sweet potatoes two ways

On Tuesday afternoon we stopped by the Bluegrass Farmers’ Market. It’s just down the road from our place, and it’s the only farmers’ market in Lexington that provides 100% locally grown produce—the vendors sell only what they grow.

As we looked around, I saw someone selling sweet potatoes and knew right away that I needed to buy them so I could make Mark Bittman’s recipe for Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Black Beans and Chili Dressing (spotted in The New York Times, naturally).

When I approached the sweet potatoes, I picked up a hefty one and asked the farmer what kind it was. “That’s a Beauregard,” he said. He proceeded to tell me that it’s a rather popular variety that was developed at Louisiana State and named after P.G.T. Beauregard, the Confederate general who fired the first shot at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, thus starting the American Civil War. It is also lower in sugar and subtler in flavor than other sweet potato varieties. Isn’t that fantastic? You can’t get that kind of info at a supermarket.

I made the sweet potato salad without any modifications and it was unbelievably delicious. So dreamy. The fresh lime and cilantro flavors just match up so well with the heat of the jalapeno and the warm creaminess of the sweet potatoes and black beans. I could eat this dish all day long. I am going to make another batch as soon as I finish posting this.

I used up another sweet potato in a corn chowder recipe I dug up from the July 2005 issue of Gourmet (sniffle . . . rest in peace). I really liked the use of sweet potato in this recipe—a nice twist on an old classic. It was very good, perfect for a cold fall day, and came together quickly, though I’d recommend blending half the soup to make it thicker.

What to do with the rest of my sweet potatoes? Maybe sweet potato ice cream or sweet potato pie. Definitely going to attempt the recipe for sweet potato gnocchi with fried sage and dried chestnuts from the October 2009 Gourmet.

Will someone stop by for a visit to help us eat?