SWEET POTATO, DRIED CHERRY, MADRAS CURRY AND BLEU CHEESE STUFFING/DRESSING

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into ½-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
• 2 slices hardwood smoked bacon, julienned
• 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ½ teaspoons Madras curry powder (from McCormick’s Gourmet Collection)
• 1 cup dried cherries
• ½ cup crumbled bleu cheese
• ¼ cup orange juice
• ½ cup diced green onions
• 2 teaspoons sea or kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine sweet potatoes, onion, bell pepper, bacon, olive oil and curry powder. Pour mixture into an ovenproof dish, cover with foil and bake until sweet potatoes are tender, up to 90 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool about 30 minutes.

Once mixture has cooled, add the dried cherries, bleu cheese, orange juice, green onions, salt and pepper and mix ingredients until well incorporated.

Makes 4 to 6 side-dish servings, good with steak or pork. Can also be used to stuff quail, Cornish hens, chicken or turkey. If used as stuffing, decrease initial baking time to 50 minutes.