I first ate this salad at a friends place and because it was sooo delicious, asked for the recipe. When I found out it was vegan I was quite surprised because it was so creamy it tasted like it had dairy in it for sure. Since then we've made it a few times, once substituting the sweet potato for pumpkin and on another occasion using a bit of both. It's especially good if the sweet potato is roasted until it is nice and caramelised, and the hazelnuts are well toasted. Don't be tempted to leave out the ginger, it pulls it all together.
Ingredients (serves 4-6)
4 small or 3 medium sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
2 sticks celery, chopped
3 spring onions, chopped
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1 green capsicum, chopped
1/2 walnut-sized piece ginger, chopped finely
For the dressing
100g silken tofu
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp tamari
1 tsp grain mustard
Roast the sweet potato and/or pumpkin with at 220C with a little olive oil until just starting to go brown around the edges. This will take about 30 mins depending on the size of your chunks. Set aside until cool.
In a separate pan or tray in the oven, toast the hazelnuts. Keep an eye on them, don't let them burn, but you do want some nice toasty colour and flavour going on. When they have cooled a bit, chop or crush them into pieces. I like a mix of bigger and smaller bits.
While the potato and hazelnuts are in the oven put all the dressing ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth and emulsified.
Mix the cooled potato/pumpkin with the rest of the salad ingredients in a big bowl and gently mix through the dressing. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.
