Happy October!! I can’t believe it’s here already but, as the crisp cool air of Fall starts to move in, I get more and more excited for sweater weather! Something about smelling burning leaves and huddling around a fire gets me every time. Anyways, on to today’s recipe!
I don’t know about you, but by the time Wednesday rolls around I’m feeling pretty sluggish (I like to refer to it as my mid-week slump). To help combat this, I usually like to double up on vegetables and protein to help fuel me through the rest of the week, and this salad is the perfect way to do just that. It is loaded with nutrients but doesn’t sacrifice health for taste (a MUST in my book) and looks gorgeous to boot. Oh, and did I mention it takes about 20 minutes to throw together?
This “super food bowl” has red kale (also seen in this post) mixed with romaine lettuce, sweet potato, radishes, beets, gorgonzola, and pomegranate all topped with a zesty lemon vinaigrette. I know it’s a lot of veggies, but I promise even the “health averse” will come around (and if you don’t like any of the above vegetables, feel free to swap them out for your favs!).
But please, don’t leave out the pomegranate. Besides their aesthetic contribution, the pomegranate seeds add a nice crunch and subtle tartness that helps balance out the earthy vegetables. Or you could always eat them by the handful…. just me?
Oh, and a little fun fact for you. Apparently, eating salads (especially those with lots of nutrients) with a creamy/fatty component (like salad dressing) significantly helps your body absorb the nutrients from the food you are eating! How awesome is that? So don’t leave out the cheese!
- I. Salad
- 2 cups red kale chopped
- 2 cups romaine lettuce
- 2 radishes thinly sliced
- two beets cooked and thinly sliced (I simply boil the beet roots for about 20 min or until tender)
- 1 pomegranate de-seeded (to help with this, fill a large bowl with warm water. Quarter the pomegranate and submerse in the water. Using your hands, separate the seeds from the rind. The seeds will sink, so all you have to do is skim the top and you're good to go!)
- 1 sweet potato cut into medallions
- 3 Tbs. Gorgonzola
- II. Vinaigrette
- The juice of two lemons
- The zest from two lemons
- 2 tsp. agave nectar (honey will work fine)
- 2 cloves of garlic (I used a micro-plane zester to help it disperse evenly)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- To prepare the vinaigrette, simply combine the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together.
- For the salad, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the sweet potato and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and toss together with your hands. Bake for 20 minutes or until tender. add all the ingredients into a large bowl, reserving some pomegranate and gorgonzola. Add the vinaigrette and toss together, making sure to thoroughly coat. Top with reserved pomegranate and gorgonzola. Serve immediately!
