Move over boring, bland salad…hello vibrant, delicious Roasted Veggie Salad.
Long gone are the days of limp lettuce leaves topped with processed store-bought dressing. Salads are so much more than that, and they taste a lot better too. I have to admit that when I used to hear the word salad I would immediately think of a boring side salad that didn’t taste that great, and was just something I had to eat in order to get my veggies in for the day. Thankfully, I’ve come a long way since then.
I’ll admit that I’ve experimented a lot over the years when it comes to making salads. Some have been better than others, but this salad is one of my favorites! I want to change the way you think about salads all together, and I think I can do that if you give this recipe a try.
The best way to build the ultimate salad is to make sure it contains the following: [1] texture, [2] variety, and [3] a tasty, healthy salad dressing. My Roasted Veggie Salad + Citrus Vinaigrette contains all of the necessary components and it tastes delicious! Recipe below.
Roasted Veggie Salad + Citrus Vinaigrette
Servings: about 4 dinner-size salads or 8 smaller side salads
Ingredients [salad]
- 6 large handfuls mixed greens
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 small to medium butternut squash, peeled + cubed
- 1 small red onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- about 20 Brussels sprouts, halved
- 1 cup dried garbanzo beans [or one 15-oz. can chickpeas, drained + rinsed]
- ½ pomegranate, seeded
- 1/3 cup citrus vinaigrette [recipe below]
- ½ cup crumbled feta [optional]
Ingredients [citrus vinaigrette]
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Juice of 1 medium lemon
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
- ¼ tsp dried thyme
Whisk all dressing ingredients together. You can make this dressing a day or 2 ahead of time and store in the refrigerator until needed.
Directions
To prepare garbanzo beans, place in a bowl and cover completely with water. Let soak overnight in refrigerator. The next day, drain and rinse well. In a pot over medium-high heat, bring soaked garbanzo beans, water and a pinch of sea salt to a boil [water should cover garbanzo beans completely]. Lower heat and simmer beans for about 1 hour until tender. If all water evaporates before the beans are done, add more water until they reach desired texture. Drain and set aside to cool. You can prepare the beans a couple days ahead of time and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.
For roasted veggies, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place butternut squash and Brussels sprouts on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, drizzle with ½ Tbsp olive oil, salt + pepper. Place in oven and roast for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 15-20 minutes, add onion and bell pepper to baking sheet with Brussels sprouts and squash; drizzle with remaining olive oil and dried thyme. Toss to combine all veggies and continue roasting for another 10-15 minutes until veggies are slightly tender but still have a little crunch for texture; stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and let cool. In a large bowl, toss mixed salad greens with 1/2 of the citrus vinaigrette. Then in a separate bowl, toss cooled veggies and garbanzo beans with the remaining vinaigrette. Place this veggie mixture on top of the salad greens; top with pomegranate seeds and feta [optional]. Enjoy as a main dinner salad or as a side dish.
Optional add-ins include: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, diced avocado, crumbled bacon or shredded chicken.
My mouth is watering!
- Ingredients [salad]:
- 6 large handfuls mixed greens
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 small to medium butternut squash, peeled + cubed
- 1 small red onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- about 20 Brussels sprouts, halved
- 1 cup dried garbanzo beans [or one 15-oz. can chickpeas, drained + rinsed]
- ½ pomegranate, seeded
- ⅓ cup citrus vinaigrette [recipe below]
- ½ cup crumbled feta [optional]
- Ingredients [citrus vinaigrette]:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Juice of 1 medium lemon
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
- ¼ tsp dried thyme
- To prepare garbanzo beans, place in a bowl and cover completely with water. Let soak overnight in refrigerator. The next day, drain and rinse well. In a pot over medium-high heat, bring soaked garbanzo beans, water and a pinch of sea salt to a boil [water should cover garbanzo beans completely]. Lower heat and simmer beans for about 1 hour until tender. If all water evaporates before the beans are done, add more water until they reach desired texture. Drain and set aside to cool. You can prepare the beans a couple days ahead of time and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- For citrus vinaigrette, whisk all dressing ingredients together. You can make this dressing a day or 2 ahead of time and store in the refrigerator until needed.
- For roasted veggies, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place butternut squash and Brussels sprouts on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, drizzle with ½ Tbsp olive oil, salt + pepper. Place in oven and roast for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 15-20 minutes, add onion and bell pepper to baking sheet with Brussels sprouts and squash; drizzle with remaining olive oil and dried thyme. Toss to combine all veggies and continue roasting for another 10-15 minutes until veggies are slightly tender but still have a little crunch for texture; stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and let cool. In a large bowl, toss mixed salad greens with ½ of the citrus vinaigrette. Then in a separate bowl, toss cooled veggies and garbanzo beans with the remaining vinaigrette. Place this veggie mixture on top of the salad greens; top with pomegranate seeds and feta [optional]. Enjoy as a main dinner salad or as a side dish.
- Optional add-ins include: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, diced avocado, crumbled bacon or shredded chicken.
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