Roasted Yam with Apple and Kale (aka: The Quest for the Purple Yam)
Roasted Yam with Apple and Kale
OMG! Is there a name for this syndrome? You know, the one where you spend your entire Sunday, scouring the vegetable markets of your city (and the outlying areas) for a vegetable of a particular colour to coordinate with the other vegetables in a dish your brain conceived of in some bizarre hyper-creative state? Not to mention all of the linens you bought to go with this dish because the colours look so amazing beside the food!! Seriously??? Accchhhh!!! This has to be some very weird blogging syndrome. Please tell me that there are others of you out there who suffer from this same form of madness that I seem to be experiencing at the moment??? Yes, I spent my entire Sunday on the quest for the purple yam – they seem to be out of season at the moment – much to my chagrin!! You see, I have been making this dish with orange yams now for a while, but the other day I discovered, when eating at a friend’s house, that there was such a thing as a purple yam! Well, my brain jumped into overdrive, imagining all the beautiful dishes I could create with such a gorgeous colour! Then it landed on this dish! So on Sunday, I launched myself upon all of the vegetable markets I know of (and then some) to find this elusive purple yam. Conclusion? They do not exist in Vancouver this time of year!! Well, I called my friend who had had the good fortune to find the purple yams in the first place, and she suggested that I try purple potatoes!! Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!! So my friends, the purple vegetable you see in this dish, is meant to be yams, but I substituted purple potatoes for the sake of the photography. It still tastes awesome, but I am determined that the next time I find the #$&!% purple yams, I am going to load up my car with them and make everything I can think of with them (if they colour coordinate, of course!)
This dish is inspired by a recipe that one of my colleagues gave me. I’m not sure where she got it from. I love the combination of flavours and textures (and we already know about the colours!) It needs little seasoning, except for some good quality sea salt. It makes a fabulous side to your favourite meat or vegetarian main. I have even eaten it for lunch with a nice crusty bun and some churned butter!!
Ingredients:
1 medium orange yam, cut into half-moons
1 medium purple yam, cut into half-moons (or 6 small purple potatoes)
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 medium white or yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 big bunch kale
olive oil
salt and pepper
optional:
whole cloves of garlic (peeled)
Method:
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Place sliced yams and apples in a medium bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Toss until all pieces are lightly coated with the oil.
Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Place in oven.
After 15 minutes check to see if the apples are cooked. They will be done before the yams. Remove the cooked apples and place the yams back in the oven for another 5 – 10 minutes until the yams are tender, but not mushy.
In the meantime, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet and sauté the onions until they begin to caramelize. Sprinkle with salt.
Wash the kale and remove the thick centre stalk. Shred into small bite-size pieces. Once the onions are done, place the kale in the skillet with the onions. Add 1 tablespoon water and sauté a few minutes until the kale turns bright green. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper and remove from the skillet.
Combine the yam mixture and the onion-kale mixture in a medium bowl and toss lightly. Serve as a side to any meat or vegetarian main.
Enjoy your colourful dish beside linens that match the food! LOL!!
Roasted Yam with Apple and Kale
Foodie On Board 
8 Responses to “Roasted Yam with Apple and Kale (aka: The Quest for the Purple Yam)”
Not sure if there’s a name for the syndrome, but I suffer from the same thing. Having a blog does that to you, apparently. If only I knew before I started blogging. 🙂
Awesome! Glad to know that I’m not the only one! Maybe there should be a little warning posted before we sign up for the blog; Warning: You may become susceptible to a mysterious blogging syndrome, marked by obsessive colour coordinating 🙂 Too funny!
Yes! You can get very caught up colour-coordinating. I’ve done it before with yellow tomatoes and even those orangey-coloured beets (which Ive yet to find). Looks great!
http://www.nothing-found.com
Oh good! I’m so glad it’s not just me!! Hmmm, yes I have noticed those beets too 🙂 Well, maybe I’ll have to start dreaming up some lovely colour coordinated dishes with them as well!! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!
Purple yam, apple and kale…what a great combination. I love this. Thanks for sharing!
You are so very welcome! I’m glad you like the idea of it and hope you get the chance to make it. It’s pretty quick and easy to make!
LOL, I know of what you speak, being a foodie myself. 😉 I love purple potatoes of both types, gorgeous color and taste great too.
And I think it’s a lot of fun for kids to have these kinds of vivid veggies on their plates too. I never met a kid yet that I couldn’t turn into a veggie-lover. 😉
Happy Weekend, G
Hey Geraldine, great idea about the kids and the coloured veggies! Wow, I’m thinking purple and orange yam (potato) oven fries!!I’ll pass the idea on to friends and family with kids…Have a wonderful weekend!