Sweet sweet potato salad

I had a bad day and I wanted to eat it away.  I came home and declared: “I want French fries!”, to which Andrew replied: “Really?  Even after eating out for the past few days?”  Sad, he was right, we needed something healthy and light, but we had no groceries.  I searched through the fridge and found green onions and a couple sweet potatoes in the pantry.  Now what?  A little google search and a skim through 6 recipes, this is what I came up with:

Sweet Sweet Potato Salad

You have to try this dish!  It was fresh and light and surprisingly satisfactory in the comfort food department.

Sweet Sweet Potato Salad (a mix of recipes from a few places)

Dressing
¼ cup avocado oil (or light oil)
2 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tbsp. orange juice
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. grated ginger (fresh of course)
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ cup chopped green onions

Salad
3 sweet potatoes (1 pound-ish), peeled and cut into bite-size cubes
½ cup dried cherries or cranberries
2 tbsp. crystallized ginger, finely chopped
(I’m sure pecans would be delicious too, if you can eat that kind of thing)

Mix all the dressing ingredients and set aside.  Steam the sweet potatoes until tender (not too soft or you will be eating mashed sweet potato salad).  Rinse in cold water and ice cubes (some people call this blanching), drain.

Mix everything together.  Enjoy!

Duben Wilde

Dear friend,

It has been too long since we have spoken and now it is too late.  A day later and already I miss your smile.  You were the best person, the kindest person, a great man.  I’m sorry I never got to see how amazing a husband and father you’ve been, I imagine that you were great at both.  Time passes and we let it go by without words, but you have always been in my thoughts and in my heart.  You were my friend and you will be missed.

I remember our trip to the circus, despite my fear you made me stand next to a clown!  We laughed our way through the picture, I have the proof framed forever with my photographs, I will cherish those memories.

I often think of our trips to McDonald’s, we would order 20 chicken nuggets with all the sauces and spend the afternoon eating and mixing sauces and catching up.  I think one of your favorite mixes was honey and bbq sauce, I was more partial to the honey mixed with mustard, but it was never really about the nuggets, it was about the company.

I still have the letters you wrote while you were on your mission.  I was so proud of you for going, for learning a whole new language and devouring the culture you were surrounded by.  You asked me to only ever speak French to you so you could practice and never forget all that you had learned.

You turned every negative into a positive and drew out all the good you could from every experience.  I hope that rubbed off on me, it was a great quality.

I’m glad that in your final days you were surrounded by people who love you and will think of you often.   You will be remembered, you will always be loved.

Goodbye sweet friend,
devon