Emma's Little Kitchen

This roasted root salad with goat cheese is perfect for winter- resolution friendly, with a little oomph!

I have always thought that January is unfairly assigned the title of “worst Month”. The reasons are twofold:

1. The worst month is obviously February
2. My Birthday is in January

Selfish of me yes, but oh to be a January baby! Look, I have nothing against the rigor at which people attack their resolutions, but there is only so many, “I can’t, I’m detoxing”, “I can’t, I’m skint”,”I can’t I’m on the cabbage diet/Beyonce cleanse etc. etc.” that one can take before you begin to get a little resentful.

So I’m meeting you in the middle with this one. I’ll give you some resolution friendly greens, but only if you promise to come out for a cocktail this month. Deal?! Ok, onto the salad Yes, it’s a salad, but it has some oomph. I feel like the universe is playing a cruel joke on us by forcing us to make resolutions in the deep winter, don’t you? Fear not, the robust bed of kale, tossed with roasted root vegetables, and topped with a smattering of creamy goat cheese makes this a satisfying, nourishing, and all round delicious winter salad.

Enjoy!

Roasted Root Salad with Goat Cheese

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

This roasted root salad with goat cheese is resolution friendly, with a little oomph.

Author: Emma

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• For salad:
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large sweet potato, cut into chunks
• 2 parsnips. cut into chunks
• 2 beetroot. cut into chunks (slightly smaller than your other veg as I find they take longer to cook)*
• 1 small bunch of kale, destemmed and finely shredded
• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
• ⅓ cup goat cheese
• For dressing:
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tbsp dijon
• 1 tbsp maple syrup (or honey if you wish)
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• large pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 425F/220C
2. Arrange the prepared veg in a roasting pan, and toss with olive oil. Put in the oven to roast until tender, and toss once or twice during cooking to prevent sticking or burning.
3. While the vegetables are roasting, whisk together the dressing ingredients.
4. Put the kale leaves in a large bowl, and and pour the dressing over the top.
5. Spend a few minutes rubbing the dressing on the kale leaves until thy are will coated and beginning to wilt**, and then set aside in the fridge to marinate while the veg finishes roasting.
6. When the vegetables are ready, removed the roasting pan from the oven, and throw in the pumpkin seeds so they toast in the pans heat. After a couple of minutes, add the vegetables to the kale leaves and toss everything together.
7. Sprinkle the goat cheese on top, and serve!

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*A cheat for you: I adore precooked vacuum packed beets, because I always feel my roasted ones are hit and miss, and can be messy. So sometimes when I make this salad I will toss the precooked beets in at the end. But your call!

**The longer you massage, the more tender the leaves, and the longer you marinate, the more tender the leaves. My husband has reported that he prefers this salad on the second day for this reason. So you be the judge based on how you feel on the subject of raw kale 🙂