Gordon Ramsay’s sweet potato salad tosses roasted cubes of skin-on sweet potato with aduki beans, quinoa, garlicky kale and arugula in an orange and Dijon dressing. Raw diced fennel goes over the top for crunch. It serves 4 and takes about 45 minutes, most of it while the sweet potato roasts.
It comes from page 50 of Ultimate Fit Food (2018), the cookbook he wrote about the food he eats to stay fit for marathons and triathlons. He calls it “my kind of salad” and says the beans and quinoa mean “it will fill you up for the rest of the afternoon.”
It also keeps well. He says it’s good served warm and “just as good cold,” so you can make it in advance or even the night before and eat it the next day.
Gordon Ramsay’s Aduki Bean, Sweet Potato and Fennel Salad
Course: SaladsCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
15
minutes30
447
kcalGordon Ramsay’s aduki bean, sweet potato and fennel salad from Ultimate Fit Food (2018), page 50, with roasted sweet potato, garlic kale and quinoa in an orange and Dijon dressing. These ingredients make a sweet potato salad lunch for 4.
Ingredients
- For the salad:
2 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed clean and cubed
olive oil, for roasting and frying
200g (3 cups) kale, stalks removed and leaves chopped into bite-size pieces
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
60g (3 cups) arugula (rocket)
1 can (400g / 15 oz) aduki beans, drained and rinsed
250g (1⅓ cups) cooked quinoa, from about 85g (½ cup) uncooked
1 large fennel bulb, diced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the dressing:
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1½ tablespoons cider vinegar
1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard
juice of ½ orange
½ teaspoon dried chili flakes (optional)
4½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Directions
- Roast the sweet potatoes: Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Toss the sweet potato cubes in a little oil, season with salt and pepper and spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes, turning them halfway through.
- Cook the kale: Meanwhile, heat a dash of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the kale with a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of water and cook for 2 minutes, until it wilts and the water is gone. Stir in the chopped garlic and cook 2 minutes more, until it softens.
- Make the dressing: In a large salad bowl, whisk the crushed garlic, vinegar, mustard, orange juice and chili flakes with a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour in the olive oil slowly, whisking all the time, until it thickens. Taste and adjust.
- Toss: Put the arugula in the bowl, then add the beans, quinoa, roasted sweet potato and kale and mix gently.
- Serve: Scatter the diced fennel over the top.
Notes
- The 447 calories are Gordon's own figure, printed in the book with the recipe.
- The book lists the chili flakes as optional, so leave them out for a milder salad.
FAQs
Do I have to peel the sweet potatoes?
No. Gordon only scrubs them clean, then cubes them with the skin on.
Give them a good scrub, because the skin stays on through the whole 30 minutes in the oven and ends up in the salad.
Does the fennel go in raw?
Yes. It’s the only part that isn’t cooked, and it goes on last, scattered over the top just before serving.
Adding it at the end keeps it crisp next to the soft roasted sweet potato and the wilted kale.
Is this sweet potato salad healthy?
It’s from his fitness cookbook, and the book prints the numbers. One serving has 447 calories, 13g of protein, 13g of fiber and 55g of carbs, with 16g of fat, of which only 2g is saturated.
Most of that fat is the olive oil in the dressing, and the protein comes from the aduki beans and quinoa.
Is there a quicker sweet potato salad?
Yes, in Fast Food, his book from The F Word, on page 69. He boils 1cm (½-inch) rounds of sweet potato for 3 to 4 minutes, then chars them on a grill pan for 2 to 3 minutes a side.
They go on plates with frisée and tangerine segments, dressed with a vinaigrette sharpened with orange or tangerine juice, so it’s on the table in about 15 minutes.
It’s one of two potato salads in his F Word books. The other is Gordon Ramsay’s potato salad with new potatoes, from Sunday Lunch.
Aduki or adzuki beans?
Same bean, two spellings. The UK book says aduki, and the American edition, Healthy, Lean & Fit, calls them adzuki and uses a 15-ounce can.
Any can of them works here. Just drain and rinse them well before they go into the bowl.
Zaytouna Studio Team is the kitchen team behind Chef Ramsay Recipes. We cook Gordon Ramsay’s recipes from his cookbooks and videos in a home kitchen and write them up for yours, with US and metric measurements.