Sweet Potato Salad (Slatit batata helwa)

Sackville's Note:

This Moroccan salad is both sweet and spicy. I like the olives and capers in it, but you could just as easily leave them out. I also wonder if it would be good with a handful of raisins, instead of the olives?

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
• 3/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons harissa or 2 teaspoons chili peppers
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 teaspoons honey
• salt
• 4 tablespoons coriander
• 100 -200 g black olives, to taste
• 1/4 cup capers (to taste)

Directions:

1. Boil the sweet potatoes in just enough water to cover.
2. Stir in the ginger, cinnamon, harissa, lemon, honey and salt and boil for about 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked but not falling apart.
3. The sauce should be thick, almost syrup-like.
4. If it isn't, lift out the potatoes and boil the sauce until it is thicker.
5. When the sauce is done, mix in the coriander, olives and capers.
6. Cool and serve as an appetizer.

Reviews

[Mirj]

I cannot say it often enough, my family adores sweet potatoes, and we are always on the lookout for a new way to prepare them. I love Moroccan cuisine, and this really epitomizes it. If you can get the harissa I heartily recommend it, the chili peppers are a poor substitute. If you do use chili peppers you should whirl them around a bit in the food processor to get the saucy texture of harissa. I completely left out the black olives and the capers (well, it did say "to taste", and in our house that means "none". Thanks, Friedel, I'll be making this again, for sure!