On a visit to Datça’s Saturday market a few months ago I was surprised to come across a table filled with sweet potatoes, a new crop on the block in this part of the world. Usually found as an expensive import in select supermarkets in Turkey, these tubers, or more accurately roots, were locally-grown on the Datça Peninsula. The price was affordable and competitive with the price of potatoes on sale in the market.
In recent years, farmers in Turkey have been experimenting with the cultivation of some less familiar fruits and vegetables, such as mangoes, papaya, avocadoes and bitter gourds.
Antalya, already famous for its homegrown bananas, is getting a name for sweet potatoes, which are also grown in the south-east around Hatay and Mersin, on the Aegean coast near Izmir, around Tokat on the way to the Black Sea from Ankara and, now, on the Datça Peninsula.
The sweet potatoes on sale in Datça market were of the reddish brown variety with an orange-yellow flesh. As a fairly recent arrival to the Turkish kitchen, there aren’t too many traditional recipes using the sweet potato, so KCC has come up with a salad that pairs them with beetroot, red beans, salad leaves and, to add a Turkish twist, a tahini and pomegranate dressing.
Sweet Potato Salad
KCC’s sweet potato salad combiness beetroot, red beans and salad leaves and, to add a Turkish twist, a tahini and pomegranate dressing.
Prep time
30 min
Cook time
20 min
Total time
50 min
Serves
3-4
Equipment
A salad bowl, a small bowl, an air fryer
Ingredients
- 150g roasted sweet potato
- 150g roasted beetroot
- 100g cooked red beans
- 50g mixed salad leaves
- 2teaspoons sunflower seeds
- 2teaspoons pomegranate seeds
- 20ml tahini
- 30ml olive oil
- 10ml apple vinegar
- 10ml pomegranate syrup
- 2teaspoons dried rosemary
- 2teaspoons sumac
Preparation
Peel and dice the sweet potato into 2 cm cubes. Put in a bowl and dress with 10 ml olive oil, one teaspoon rosemary and one teaspoon sumac. Mix well to cover the chunks.
Peel and slice the beetroot into quarters. Slice again lengthwise and then cut in half. Put in a bowl and dress with 10 ml olive oil, one teaspoon rosemary and one teaspoon sumac. Mix well to cover the chunks.
Cook the sweet potato in an air fryer at 200 c for 10 minutes, give the basket a shake after 5 minutes. If cooking in an oven, cook for 20 minutes at 200 c.
Cook the beetroot in an air fryer at 200 c for 20 minutes, give the basket a shake after 10 minutes. If cooking in an oven, cook for 30 minutes at 200 c.
Put the mixed salad leaves in a bowl and add the roasted sweet potato and beetroot. Add the cooked red beans and then sprinkle the sunflower and pomegranate seeds over tha salad.Make the dressing by combining 20 ml tahini with 10 ml olive oil, 10 ml apple vinegar and 10 ml pomegranate syrup in a small bowl. Whisk with a fork and add water to bring the dressing to a pourable consistency.
Pour the dressing over the salad, mix well and serve.
Knidos Cookery Club 