green salad with roasted sweet potato, pomegranate, toasted umami pepitas, and a creamy lime dressing

I finally took a few minutes to research the difference between yams and sweet potatoes – it was time for me to stop looking like an idiot at the grocery store while staring at the assortment of what I now know is probably all sweet potatoes. After reading several articles on the subject I think I could explain the difference to exactly no one. Just kidding… I could certainly hash my way through explaining the difference to an 8 year old. Bottom line is that yams are not sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes are not yams, and chances are you have never actually eaten a yam. I can confidently say that what I used in this recipe is indeed a sweet potato, and if you don’t have sweet potato coming out of your ears by this far into the fall season then are you really “doing fall” properly? If you can tolerate another meal with sweet potato, then consider this for your next fall feast, or dare I say, Thanksgiving dinner, which (ahem), is precisely 24 days away.

P.S. This recipe is GF, Vegan, Vegetarian, Whole30, etc… yet is delightfully delicious. I promise.

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GREEN SALAD WITH ROASTED SWEET POTATO, POMEGRANATE, TOASTED UMAMI PEPITAS, AND A CREAMY LIME DRESSING 

serves 6 as a side salad

Ingredients:
8 ounces supergreens (I used a pre-mixed assortment of chard, kale, spinach, and arugula)
seeds from one pomegranate (about 1 cup seeds)
roasted lime and herb sweet potato (see below)
toasted umami pepitas (see below)
creamy lime dressing (see below)

roasted lime and herb sweet potato:
1 garnet or jewel sweet potato, weighing approximately 3/4 pound
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped finely
1.5 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped finely
salt and pepper to taste

toasted umami pepitas:
3/4 cup pepitas (preferably unroasted and unsalted)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1.5 teaspoons curry powder, like hot madras or muchi 
heaping 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

creamy lime dressing
6oz vegan yogurt (I used coconut yogurt)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1.5 teaspoons lime zest
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 large cloves garlic, smashed
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon sugar or honey
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 

Peel your sweet potato and cut into bite sized pieces. Toss with olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, cayenne, garlic powder, rosemary, and thyme. Lightly salt and pepper. Spoon into a baking dish and bake for 25 minutes, stirring halfway, until sweet potato is soft and fork tender but not mushy. Set aside to cool. Decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees F for the next step.

Toss all the toasted umami pepitas ingredients together in a small bowl. Spread onto a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 5-6 minutes, until light golden and toasted.

To make your dressing, blend all dressing ingredients together in a food processor. 

Assemble salad by tossing together all the greens with most of the sweet potato, most of the pepitas, and most of the pomegranate seeds. Toss with the desired amount of dressing* and use remaining toppings to sprinkle on top. 

*Dress each salad individually if you would like the salad to keep well for the next day.