Sweet potato is one of those veg that exemplifies transeasonality. While the UK and North America start to turn their collars up, we’re unbuttoning ours down under. And yet sweet potatoes - or yams – unite us.
In Australia, you’ll find smaller sweet potatoes are abundant and great bang for buck at the moment. As we enter barbecue season, this recipe makes a great bring-a-plate; if you’re somewhere cold in the world, serve this warm and let the cheese and sour cream dressing become oozy.
When shopping for sweet potatoes, don’t be scared of soil! A bit of dirt never goes astray, as it acts as a natural barrier to extend shelf life. Select sweet potatoes of a similar size to simplify preparation, particularly if you are planning on roasting them whole like in this recipe, so they all cook through at around the same time.
If your sweet potatoes are on the large size, you might need to roast them for an hour (or you can just chop them into chunky bits to shorten the cooking time).
I can’t tell you how great this salad is for kids and those young at heart – like a school-camp baked potato, made salad-y. You could certainly do this with potatoes, but I like the way sweet potato or yam brings another level of lovely caramel-ness and colour.
Using tinned corn is more authentically campy, but if you have fresh cobs, boil for four minutes, then shave off the kernels. Complete the campfire effect with smoked salt if it’s already in your pantry.
The shredded cabbage and carrot make an easy, zippy slaw when dressed simply with the apple cider, and helps give this salad more crunch. I never tire of watching the way red cabbage becomes a little pink when it’s acidulated, making this even more fun for young ones to cook and eat.
Alice Zaslavsky’s yampers (camper’s jacket yams)
(Pictured above)
Serves 4 to 6
6–8 small sweet potatoes, orange or purple varieties (about 1kg), washed but with skin on
100g red cabbage, finely shredded
1 carrot, about 100g, finely shredded
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt flakes
For the sour cream and chive drizzle
100g sour cream
50g pouring cream
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp finely chopped chives, plus extra for garnish
½ tsp salt flakes
¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
To assemble
50g baby spinach leaves
80g cheddar cheese, grated
200g tin corn kernels (1 cup), drained
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pop the sweet potatoes on to a lined baking tray and into a cold oven. Crank the heat to 220C/200C fan, then roast for 40 minutes or until they blister, burst and yield to the touch. Cool slightly.
Meanwhile, make the sour cream and chive drizzle. In a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients, tasting and seasoning with more salt and pepper if needed.
In a large bowl, toss together the shredded cabbage, carrot, vinegar and salt, then season to taste with more salt and a generous crack of pepper.
To assemble the salad, lay a bed of baby spinach in the base of a large shallow bowl, then arrange the warm baked sweet potatoes, still in their jackets, over the top. Using a knife, slash crisscrosses into the potatoes, then gently squash with a large fork or firm spatula to expose the vibrant orange (or purple!) innards. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese over the innards while still warm, to let the cheese melt. Pour half of the sour cream and chive drizzle over the top in broad strokes, then tumble on the cabbage and carrot slaw and the corn. Finish with the remaining sour cream drizzle, the extra chives and the olive oil, plus a crack of pepper.
This is an edited extract from Salad for Days by Alice Zaslavsky, photography by Rochelle Eagle, published by Murdoch Books in Australia (AU$45) and the UK (£20); and In Praise of Veg by Alice Zaslavsky, photography by Ben Dearnley, published by Murdoch Books in Australia (A$65) and the UK (£30), and published by Appetite by Random House in the US (US$35) and Canada (C$45)
