Sweet Potato Black Bean Salad

So many of the food blogs I follow create such labor-intensive, elaborate foods. Cooking for hour upon hour, multiple-day steps, tragic stories of one tiny mistake ruining the entire recipe. While I certainly appreciate, and often enjoy, mastering new techniques in the kitchen, I so often find that the most enjoyable meals are simple, fresh, and require no real skill whatsoever.

This is certainly the case with this salad. Every time I make it, I expect to be disappointed because I have built it up to such amazing flavors in my head, and yet each time, it's every bit as flavorful as I was expecting.

If you have a knife and an oven, make this. It's fast, it's easy, and it's unbelievably delicious.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Salad
adapted from What Would Cathy Eat?

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 1 bunch scallions, green and white parts, chopped
• 3 red bell peppers, chopped
• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• juice and zest of 1 lime
• juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Spread the sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes, until potatoes are tender and brussels sprouts are crispy.
3. Add the roasted sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts with the red peppers, scallions, and black beans.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the lime juice, lemon juice, mustard, and basil. Whisk in the olive oil.
5. Mix the dressing with the salad, adding additional salt, pepper, or lime juice to taste.

Update: I made a summer version of this salad for a 4th of July picnic, using what I had in hand… no brussels sprouts, but 4 red peppers, 2 yellow peppers, and  2 green peppers.  I loved it even more, with the crunch from all the peppers, and it was a perfectly light and colorful addition to the picnic!