My Kitchen, Your Recipe: Polly Shaw's Sweet Potato Salad

By MARY ALICE HOLT

Jill Pickett

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Well, I promised you another Polly Shaw recipe for Thanksgiving, and I think you’re going to really like it. I’m sure this Sweet Potato Salad wasn’t intended to be a Thanksgiving dish; it would be just as perfect served at any time of the year. But Thanksgiving is the one time that just about everyone fixes sweet potatoes in some form or another – whether it’s baked sweet potatoes, sweet potato casserole or sweet potato pie. This is a new and different way to serve sweet potatoes, and one that I had certainly never considered.
I happen to love sweet potatoes in any form, but when I first read through the recipe, I couldn’t imagine that I would be too fond of this. I was fine with the pineapple in the recipe, but I couldn’t imagine sweet potatoes with mayo, celery, mustard and red bell peppers. However, since it came from Polly Shaw, I knew it was worth trying out, and I’m so glad I did. This is very good, and I definitely will make it again.

Mary Alice Holt can be reached at (270) 505-1751, or at maholt@thenewsenterprise.com.

Sweet Potato Salad

4 small sweet potatoes
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon mustard
4 stalks celery, sliced ¼-inch thick
1 small red bell pepper cut into ¼-inch dice
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
2 scallions, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
Chopped fresh chives
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wrap each potato in foil and bake for 1 hour. Unwrap; let cool. Peel, then cut into ¾-inch chunks.
Mix mayonnaise and mustard in a large bowl. Add sweet potatoes, celery, red pepper, pineapple and scallions. Toss gently. Season with salt and pepper, cover and refrigerate about one hour. Fold in pecans, sprinkle with chives and serve.
The recipe didn’t say, but I think this would make about six servings.