Sweet potato, orange and almond salad

I really wish I could say that this magical little flavour-combination-inspiration was my own, but alas, it is not. I was lucky enough to stumble upon this salad idea whilst interviewing the lovely ladies from LoveFood, and this is my take on their wonderful amazingness.

The zest and juice really compliment the sweet potato and enhance it's earthy flavour and the toasted almonds give a beautiful crunch. The addition of the coriander was my stamp on the salad as I find it cuts through the sweetness and makes it a little more robust - fragrant, crunchy, zesty, delicious. Enough with the adjectives, just try it already.

P.S. If you haven't been to LoveFood...you need to rectify that.



Sweet potato, orange and almond salad

Ingredients: (serves 6 as a side)
1kg sweet potatoes, washed and sliced into rounds
olive oil, salt and pepper
zest of 1 orange and juice of ½ orange
100ml olive oil
½ tsp salt and pepper
50g flaked almonds
small handful coriander (washed and chopped)

Method:
Preheat oven to 190*C.
Lay the sweet potato slices onto 1 large/2 medium sized baking trays, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Bake in the oven for 1hr and 15min (or until browned and beginning to crisp), turning every 20 minutes.
Set aside.
To brown the almonds; place them in a nonstick pan on medium heat and dry fry, tossing occasionally, until they are lightly toasted.
To make the dressing: simply stir together orange juice, zest, olive oil and salt and pepper
To assemble: place the potatoes in a large dish, pour over 2/3 of the dressing and toss to coat.
Finish by scattering over almonds and coriander.