Southwest Sweet Potato Salad with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette (GF) – Culinary Seasons

Roasting Sweet Potatoes brings out a caramelized flavor that pairs well with the other ingredients to make this delicious salad. The Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette brings a citrus zing to the salad that is balanced with Agave Syrup. Chipotle Powder and Jalapenos or Hatch Chiles ups the spice level if you want to bump it up. As the recipe is written, it is fairly low on the spice level, the chipotle powder gives a nice subtle spice. I recommend picking up some chipotle powder, it adds a nice smoky spice to many dishes.

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The history of sweet potatoes takes you on a voyage around the world. The Sweet Potato plant has origins in Central and South Americas, making its way north into Mexico. Aztecs, Incas and Mayans had grown and consumed sweet potatoes for thousands of years.

But how did the sweet potato make its way to the U.S.? The sweet potato was brought back to Spain in 1500 via Christopher Columbus on his explorations of the Caribbean, Central and South Americas. The sweet potato never really took off as a food staple in Europe, it was grown in small crops in Spain after it was introduced. As European explorers continued to travel the world they introduced it to countries along the way. The sweet potato was brought along as a food source because its shelf life was longer that bread or other staples at the time. When settlers sailed to the colonies the sweet potato was brought over to the American Colonies as a food staple. The first documented use of the sweet potato in the colonies was in Virginia around 1700.

Interestingly, there has been genetic studies of the sweet potato plants in Polynesia, Easter Island and parts of Asia that found that the plants were introduced 500 years before Columbus brought them back to Europe. It is believed that the Polynesians had the capability to sail the Pacific Ocean to make it to South America, thus bringing back the tubers or cuttings of the plants to the South Pacific Islands and even to Asia. (For more on how the sweet potato made its way across the Pacific Ocean and a map that shows how the sweet potato migrated around the Pacific read Michaeleen Doucleff’s article on NPR.org)

For years, even though I spent years in the food industry, the names of Sweet Potato and Yam have been thrown around interchangeably. Even in our own family, I recently took a poll of what people call the Sweet Potato or Yam.

The poll of our family left us with as many questions as answers. The poll was split on what they should be called and to make it more confusing some of the canned Sweet Potatoes or Yams may have one or both names on them. So why are there two colors of Sweet Potatoes at the store and why are we calling them different names? Are they different?

If you look up what a True Yam is, you will find that the Yam we call in the U.S is not a Yam at all. Which begs the question why it this so confusing?

True Yam

A True Yam is native to Africa, Asia and South America, their skins are tougher and the meat is fibrous, they are typically boiled or pounded to break up the fibers then cooked. Versus the sweeter thin skinned sweet potatoes in the U.S.

Left is a Sweet Potato – Right is a Yam in the U.S.

In the U.S. the sweet potato and the yam are basically of the same plant family. The sweet potato, the tan skin/lighter flesh, was first introduced to the Americas via the new colonies. The reddish skin/orange flesh sweet potato was introduced later. When it was introduced the farmers wanted to call it something different. They called it a Yam to differentiate it from the tan skin/lighter color flesh counterpart. So to help clear up some confusion, here is a basic rule, in the U.S. you can call a Yam a Sweet Potato but you can’t call a White Sweet Potato a Yam. And a True Yam is another tuber all together.

To make matters more confusing, depending on the variety and where they are from the flesh could be different colors. Red skin with white flesh or red skin with purple flesh or tan skin with orange flesh.

Sweet potatoes and yam (U.S. version) can be used interchangeably but once again depending on who you ask you will probably get different opinions on how they should be used and what they are called.

Don’t worry your Sweet Potato Fries will still be orange.

Read about the former NFL Player who turned to Sweet Potato Farming, providing sweet potatoes to feed the community, on his website.

  • Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

  • 1 ea Garlic Clove

  • 1/4 cup Lime Juice

  • 1/4 tsp Chipotle Powder

  • 1/2 cup Cilantro

  • 1 Tbl Agave Syrup

  • 3/4 cup Olive Oil

  • Season with Salt to Taste

  • Roasting Sweet Potatoes

  • 3 – 4 ea medium Sweet Potatoes – peeled and diced into 1-1 1/2″ cubes

  • 2 Tbl Olive Oil

  • 1 Tsp Kosher Salt

  • 2 Tsp Chipotle Powder

  • Sauteing the Vegetables

  • 1 ea small Yellow Onion – 1/4″ diced

  • 1 ea Jalapeno – 1/4″diced

  • 1/4 cup Red Bell Pepper – 1/4″ diced

  • 6 oz frozen corn (or 4 -6 corn on the cob)

  • 1 tsp Chipotle Powder

  • Remaining Ingredients

  • 1 can Black Beans – drained and rinsed

  • 4 each Scallions – 1/4″ cut

  • 1/2 cup Cilantro leaves

  • Kosher Salt to Taste

  • 1/4 cup Pumpkin Seeds

  • Roasting the Sweet Potatoes
  • Preheat oven to 400°
  • Peel and Cube the Sweet Potatoes.
  • Toss the Sweet Potatoes with the Olive Oil.
  • Toss the Sweet Potatoes with the Salt and Chipotle Powder.
  • Roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes until they are browning and tender.
  • Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature if using immediately or refrigerate for later use.
    Reserve for later use in recipe.
  • Sauteing the Vegetables
  • In a saute pan, saute the onions until they are getting some color.
    You don’t have to caramelize them, saute on a higher heat to get them to brown.
  • Once onions are beginning to take on some color, add the jalapenos and bell peppers.
    Cook until they begin to take on some color.
  • Add the corn to the pan, over a high heat cook the corn until it begins to shrivel and brown.
  • Add the chipotle powder and toss to combine.
  • Remove from the pan and cool.
    Reserve for later use in the recipe.
  • Making the Cilantro Lime Vnaigrette
  • Using a blender or an immersion blender, combine the garlic,
    lime juice, agave syrup, and chipotle powder. Pulse to break down the garlic and emmulsify the ingredients.
  • Add the cilantro and pulse to breakdown and combine.
  • Drizzle in the olive oil while the blender is running, this will allow the olive oil to emulsify.
  • Season with salt to taste.
  • Assembling the Salad
  • In a bowl, add the roasted sweet potatoes.
  • Add the black beans, corn, scallions, cilantro & sauteed onion, peppers and corn mix.
  • Add the dressing to the bowl. Mix with a spatula to combine the ingredients.
  • Garnish with the roasted pumpkin seeds.