Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Black Beans and Chili Dressing

Happy New Year! The last year went by quickly.  I guess I'm ready for 2018.  I hope 2018 brings change and a little adventure.

I haven't returned to work yet.  I am still at home visiting family.  I fly back tomorrow.  I had a great vacation.

I started my holiday vacation by going to the Nutcracker with my sister and parents.  We had a Australian themed Christmas eve.  We ate lamb shepherd's pie and pavlova.  

For Christmas, I received an  PADI online learning account so that I can become scuba certified.  I hope to learn how to sail this year as well.  

I made this sweet potato and black bean salad before coming home for the holidays.  I was trying to eat a little healthier before the holidays.  

I found this sweet potato salad with black bean recipe on the New York Times' website.  I added more black beans because I had extra.  

The ingredients are 4 medium sweet potatoes, 1 large red onion, 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, 2 jalapeños, 1 garlic clove, juice of 2 limes, 2 cans of drained, rinsed black beans, 1 red bell pepper, and 1 cup fresh cilantro.  

I chopped the sweet potatoes and onion.  I drizzled the sweet potatoes and onion with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.  I tossed the vegetables in the oil to make sure the vegetables were evenly coated.  I sprinkled on salt as well.  I roasted the vegetables at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

For the dressing, I added the jalapeños, garlic, lime juice to a blender, and remaining extra virgin olive oil.  I added a dash of salt and pepper too.  I blended the dressed well.

I added the chopped red pepper into a bowl.  I added the rinsed and drained black beans into the bowl.

I added the roasted vegetables into the bowl.

I stirred in the dressing.

I stirred in the chopped cilantro.

This salad may not look like much, but it was very scrumptious.

The dressing was fantastic.  It had a little heat from the jalapeños.  It was fresh and bright because of the lime and cilantro.

The onion was aromatic and sweet.  The sweet potato was tender and caramelized.

The beans added some creaminess and made the dish more filling.

The flavors were toothsome.

It was a simple yet flavorful dish.  The flavors meld even more after a day or two.  

I would definitely make this dish again.  It was a winner in my book.