I first made this dish for a college reunion, pot-luck dinner party, cook-out for a group of about 15 friends, former roommates, their spouses, significant others, all of whom short of 1 or 2 of the wives are mad ass foodies. The dish is so colorful, with varied textures, wonderfully bright & earthy flavors as well, it’s sweet & savory, smooth & crunchy, easy to prepare & it travels well so now it’s a main stay in my arsenal of Galley Dlights.
The recipe I first stumbled upon dresses the warm sweet potato salad with a bit of thinned out whole milk Greek yogurt. Typically I served the salad both ways, one bowl with just the vinaigrette, the other dressed with the plain yogurt. On board, I served this with a Thai chicken curry & pineapple rice I steamed off which included a half cup of coconut milk. To me, this dish bangs a gong, it’s such a highlight to a meal and looks beautiful on a table.
Ingredients:
3 pounds sweet potatoes, cut into 1” chunks
½ pound haricot vert cut to 1″ pieces, then quickly blanched
Salt – for the boiling water
1 T raw or coconut sugar
1 shallot, minced
½ cup golden balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of spicy mustard
¼ cup olive oil
a handful of chiffonade basil leaves
Black pepper, to taste (I like a lot)
¾ cup of Greek yogurt
WHAT TO DO
Start by bringing water to a boil.
Then whip up the vinaigrette to marinate the quickly blanched haricot vert in. In a bowl, mix the shallots, vinegar, spicy mustard then begin to drizzle in the olive oil & whisk until the dressing is well emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste, stir in the basil leaves.
Blanch the haricot vert – very quickly which helps to enhance their color as well as bringing a bit of subtlety to their bite. add the haricot vert which are cut into 1 inch pieces to the dressing and let it marinade in plastic storage bag if your cooking for a charter of if you’re in the luxury of a kitchen, let the haricot vert marinate in a bowl w/a tea towel on top.
Put the cubed sweet potatoes in a large pot of cold water. Bring the water to a boil. As the water heats up add enough salt to make the water taste almost salty then the Tablespoon of sugar. Once the water comes to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook the potatoes cook until tender, about 8 minutes.
When the potatoes are tender, drain them from the water and put in a large bowl. While still hot, fold in the green beans vinaigrette. The longer the potatoes marinate in the dressing – the better.
Before serving, fold in the yogurt and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper & paprika.