Curried sweet potato salad

A few weeks ago on our way back from the Smokeys, Clint and I stopped for lunch at the Nacoochee Grill in Helen, Georgia. I am so glad we did. The food was delicious. My favorite was the curried sweet potato salad.

I've been on a curry + sweet potato kick lately, so ordering the menu item with two of my buzz words in the same place was a given. The combination was amazing. I hoped to find a similar recipe, but lucked out to find the very one in the AJC. We made it tonight, and it was just as yummy as I remembered. If you like savory sweet potatoes, I can't recommend this recipe enough. Seriously. It is so, so good.

But enough gushing. Here it is, along with a picture from our trips to the Smokeys:

Curry Sweet Potato Salad
They say necessity is the mother of invention, and this salad exemplifies that adage. Faced with leftover sweet potatoes from its dinner menu, the Nacoochee Grill developed this tasty salad. It’s offered as a side for lunch and dinner and is so popular that it is frequently requested in quantities to go. If you don’t have leftover potatoes, bake at 350 degrees for about 50-60 minutes, or until still slightly firm but cooked through. [I cooked our sweet potatoes in the crock pot.]

Makes 6 servings
Hands on: 15 minutes Total time: 15 minutes, plus Overnight refrigeration
Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise (the Nacoochee Grill recommends Hellmann’s)
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon coarse-ground mustard
4 cups cooked, peeled and diced sweet potatoes (about 2 large)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (such as Craisins)
1/2 cup pecan pieces, lightly toasted
2 green onions, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, curry powder, brown sugar and mustard. Add sweet potatoes, dried cranberries, pecans and green onions. Season with salt and pepper. Chill overnight. [We were too impatient to wait for overnight and ate it tonight. Still super yummy.]