Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

 

They say you eat with you eyes first and that is exactly what drew me to this recipe!  That pop of orange for Easter Sunday but minus the standard carrot ingredient.... it peaked my interest and this salad is absolutely delicious!  You can tweak this to your taste (seek cooks comments below) and it's a new star on your holiday table.


Ingredients:

For the Roasted Sweet Potatoes:

        1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, (2 medium or 3 smaller sweet potatoes) 

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

For the Salad:

• 1 bunch kale, (10 cups chopped)

• 1 apple, thinly sliced

• 1/2 cup pecans: lightly toasted if desired

• 1/2 cup dried cranberries, or pomegranate seeds

• 2 oz goat cheese, (1/2 cup crumbled)

• For the Dressing:
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• 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 1 Tbsp maple syrup

• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

• 1 garlic clove, finely minced 

• 1/3 cup extra virgin oilve oil

• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

• 1/8 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

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• Instructions:
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• How to make potatoes:

• Preheat oven to 425˚F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Toast pecans on a d y skillet over medium heat, tossing frequently for a few minutes until golden and fragrant then transfer to a plate to cool.
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• How to Make Salad Dressing:
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• In a small bowl or mason jar, combine all of the ingredients for the salad dressing in the order they are listed and thoroughly whisk together until well combined. You may need to re-whisk before dressing the salad since the dressing can separate as it sits.
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• How to Make Kale Sweet Potato Salad:

     Strip the kale leaves and discard the stems. Rinse and dry leaves then finely chop them         into thin      strips and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with 3/4 of the dressing. Toss for a few minutes         with two forks until kale is slightly softened, evenly coated in dressing and reduced by about 1/4 in         volume. Let salad rest for 15 minutes while you add the remaining ingredients. 

    Scatter roasted and cooled sweet potatoes over the kale then sprinkle on remaining toppings: sliced        apple, toasted and cooled pecans, dried cranberries, and crumbled goat cheese. Drizzle the top with        remaining 1/4 of the dressing or add to taste then enjoy

Cooks Notes:

I'm not a kale gal, so I did Arugula and Baby Spinach mix.  

I added extra Maple Syrup to each step (1 Tblsp) as I like this sweeter than most.
This keeps amazing well overnight as most salads do not.  I recommend not dressing this until ready to serve but it's super flavorful day 2!

I'd likely sprinkle my sweet potatoes with 1/2 cup brown sugar next time.  My sweet tooth is seriously into this action!

Tomato Jam

 OH MY GOODNESS!  I decided to make this in honor of burger week as a great topping to a delicious high-quality burger.  What I didn't know was that this would be excellent with cheese and crackers, avocado toast, scrambled eggs, the list could go on for a while!  I had to stop myself from taste testing it!   This is by far the best thing I've made in a long time!  I can't wait to eat it up and make it again!

I had almost all the ingredients in the house to begin with and the tomatoes were on sale so this is a very economical high flavor add to any dish! This is a super quick one dish recipe and I'll make this all summer long when my tomatoes come in!

You'll need:

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• 2 pounds very good ripe tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped, (I used Roma tomatoes)

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• 3/4 cup light brown sugar

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• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

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• 1 tablespoon fresh grated or minced ginger

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• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

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• ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves

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• 1 teaspoon salt

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• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (I used red pepper flakes as that is what I had on hand)

Instructions:

Add all the ingredients to a heavy bottom saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil stirring frequently to prevent the bottom from burning. 

Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has thickened to the consistency of jam. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

I boiled this for 4 minutes then turned the heat down to simmer and cooked this for an additional 36 minutes. 

 I was beginning to doubt that this would ever reach jam consistency, but the magic happens in the last 5 minutes.  You do need to stay near this to stir ever few minutes, but you are free to be doing other things while this cooks.

This recipe made about 1/2 pint of jam, just enough for a meal or maybe two.  It is super easy in production and clean up!  I hope you're as happy with this as I am!  Ya'll enjoy!