Grilled Sweet Potatoes With Charred Scallion Mayo

A twist on traditional potato salad? Yes, please. One of Chef Tanya Holland’s favorite ways to serve sweet potatoes is by grilling them alongside green onions. She then blends the charred onions with mayo, lemon juice, and horseradish to create a dressing to spoon over the tender, smoky spuds. The best part is, you don’t need to peel or boil the potatoes: They go directly on the grill. To achieve the perfect grill marks, Holland recommends using a wire brush to clean your grill grates, ensuring an even cooking surface. And don’t walk too far away. Both the onions and potatoes have relatively short cook times so be ready to remove them as soon as they’re done cooking. (Using a combination of metal tongs and an easily maneuvered flipper makes that easy.)

The heat of the grill concentrates the sugary sweetness of the orange roots while the combination of smoke and the savory tang of the dressing adds balance to keep things in check. The round sweet potato slices cook quickly and evenly on the grill, but if you wanted to cut the potatoes into wedges and serve the sauce on the side (to dip like elevated sweet potato fries), you certainly could. Any way you go, this sweet potato recipe is the perfect side dish for any backyard barbecue. Serve it with Sticky BBQ Chicken, pork chops, or short ribs—or make it the base for a main dish, piling on various toppings like you would nachos. Think refried beans, melty cheese, spicy green salsa, cilantro, and more.