I’ve been craving potato salad for years and can’t tolerate white potatoes. I was googling some ideas to use up the beets that I have and came across beet potato salad, so I decided to modify some recipes and create my own with sweet potatoes. This is one of the most delicious things I have ever made.
I find that after cooking the beets, letting them sit in cold water for a period of time, it’s much easier to peel the skins. I just push/rub them off with my fingers. Be careful that you’re not wearing good clothes or that you’re wearing an apron because sometimes the beet juice can splash, and that’s not coming out of your white t-shirt.
I ended up cubing only 2 medium-large beets because I cut the recipe back a bit (2 sweet potatoes rather than 3), which was a good thing because even this recipe made a large amount, and I was hungry, so I ate most of the third beet right then and cubed a couple of remaining chunks of it and added it in. If you love beets, you can certainly use 3.
You could either cube and boil the sweet potatoes, like I did, or boil them whole (with skins on or off, peeling them afterward). I decided to peel and cube them first because it would ensure the cubes were cooked uniformly and I could more easily check that they were not overcooked. I simmered them for 10 minutes, but I would probably do it less next time because they were borderline overcooked and could easily become mushy. It still turned out really well though. You could also cube and roast the sweet potatoes, if you prefer.
What was I going to do about the mayonnaise substitute though?
There are really so many options. I wasn’t going to use avocado, but at the last minute I grabbed one and decided to mash it.
I used 1/2 cup of Silk Almond Yogurt. Why? You can use any yogurt or yogurt substitute that you like. Probably even sour cream or sour cream substitute. I went with the Silk Almond Yogurt because I had some and because it’s a little thicker and a “cheesier” taste than the Silk Coconut Yogurt, which I also had in the fridge. I thought it would help make it creamier.
I used apple cider vinegar to give it some zing. I’m allergic to lemons. Otherwise, I might have used lemon juice.
To add a bit of oil to it, I went with avocado oil. Other options could be olive oil or grapeseed oil.
You can really use any herbs or spices you like. I didn’t have any, but another time I might try adding some horseradish powder. If it were summer, I might have added some garden sorrel out of my garden. That would have been great in it. You could even add chopped spinach, Swiss chard, or kale. If you can eat onion or red onion, go ahead and add some of that too.
This was seriously so good. The mayonnaise alternative had a really nice flavour to it. I was worried it might not be quite enough, but it mixed in and coated everything nicely.
If you want to, you can add some softened goat cheese or feta on top when you put it on the plate, but it’s not necessary. I just really love goat cheese.
Creamy Beet & Sweet Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 2 Large Sweet Potatoes – cubed
- 2-3 Medium-Large Beets – cubed
- 3 Hardboiled Eggs
- 2 Stalks Celery
- 1 Avocado – mashed
- 1/2 Cup Silk Almond Yogurt (or other yogurt)
- 1 Tbsp Mustard
- 3 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/4 Cup Avocado Oil (or other oil of choice)
- 1+ tsp Himalayan Rock Salt
- 1 tsp Dill
- 1 tsp Basil
- 1 tsp Chives
- 1 Tbsp Parsley
- Softened Goat Cheese or Feta (optional)
Instructions
- Cook beets for 1 hour on stovetop. Then drain and let cool in cold water. When cool, peel and set aside until ready to use.
- Add 3 eggs to a pot, cover in cool water. Bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and let sit to cool.
- Peel and cut sweet potatoes into uniform sized cubed (between 1/2 inch to 1 inch).
- Cover cubed sweet potatoes with water, add some salt, and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low heat for 5-10 minutes. Cook until slightly tender. Don't cook longer than necessary because the sweet potato will become mushy. Once cooked, drain and cover in cold water. Let cool until ready to use.
- Peel and chop eggs. Chop celery and cube the beets, and add them to a large casserole dish. Set aside.
- Mash an avocado in a bowl. I use a fork to mash it. I used this as an ingredient for the mayonnaise alternative. (If you cut open the avocado and find it's too firm to mash, that's fine. Just leave it out of the mayonnaise. Chop or slice it up, and add it to the casserole dish as is.)
- Add 1/2 cup of Silk Almond Yogurt to the bowl with the avocado (or use yogurt or yogurt substitute of choice).
- Add the mustard, apple cider vinegar, and avocado oil (or oil of choice) to the bowl with the mashed avocado and yogurt.
- Add 1 tsp of Himalayan rock salt, and dill, basil, chives, and parsley (or herbs of choice) to the bowl. Thoroughly mix all ingredients together to make a creamy, mayonnaise alternative.
- Drain the sweet potato cubes and add to the casserole dish with the beets, celery, and eggs. Carefully mix them together.
- Add the mayonnaise alternative to the casserole dish and thoroughly mix until everything is coated.
- Optional to add some crumbles of softened goat cheese or feta after plated.