Southwest Sweet Potato, Black Bean, Wild Rice Salad

Southwest Sweet Potato, Black Bean, Wild Rice Salad is a colorful and flavorful salad full of sweet potatoes, black beans, wild rice, corn, cilantro and a wonderful chili lime dressing. Serve it as a side or main dish. 

Happy first day of spring friends! We made it through the winter and warmer days are on the way. Denver has been exceptionally warm the past week with temperatures in the 70’s nearly every day. I’ve been loving every minute of it and enjoying the outdoors as much as possible. I’m still waiting for out spring blizzard to arrive, but so far all I see are a few possible days with rain (which we need).

The warm weather got me so excited that I actually grilled yesterday! Along with our grilled chicken I made this Southwest Sweet Potato, Black Bean, Wild Rice Salad. It’s the second time I’ve made it in two weeks, so that should be an indication of how good it is!

This salad is loaded with all sorts of southwest flavored goodies! Black beans, corn, jalapeño, cilantro and the most delicious chili lime dressing to toss everything in. Wild rice and sweet potatoes might not be thought of as southwest in flavor, but when you combine them with everything else it totally works.

The salad can be served as a side dish like we did last night or it’s got enough going on in it that you’ll be satisfied with it as a main dish. It’s a great option for meatless Monday, which go figure happens to be today!

This Southwest Sweet Potato, Black Bean, Wild Rice Salad is naturally gluten-free, vegetarian and if you replace the honey in the dressing with agave nectar it’s vegan as well. This is the type of salad that I can eat year round, but I especially love it as the weather starts to warm up. It’s a wonderful salad to bring to barbecues, potlucks or picnics as it can be served cold or at room temperature.

The salad hold up well if you need to make it in advance. I actually combined the wild rice, roasted sweet potato and black beans a couple days in advance. If you do make it ahead of time, I suggest waiting to add the dressing until just before serving.

Cheers to warmer days on the way and salads like this Southwest Sweet Potato, Black Bean, Wild Rice Salad. Enjoy and happy spring!

More Salads for Spring

Greek Tomato Cucumber Salad with Crispy Chickpeas

Wheat Berry & Wild Rice Salad with Strawberries & Basil

Spinach Orzo Chicken Salad with Goat Cheese

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Southwest Sweet Potato, Black Bean, Wild Rice Salad

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Southwest Sweet Potato, Black Bean, Wild Rice Salad is a colorful and flavorful salad full of sweet potatoes, black beans, wild rice, corn, cilantro and a wonderful chili lime dressing. Serve it as a side or main dish.

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Ingredients

Salad

• 2 cups cooked wild rice blend
• 1 cup diced roasted sweet potato
• 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup frozen corn, defrosted
• 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
• 1/3 cup packed cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1 jalapeño, minced

Dressing

• Zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons honey or agave nectar for vegan
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine all of the salad ingredients
3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.
4. Season with more salt and pepper if needed then serve or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

The wild rice and sweet potato can be cooked a couple days in advance to save time.

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 200Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgFiber: 8gSugar: 6gProtein: 8g