’s) or curry powder
1 t dijon mustard
1/4 red onion, finely diced
1 c dried cranberries
1/2 c roughly chopped pecans, lightly toasted
Salt and pepper to taste1. Add cut up yams into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Use your hands to make sure everything is coated. Dump them onto a baking sheet covered with parchment or silpat in an even layer and roast for 35 minutes or until tender.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, masala, dijon, red onions and cranberries, along with a little salt and pepper and half of the pecans. Add in the warm sweet potatoes and stir until well combined. Chill for 3 hours. Sprinkle with remaining pecans and serve.
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Your post heading just made me smile.
I’ve actually gone the sweet potato salad with lime and chipotle route for a summertime BBQ; it was zesty and refreshing. Your version with the nuts and garam masala sounds warm and just about right for the beginning of December. I don’t think this salad would make it past the kitchen in my house. Nope, definitely not.
I have never thought of sweet potato salad before! Great idea! Love your Etsy stuff 🙂
I would not have thought of sweet potato salad but we love sweet potatoes. I’ll have to give this a try!
This looks full of good stuff for you. Nice stuff that you will be selling.
This potato salad hits on all my favorite flavors for this time of year! Have a great time at your craft shows!
Curry, sweet potatoes and cranberries? You managed to combine three of my all-time favorite flavors in one perfect bowl. I see what you’ve done there!
This is quite possibly one of the most perfect potato salads of all time. My roommate just brought me back garam masala from India and I think i need to try it in this!
This looks lovely and rich, a great winter potato salad..c
Ha, thanks Tracy, I’m glad 🙂
Molly, good to know the SW variation works well!
NicoleD, Thank you!!
It works really, really well, Ellen. Enjoy.
Thanks, Helene – I hope I sell lots!
Yay, thanks Jacqui, I hope your craft fairs go well too!
Aw, yeah, Meister, it’s a great combo. I’m sure you’ll love it.
Joanne, I think it definitely is. I loved it a whole lot.
Thanks Cecilia! It’s perfect and I’m so glad the fat-free yogurt works well here. No heavy mayo!
What a great looking salad -I love sweet potato!
I just tasted my first spoon of this salad and I must say it rocks right into outer space! Of course I deviated, I had to use walnuts instead of pecans and raisins instead of cranberries since that is what I had on hand, but it all went so well together. No regrets at all, even with the bit of mayo that I used. Yum yum!
This looks fabulous. I’m making this very soon. I just checked out your fabulous bithday calendars, I may be making a purchase as mine hasn’t surfaced since our move three years ago – I have two more boxes deep in the crawl space to dig through, I’m doing it tomorrow since I totally forgot my mother-in-law’s bday last week. As a Dutch descendant my bathroom wall just doesn’t look right without one.
Lucy, thanks so much.
Bijoux, so glad you made this and glad it worked out well with the substitutions. Yum, indeed!!
Haley, I agree, your wall needs a dutch birthday calendar 🙂
Honestly, I don’t think I could ever get sick of sweet potatoes and I love all the flavors and textures going on here. Definitely “autumnal heaven”!! I also like that you made it with yogurt so you can feel good about yourself when you eat the whole bowl…. 😉
oh my gosh this is the best potato salad ever!
i am so making this!
How gorgeous. I love the combination of yogurt and sweet potato- I’ve been doing a version lately with brown butter and nuts and seeds- but I think I like the look of this much more.
yummmmmy….can you come over and cook for me lady? please?
Oh heck yeah! I’ve been looking for a killer sweet potato salad recipe. Couldn’t quite figure out the flavors. Last night I discovered I liked sliced feta with the sp, but this is waaaay more exciting. Thanks!
This looks delicious! I love sweet potatoes, and the flavor combination sounds great!
Mmm that combination of sweet potatoes, cranberries and pecans is one of my favourites. I know I’d love this! Your recipe cards are too cute. 🙂
Kathryn, and eat the whole bowl I most certainly could have!
Vanillasugar, I think you’d love this!! Definitely.
Tori, that sounds amazing. Yum!! I’ll have to try that.
Shellie, it’s pretty simple to whip up – you can do it yourself 🙂
Ha, I agree Jillena that feta goes so well with almost anything. But this salad is pretty perfect on its own.
Thanks Tanvi!
Aw, thank you, Ashley for the nice words about my recipe cards! And the salad too 🙂
AAHH! Looks great. Must. Try.
Just made this! Again, you’ve saved my dinner. I would add grapes or apples next time for the extra fresh crunch, but otherwise delish!!
Louisa, it’s great. Enjoy!
Jen – love the call for apples and grapes! Yes, I approve 🙂
Made this last night for holiday party at work. Holy macaroni this is terrific! If my mom had made sweet taters like this, I’d have eaten them growing up. This is a keeper!
So glad you liked this Shan!!
I made this as written, but substituted curry powder for paste. In retrospect, I’d bet that 1T paste = 0.5T powder. But the three hours in the fridge somewhat mellowed the bite of cumin and turmeric. Also, I think toasted half pecans might be more toothy than mine, which were cut too small and whose taste was lost in the mix.
Sounds fantastic! So many of my favorite flavors. Thanks for sharing.
Robert, I’m not sure the strength of curry paste vs powder – mine wasn’t overwhelming at all, but there are all kinds of brands with different strengths and flavours. I did leave my pecans rather roughly chopped.
Thanks Jen!
I made a batch of this salad and LOVED it! I work at a cooking school and shared it with some of the sous chefs, so I had to share the recipe. My only change was to use Penzey’s hot curry powder instead of garam masala. I love the heat. I also used fat free Fage Greek yogurt. Very good!
Jennifer so glad you liked this enough to share! Ugh, I wish I could find Penzey’s here in Canada (and Fage too!).
This is my favorite potato salad of all time. It’s the only one my husband will eat and we make it almost every week. It’s fair to say we are addicted. It truly doesn’t get any better than this!
Monica, so glad to hear it! I love it a lot too, thanks for sharing the love 🙂