Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

I made the best recipe the other night. I just had to share. It involved grilling some sweet potatoes, Newman's Own Olive Oil Vinagrette, and fresh herbs. I hate heavy summer salads. Summertime is about hopping in your bathing suit, beaches, sand, pools, shorts etc...so I crave light healthier recipes that don't require mayo, sour cream, and other creamy heavy ingredients.

Here's a snapshot of the Grilled Sweet Potatoe Salad with Basil, Thyme and Feta (photo and recipe are courtesy of Kalyn's Kitchen (http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/)

Here's the recipe..I used the herbs that it called for since they were in the garden!

Grilled Sweet Potato Salad with Green Onion, Basil, Thyme, and Feta

(Makes about 4-6 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)
2 large orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, about 2 lbs. total
(orange-fleshed sweet potatoes may be called yams in some stores)
1/4 C + 1/4 C purchased vinaigrette dressing (I used Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing)
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
2-3 T thin chiffonade strips of basil (thinly sliced strips)
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/2 C crumbled Feta



Preheat gas or charcoal barbecue grill to medium-high heat. (You can hold your hand there about 3 seconds at that heat.)

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into slices about 3/4 inch thick. Lay slices on a cookie sheet, then measure 1/4 cup vinaigrette and brush each side of sweet potatoes with dressing, seasoning each side with salt and freshly ground black pepper after you brush on the dressing.


Grill the sweet potato slices, cooking about 4-5 minutes on first side, then rotating to cook 3-4 minutes on that side. When you have nice grill marks on the first side (or when sweet potatoes are getting dark on that side) flip the sweet potatoes over and cook about 7-8 minutes more on the second side, or until sweet potatoes feel tender when pierced with a fork. (Total grilling time will be about 15-20 minutes, but I started taking them off the grill as they felt done, and the larger pieces took more time.)

Let grilled sweet potato slices cool for 10-15 minutes, then cut into cubes and place in salad bowl. Add sliced green onions, chiffonade basil strips, and chopped thyme and gently combine with sweet potatoes. Stir in the other 1/4 cup of vinaigrette, using as much as you need to moisten the salad (you may not need all the dressing, depending on how wet you like your salads.) Gently stir in the crumbled feta, season salad with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, and serve salad at room temperature.


***Just a couple notes: I used 3 medium to large sized sweet potatoes and left the skin on and this salad came out fantastic!)

Enjoy and thank you Kalyn's Kitchen for a fantastic recipe!