Moosewood Restaurant's Sweet Potato Salad

My new favourite (thrifted) cookbook is Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, by The Moosewood Collective (1994).

This is fast-and-family-friendly vegetarian cooking, but with a bit of international flair; a good book for summertime or early fall cooking, when the gardens and markets are full of things we bring home and then need to eat up. The lists of ingredients are of reasonable length, and don't include too many things we never buy.  There are lots of menu ideas (even with the dessert recipes), and sample meals with do-this-first, then-this to get it all on the plates at the same time.  I also appreciate the listing of which recipes are particularly "Kid-Pleasers."  I haven't had this book very long, so haven't tried much out of it yet, but I can see quite a few recipes in it that sound like they'd go over well here.  I made Pasta Tutto Giardino earlier this week and thought it was a bit bland, but that's probably because I left the white wine out, and didn't season it very strongly; we also didn't have any Parmesan to top it with.  So I can't blame the recipe for that.

Today I made a double batch of Sweet Potato Salad, to take to a homeschool picnic tonight.  Mr. Fixit, who admits he does not like new things, tried some and liked it.  The recipe says it makes two servings (without doubling it), but the doubled recipe filled a ten-cup plastic container.  So use your own judgment.

Sweet Potato Salad, from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home  (original amount--can double)

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes (about 3 cups) (Note: 1/4 inch cubes are really small.  Basically, diced to the same size you'd dice celery.)
1 1/2 tbsp. wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used olive)
1 cup diced celery
3/4 to 1 cup diced red bell peppers (I used green)
salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 scallion, thinly sliced (I left this out because Mr. Fixit can't eat raw onion, but I think it would add a nice bite)
Salad greens and ricotta cheese for serving (optional)

Steam the diced sweet potatoes for 6 to 8 minutes, until just tender--take care not to overcook them.  While the potatoes steam, whisk the vinegar, mustard and honey in a small bowl (I used a 4-cup measuring cup).  Slowly add the oil in a thin stream, whisking until the dressing emulsifies.  Placed the diced celery and peppers in a serving bowl.  Add the steamed potatoes and the dressing.  Stir gently, add salt and pepper to taste, and set aside for a few minutes.  When the salad has cooled a little, toss in the parsley and scallions.  For home serving:  serve on salad greens, topped with ricotta cheese (optional).