SOUTHWEST SWEET POTATO NOODLE SALAD

I love sweet potatoes, and eat them all the time, in every way possible. Baked, roasted, French fried, in casseroles, and in pie. I didn’t think there were other ways to eat them, until I saw some sweet potato noodles at Whole Foods.

Now, I know about veggie noodles, and though I don’t have a spiralizer, I’ve made them plenty of times, mostly out of zucchini. But sweet potatoes? I was intrigued, so I picked some up, and came up with this super delicious salad with a zippy avocado oil chili dressing.

I knew right away that this would be a bit different from zucchini noodles, as sweet potatoes are much harder, so I decided to cook them. The hardest part is figuring out when they are done, because you don’t want them crunchy, but it’s easy to turn them into mush. A large enough pan and tasting as you go should help, but it may require some experimentation.

Once the noodles are cooked, the salad is as easy as tossing everything together in a large bowl. I roasted my corn in a dry skillet first, but you can certainly skip that step for a faster meal. I ate this salad as is for a light lunch, but you can easily add protein for a full meal. Some spicy grilled chicken or roasted shrimp would go nicely, but anything you would eat with sweet potatoes will probably work here.

Regarding spiralizers, I don’t have a tool dedicated to spiralizing vegetables, but I’ve used a julienne peeler with much success making zucchini noodles in the past. A spiralizer isn’t something I’ve bought just because I’m not sure how often I’d use it, and the Whole Foods near me sells a variety of different spiralized veggies if you want to try a recipe like this one before making a commitment. If noodles aren’t an option for you at this point, you can make this recipe with roasted sweet potatoes, and you’ll get all the same flavor profiles.