THE DARING COOKS’ JUNE, 2011 CHALLENGE: HEALTHY POTATO SALADS FROM AROUND THE WORLD!

Blog Check in Lines: Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads. A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!

I'm not really a "huge" fan of potato salad, but I do enjoy a good recipe when I find one.  Right away I knew that I wanted to do something with sweet potatoes... they are so yummy!  I found this interesting recipe for a sweet potato salad using a rosemary honey vinaigrette here that had posted a Southern Living recipe.  

Although they say you should never try new recipes out on guests (Bah! I say!!) I do have a few foodie friends that are quite happy to be my Guinea pigs.  Had some friends over and was going to have brats for dinner and I though the potato salad would be a nice addition to the meal.  It is a very tasty recipe and my guests gave it two thumbs up.  Although the recipes called for 4 1/2 cups cubed sweet potato, I felt that the dressing recipe could easily have been halved as I only used about half the dressing and still felt that I could have used less.   

Sweet Potato Salad with Rosemary-Honey Vinaigrette

Southern Living 
4 1/2 cups peeled, cubed sweet potato

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preparation

• Line a 15- x 10-inch jellyroll pan with aluminum foil. Coat foil with vegetable cooking spray.
• Toss together sweet potato and 1 tablespoon oil in pan, sprinkle with salt, if desired.
• Bake at 450° for 35 minutes or until tender... watch carefully as they can burn easily!
• Whisk together remaining 1 tablespoon oil, honey, and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add sweet potato; toss well. Cool.