Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with a Cranberry Chipotle Dressing

Okay so todays recipe is a long winded name.....but totally worth it! I know it probably sounds a little weird right now, but youve got to trust me! And I know it's hard. But hopefully seeing some pictures of the dish will persuade you to my side! I love sweet potatoes. I traditionally prefer the yellow to the orange potatoes and when I can find the purple sweet potatoes I prefer those the most. And its probably something to do with eye appeal, but whatever. But there are only a few ways I know how to make sweet potatoes. And normally its wrapping in foil and roasted for an hour. Then slathering in butter. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact it is preferred most of the time. But sometimes you want different and unique. And tonight was that night. So I found this recipe and made some minor adjustements. Hopefully you will find it as delightful as I did!

Recipe:
2 1/2lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
3T olive oil
3/4t salt
1/2t black pepper
3/4c dried cranberries (original recipe called for fresh but I always have dried on hand so why not)
1/2c water
4t agave nectar or honey*
1/4t chipotle powder or 1 chipotle in adobo sauce finely chopped
3/4c pecans, roughly chopped
1/2c green onions, sliced

*Agave nectar is a natural sweetener found in Mexico in the same plant used to make Tequila. It is more expensive but worth it...especially on sale!

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Toss your sweet potatoes with 2T olive oil and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Place on a large baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until tender. Flip or stir the potatoes halfway through baking.

Place 1T olive oil, cranberries, water, agave and chipotle in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 5-10 minutes. If using dried cranberries make sure they are plump and tender and if using fresh cranberries make sure all berries have popped.

Remove from heat and pulse through a food processor until chunky.

Place pecans in a small skillet over medium heat and toast for about 3 minutes or until slightly brown. Make sure you constantly stir the nuts so they do not burn in the pan.

In a large bowl combine potatoes, pecans and cranberry mixture. Gently stir together. Top with green onions.

I grilled some chicken tenders and was going to have a salad with it but since Alex was at work I skipped the salad! And it was a little different the first bite I took. But not unpleasant. The more bites I took the more I liked it. And by the end I was really enjoying it. I wish I had put a few more nuts in it, but oh well. Live and learn. I hope there are some adventurous people out there who are willing to try this and let me know what you think!