Monday, August 11, 2008

Sweet Potato Salad


I prefer to use sweet potatos over regular white potatoes whenever I can. They are a low glycemic index food which means that it doesn't create that sudden spike followed by a quick drop in your blood sugar level like regular potatoes. Why is this so important, you may ask. Low glycemic foods release sugar into the blood stream at a more even rate than high glycemic foods which are broken down quickly and its sugars released almost all at once. This sudden spike in blood sugar level results in higher than normal insulin levels in the blood stream. Many researchers have agreed that this reaction leads to complications in weight management, not to mention the link to diabetes, colorectal cancer, cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, this is by no means a comprehensive list.  I am not trying to advocate a strict low Gi diet. My goal here is to increase people's awareness of how some foods affect our health and well being. This is not to say that I would not eat regular white potatoes; but everything in moderation.  

Now that I have bored you with my review of biochemistry class, (I'm surprised I even remembered that much) let's talk about this salad. So that the flavor of the potatoes wasn't masked, I used ingredients that would highlight it. Nutmeg and celery are the two that really play up the sweet potato flavor here. To contrast the textures, red onions and green beans were added to provide a refreshing crunch. The creaminess comes from a mixture of greek yogurt and cream cheese. Strange choices for any potato salad but they provide a level of creaminess close to mayo.  In the end, this salad can be a meal on its own. 
 

Sweet Potato Salad

5 cups cubed sweet potatoes (about 2-3 large ones)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 cup chopped green beans
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/3 cup dark raisins
1/2 cup non fat greek style yogurt
2 tbsp fat free cream cheese
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
salt and pepper

1. Add diced potatoes, and eggs (whole) to stock pot. Cover with water, add thyme, season with salt and pepper and boil over medium high heat for 15 to 20 minutes until potatoes are fork tender. The eggs should also be hard boiled by then. At this point, add green beans to the  pot for 30 seconds. Drain everything. Peel the eggs and chop finely. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together yogurt, cream cheese, ground nutmeg,  and season with salt and pepper. Add all the cooked potatoes, greens beans and eggs along with the raw vegetables and raisins to the yogurt mixture and combine well. Refrigerate and serve.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

This one looks delicious, healthy and really colorful as well!

Usha said...

Looks delicious.I use more of sweet potatoes instead of the white ones for the same reason but normally I make spicy dry curry with it,have never tried sweet potatoes in a salad.Very interesting :)

Mythreyee said...

Sounds so yummy....

Anonymous said...

tash i can't remember eating sweet potato when i was younger but recently daddy wanted to eat it so i cooked it n fell in love! So i'm pretty excited to try this one!

Anonymous said...

I never thought of using sweet potatoes for salad ... wonderful idea! Sounds tasty and looks great!

Denise
http://WineFoodPairing.blogspot.com

Eric Hoffman said...

Looks great. I have never made potato salad with sweet potatoes but it makes sense. Good job.

Natasha said...

Thanks Eric!

angelia mcgowan said...

I love sweet potatoes, but have never done a salad with them, great idea!

Kelly said...

Wildly delicious!

It is full of color and so much flavor! I used Hellmans instead and it was great! Also think that pecans would be a great addition, and chicken too! Definitely making this for my next gathering! Loved it! Thank you for a great recipe that will be used over and over at my house!

Bill said...

I changed just a few things. I'm not enough of a "cook" to know whether they were major chages ...
I put in some shopped pecans, a bout 20 halved red grapes, regular whipped Philly cheese, 1/2 cup sunfower seeds (roasted, salted), 1/2 cup chopped pecans, and removed the thyme and nutmeg.

I thought it was "okay." My daughter said it was "really good." (but she's very polite...

Waiting until dinner to really try it on everyone. Great recipe!