Shake up traditional potato salad with roasted sweet potatoes. A tangy dressing complements the sweet potatoes for a potato salad that tastes great served warm or cold.

It’s not summer until you make a potato salad recipe, right?

I wrote that line weeks ago when I actually made this potato salad with roasted sweet potatoes. Now it’s the middle of July, and my early summer buzz has given way to the summer doldrums.

I’ve always loved the period between Memorial Day and the 4th of July. There’s some sort of heady energy about the start of summer.

Then the heat sets in, and the green, lush grass starts starts to brown and crisp. The cicadas start singing. The evening sky starts to darken just a skosh earlier. My blogger brain starts thinking about pumpkin recipes.

Before we get to that, let’s hang on to barbecue season with a different type of potato salad recipe: sweet potato salad. I’ve never had a problem with traditional potato salad –  I’m a potato fiend – but I do love finding new ways to enjoy sweet potatoes.

Roasting sweet potatoes is commonplace for me; I often add a handful to a salad or eat them alongside a protein throughout the week. That can get pretty boring pretty quickly, so this savory sweet potato recipe was a welcome way to shake up a routine.

This side dish is easy to make, not to mention leftovers hold up surprisingly well. Simply roast a few sweet potatoes and yellow onion, toss them with the tangy dressing, and top with scallions and chives. It’s delicious served both warm or cold. Enjoy!

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Yield: 4 servings

A tangy dressing complements roasted sweet potatoes for a potato salad that tastes great served warm or cold.

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Ingredients

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes
• 1 medium to large onion
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 large lemon, zested and juiced
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• optional garnishes: thinly sliced scallions and chives

Instructions

1. Peel the sweet potatoes, if desired, and chop into bite-size pieces. 
2. Chop the onion into bite-size pieces as well.
3. Toss the chopped sweet potatoes and onion with the olive oil, then spread across a baking sheet and sprinkle with the salt. 
4. Roast at 400 degrees F for 30 - 40 minutes until tender, then set aside to cool. 
5. While the potatoes cool, mix up the dressing. Whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon zest and juice, red wine vinegar, honey, garlic powder, and black pepper. 
6. Pour the dressing over the potatoes (it's perfectly fine if the potatoes are slightly warm when you do this) and give them a gentle stir to coat. 
7. If desired, garnish the potato salad with the green onions and scallions before serving. 

Notes

The original recipe suggests using the zest and juice of an orange rather than that of a lemon, which sounds like a fun twist!

Recipe slightly adapted from the Wellness Mama cookbook.