Delicious, nutritious yam salad as an update to starchy white potato salad. Why have I never been sitting at a picnic where several dishes of spud salad are present, with my foodie-brain at work, and had this epiphany? Yam potato salad makes perfect sense!
Let me tell you about a few other hipster changes to this pot-luck and picnic standby. Baking the yam chunks beforehand adds a delicious taste of caramelized smoke. And the olives with pimento are having a love affair with the crunchy but let’s be honest-boring celery, because this is a blissful combination. My mom started adding green olives in her potato salad long ago and now my family just expects them. Try it, you won’t be sorry. I remember when she also started adding green olives to spaghetti sauce and I thought she had lost it, but turns out she was just showing her genius in disguise! Also, use a good quality Greek yogurt in the yam salad. It’s just the right thing to do here. I happen to love The Greek Gods Yogurt.
I’m telling you, you may never make regular potato salad again! And if you’re wondering… in the photo, I served grilled turkey burgers, Paleo style, topped with Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Spread. This colorful medley was a hearty meal, but the yam salad could easily stand alone for a meatless main dish any time of year.
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- 4 medium yams washed and cut into 1" cubes
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 cup celery hearts including leaves chopped
- 1 bunch green onions chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1/2 cup Spanish green olives with pimentos sliced
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt nice and thick - The Greek Gods is a good one
- 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon dried dill seed or weed or use 2 teaspoons fresh chopped dill weed
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dill pickle juice
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place yam cubes on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, toss to coat then liberally sprinkle with salt and black pepper.
- Spread in single layer on baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes, turning halfway through cooking.
- Remove from oven and transfer to a plate.
- Place in refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes.
- While yams are cooling, whisk together yogurt, mustard, dill, garlic, and pickle juice in a large bowl.
- Fold in celery, green onions, red pepper and green olives.
- Gently fold in chilled yams and return to refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. Taste to determine if more salt and pepper needs to be added before serving.
- This great salad may be prepared the day before serving with excellent results.
Recipe adapted from Eighty Twenty.
