Southwestern Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

So you know I've been on a Sweet Potato kick right...so in trying to do better with meal planning and eating healthier I found this amazing cold sweet potato salad recipe. Do you like Southwestern flavors? Well if you do you will love this recipe! I'm not good with grilling so I roasted my sweet potatoes in the oven...imagine roasted sweet potatoes, fresh roasted corn, black beans, green onions, bell pepper and CILANTRO!!!  I added some small spears of chopped, lightly sauteed asparagus for crunch. The thing that pulls it all together is tossing it all in fresh lime juice...now that's love. I love, love, love the taste of cilantro...it just makes everything taste "fresh"...I know it probably doesn't make sense but just go with me here. I made this on Sunday and the picture below is the end result...isn't it beautiful! Bright, fresh and healthy..imagine that and it taste soooo good. Being from the south I have only had one kind of potato salad and it included white potatoes with eggs, mustard, pickles...you know the one...and yes it's delicious but this is an entirely different twist on potato salad! Try it...if you like CILANTROOOOO...you are going to love it! 

Southwestern Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

Yield: Serves 6

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes


Grilled or oven roasted sweet potato salad with black beans, sweet corn, red pepper, avocado, cilantro, and lime. This fresh and healthy potato salad is always a hit at summer BBQ's!
ingredients:


4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch slices (or cut in cubes if you will be roasting them in the oven).
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 ear sweet corn, husked
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 red pepper, diced
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 avocados, pit and skin removed, chopped
5 stems of asparagus chopped and lightly sauteed or blanched so they still have crunch
Juice of 2 limes
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, toss the sweet potato slices with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place the sweet potatoes on a grill over medium heat (or cut them in cubes before tossing them in the olive oil and roast them by placing them in a 400 degree oven until tender). Cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes on each side. When the sweet potatoes are close to being done, place the ear of corn on the grill (I also roasted the ear of corn on the cookie sheet with the potatoes) and cook for 3-4 minutes, rotating so the kernels get slightly charred. Let the sweet potatoes and corn cool to room temperature.

2. Cut the sweet potatoes into cubes and place in a large bowl. With a sharp knife, remove the corn kernels from the cob. Add the corn to the bowl. Stir in black beans, red pepper, green onions, cilantro, and avocado. Squeeze the lime juice over the salad and stir until combined. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve.

Note-the salad will keep in the refrigerator for 2 days.

SIMPLE CHANGES FOR LIFE-LONG HEALTH

tIPS FOR LIFE-Long HEALTH

Looking to build healthier habits? Remember, you don’t have to change everything all at once. Start with small steps that you can feel good about.

1. Add nutrient-rich foods. Instead of thinking about what not to eat, think about the things you can add to your diet. Strive to incorporate more greens and colorful veggies into your meals.
2. Eat closer to nature. Concentrate on whole foods in their natural forms, such as fruits and vegetables. If it looks like it did when it grew from the earth, that's your cue that it's a healthier choice.
3. Go for whole grains. Instead of reaching for regular pasta or white bread, look for varieties made with 100% whole grain flour. Better yet, fill your belly with whole grains, such as brown rice, quinoa or barley.
4. Find alternatives to oil. Believe it or not, you don't need added oils to make the foods you love. You can steam fry those onions and replace the oil in those muffins with applesauce.
5. Reorganize your plate. Think of lean meat and fish as flavor boosters instead of the main event. Put beans, whole grains and veggies in the spotlight, and keep servings of meat and fish at 3 ounces or less (that’s about the size of a deck of playing cards).

Hungry for more? Check out our Four Pillars of Healthy Eating.

The Healthy Eating Plate and Pyamid

Use The Healthy Eating Plate as a guide for creating healthy, balanced meals—whether served on a plate or packed in a lunch box. Put a copy on the refrigerator as a daily reminder to create healthy, balanced meals!

• Make most of your meal vegetables and fruits – ½ of your plate:

Aim for color and variety, and remember that potatoes don’t count as vegetables on the Healthy Eating Plate because of their negative impact on blood sugar.

• Go for whole grains – ¼ of your plate:

Whole and intact grains—whole wheat, barley, wheat berries, quinoa, oats, brown rice, and foods made with them, such as whole wheat pasta—have a milder effect on blood sugar and insulin than white bread, white rice, and other refined grains.

• Protein power – ¼ of your plate:

Fish, chicken, beans, and nuts are all healthy, versatile protein sources—they can be mixed into salads, and pair well with vegetables on a plate. Limit red meat, and avoid processed meats such as bacon and sausage.

• Healthy plant oils – in moderation:

Choose healthy vegetable oils like olive, canola, soy, corn, sunflower, peanut, and others, and avoid partially hydrogenated oils, which contain unhealthy trans fats. Remember that low-fat does not mean “healthy.”

• Drink water, coffee, or tea:

Skip sugary drinks, limit milk and dairy products to one to two servings per day, and limit juice to a small glass per day.

• Stay active:

The red figure running across the Healthy Eating Plate’s placemat is a reminder that staying active is also important in weight control.

The main message of the Healthy Eating Plate is to focus on diet quality.

• The type of carbohydrate in the diet is more important than the amount of carbohydrate in the diet, because some sources of carbohydrate—like vegetables (other than potatoes), fruits, whole grains, and beans—are healthier than others.
• The Healthy Eating Plate also advises consumers to avoid sugary beverages, a major source ofcalories—usually with little nutritional value—in the American diet.
• The Healthy Eating Plate encourages consumers to use healthy oils, and it does not set a maximum on the percentage of calories people should get each day from healthy sources of fat. In this way, the Healthy Eating Plate recommends the opposite of the low-fat message promoted for decades by the USDA.