This is a versatile ‘assembled’ main dish salad for two, or you could make it as a tossed side salad for four.
That’s just the start of the versatility, you could change the grain, mix up the veggies and experiment with which of our oils and vinegars you use for the vinaigrette.
If you want (to save time), you can roast the sweet potatoes and cook the quinoa ahead of time but be sure to take them out of the fridge to warm up a bit while you prepare the rest.
Don’t be intimidated by how LONG this recipe is; you know all the techniques already. It is really quite simple…
Ingredients
Cooked:
3 Tbsp Persian Lime Olive Oil, divided
2 Cups (about one large) sweet potato, peeled & cubed (1/2″ to 3/4″ pieces)
1 tsp ‘spices’ (your favourites for sweet potato)
1/3 cup uncooked quinoa (or couscous, bulgur, etc.)
Salad:
2 Cups baby spinach (or arugula, spring mix, etc.)
3 ‘cocktail’ tomatoes quartered (or 1 cup of cherry tomatoes halved)
1/2 cup of sweet onion, sliced thinly & quartered (or green onions sliced)
1 Cup Golden Berries*, halved (or sliced mango, strawberries, etc.)
2 segments of fresh lime
Vinaigrette:
1 clove garlic, mashed & minced
1″ piece of ginger, skinned & minced
1 Tbsp mango chutney (I used ‘Mrs. Bridges’)
2 Tbsp Persian Lime Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Alfoos Mango White Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Sinai Jalapeno Maple Hot sauce** (optional, if you like some sweet heat)
1 tsp fresh lime juice
Directions
Cooked:
Preheat oven to 350°F
Put sweet potatoes in a cake pan, drizzle with 2 Tbsp Lime Olive Oil and sprinkle spices. Shake to coat and roast for 35 minutes, remove and shake at 10 & 20 minutes.
Heat 1 Tbsp Lime Olive Oil in a medium-size saucepot over med-high heat. When hot, add washed quinoa and sauté for 1 or 2 minutes. Add1/2 cup of water, bring to a boil, then simmer until all water is gone. Let sweet potatoes and quinoa cool off while you prepare the rest (or put in the fridge to assemble later)
Salad:
For an assembled dinner salad (for two), spread enough spinach to cover a large plate (about 1 Cup – or a good handful!).
Arrange all the other salad ingredients in their ‘groups’ around the perimeter of the plate.
Place the sweet potato cubes and quinoa side by side on top of the spinach in the middle of the plate. Also, place the lime segment, to be squeezed over the finished salad at the table.
Vinaigrette:
Place ALL the vinaigrette ingredients in a salad shaker and shake hard (or whisk together in a bowl) until thickened. Drizzle half over each assembled plate. serve and squeeze the lime segment over the sweet potato.
TOSSED Variation:
In a LARGE bowl, put all the cooked and salad ingredients and pour the vinaigrette over.
Toss gently but completely to coat and serve at the table with lime segments.
Chef Notes:
*Known as Uchuva (also known as ‘ground cherries’) in Columbia where we first tasted them in Bogota, they were SWEET there, though sweet and sometimes sour here.
** Sinai Hot Sauce is available at our store and is FANTASTIC! If you can’t get here right now but want the heat you could add something else.
Alternatives
Ultra Premium EVOO
Fused Orange Olive Oil
Cilantro & Roasted Onion Olive Oil
Cara Cara Orange Vanilla White Balsamic Vinegar
Caribe Coconut White Balsamic Vinegar
Blenheim Apricot White Balsamic Vinegar