Maple flavored roasted sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes always bring back memories to me of my grandmother. She used to fry slices of sweet potato until they had a golden caramelized crust and I was standing next to her and couldn´t wait until a batch was ready to eat them straight from the pan, burning my mouth and fingers... yum

This warm salad I served together with the bacon wrapped pork tenderloin. A good match.

click here for a printable version

Serves 4

850 g       sweet potatoes, (the ones with the orange coloured flesh!!)
2 tbsp      olive oil
                coarse sea salt
                freshly ground black pepper
50 g         walnuts
4              spring onions, cut into thin slices
4 tbsp      roughly chopped flat leave parsley
1/4 tsp     red chili flakes
35 g         raisins

Dressing:

4 tbsp      olive oil
2 tbsp      maple syrup
1 tbsp      sherry vinegar
2 tbsp      lemon juice
2 tbsp      orange juice
2 tsp        freshly grated ginger
1/2 tsp     ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 190 °C. Wash and trimm the sweet potatoes but don´t peel them. Cut the potatoes into 2 cm big cubes. Spread them out on a baking sheet covered with parchment, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Mix everything with your hands until the potatoes are eavenly coated with the oil. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, turning the potato cubes carefully after 15 minutes.

Toast the walnuts in a non-stick frying pan, cool and brake into pieces by hand.

Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing and season with salt and pepper.

When the potatoes are just tender transfer them to a large bowl while still hot. Add the parsley, spring onion, chili flakes, walnuts and raisins. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently to blend. Serve still hot or at room temperature.