Name: Grilled Purple Sweet Potato Salad
Total time: 50 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 2 lb. purple sweet potatoes, peeled; ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus more; 1 Tbsp. white sesame seeds, plus more for serving; 1 garlic clove, finely grated; ½ cup mayonnaise; 1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon zest; 1 Tbsp. soy sauce; 1 tsp. freshly ground pepper; 1 tsp. sugar; 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil; 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil; Thinly sliced scallions (for serving)

A plate of grilled purple sweet potatoes garnished with a yellow dressing thinly sliced scallions and sesame seeds.

Photograph by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Food Styling by Thu Buser, Prop Styling by Gerri Williams

This grilled purple sweet potato salad, inspired by author T Kira Māhealani Madden’s farm stay in Hawai‘i, is smoky and nutty with blistered potatoes and a mayo-based dressing punched up with toasted sesame seeds and plenty of lemon. Purple sweet potatoes bring the most dramatic color, but regular orange ones are just as exceptional.

Grilled Purple Sweet Potato Salad

Read more about Hawai‘i's singular food culture

Recipe notes