Raw Sweet Potato Salad

Sweet potatoes are confusing. People call them yams, but they’re not.* Even though you’re far more likely to encounter a sweet potato than a yam here in North America, I think we embrace the term “yam” because it’s more fun to say. Weighing in at four syllables, “sweet potato” is a mouthful. Yam? One. Plus it rhymes with other food words like “jam”, “ham”, “lamb” and “Spam.” As for its counterpart? Short of “eat tomato” I’ve got nothing.

Let’s face it. The word “sweet potato” is cumbersome. Unless you’re ordering sweet potato fries. Then it’s sheer poetry.

This unwieldy vegetable can also be confused with carrots. Truth. Raw and shredded, sweet potatoes look and taste a lot like carrots. In fact, this recipe fooled me the first time I had it.  When it comes to orange side dishes the only thing I know for sure is that everyone in our family likes this recipe.

Hallelujah and pass the (sweet) potatoes.

Raw Sweet Potato Salad

3 raw sweet potatoes, medium, peeled and shredded
2 apples, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans or trail mix
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp fresh black pepper


In a medium bowl, combine sweet potatoes, apples and nuts or trail mix.
In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream, mayo, lemon zest, juice, honey, salt and pepper.
Pour dressing over sweet potato mixture and toss well to coat evenly. Chill before serving.

* For those who care: We usually get sweet potatoes here in Canada. Sweet potatoes, a member of the morning glory family, can be grown locally. They tend to be soft and very sweet. Yams are usually imported, starchier and come from a plant family that’s hard to spell and has no common name for me to fall back on.