Put your pagers on vibrate and hold onto your satchels, because you’re about to go alllll afternoon delight. Over a salad. A salad of roots and skyrockets in flight.
Roasted root vegetables all thyme-ed up on the spinach boat with hunks of feta and balsamic-date vinaigrette. It’s something to talk about, Bonnie Raitt. True Story. You just ate 3 pounds of vegetables. How? #thissalad.
When was the last time you had a root in your oven?
This is how 3 pounds of veggies get taken down: You lather up your roots with oil, thyme, salt and pepper. You then spread them on a baking sheet, roast them at four hundo and glue yourself to the oven for approx. 40 to 45 (which is exactly enough time for one episode of Private Practice or between 8 and 9 Macarenas. But not both, never both) until your roots are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.
The root vegetables will c0me out all toasty, noodling notes on your heart strings. Prepare for your heart strings to get noodled.
This salad is a tear-jerking, catamaran-tipping, upside-the-head slapping, hootinist tootinist rootinist bobtailed wildest cat in the west, Yoooooooooooosemite Sam! Roots: ravaged. Feelings: uncorked. Remorse: less.
Can we talk about the balsamic-date salad dressing for a second? Sluuuuurp! That’s all I needed to say.
Are you out of peanut butter? This salad dressing is a perfectly acceptable replacement for all of your spoon-to-mouth needs.
My motto’s always been when it’s right, it’s right.
Recipe adapted from Aida Mollenkamp’s Roasted Root Salad Recipe with Balsamic-Date Dressing.
Roasted Root Salad with Balsamic-Date Viniagrette
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 1 medium-sized turnip peeled and chopped into 1.5” pieces
- 2 parsnips peeled and chopped into 1.5” pieces
- 2 large carrots peeled and chopped into 1.5” pieces
- 2 boiling onions chopped
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 handful fresh thyme sprigs
- 6 ounces baby spinach
- 3 ounces crumbled feta cheese
For the Balsamic Date Vinaigrette:
- ¼ cup oil
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- 8 large dates pitted and chopped
- 1/3 cup yellow onion chopped
- 2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
To Prepare the Balsamic-Date Vinaigrette:
- Add all ingredients for the vinaigrette to a small blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside until ready to use.
To Prepare the Roasted Root Vegetables:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Peel and chop the roots into 1.5-inch pieces. Toss them with the grapeseed oil, fresh thyme, salt, and black pepper. Spread the veggies on a baking sheet (or two).
- Roast for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring twice, or until crispy and golden-brown. Allow vegetables to cool.
To Prepare the Salad:
- Add spinach to a large salad bowl and add in the roasted vegetables and feta. Toss with desired amount of balsamic-date dressing.
Nutrition
Need more roots in your oven? Try these on for size:
Baked Root Vegetable Chips with Buttermilk-Parsley Dipping Sauce
Roasted Beets with Orange-Tahini Dressing
Well, I’m never out of peanut butter. But I can still make some room in my slurping repertoire for this dressing! Let a slurp fest ensue.
I literally just took in 2 lbs of salad for dinner via a raw collard bowl, so I believe you when you say 3lbs of veggies for dinner is possible. This sounds fantastic with the date vinaigrette paired with the feta!
A fantastic salad! I am crazy for root veggies..they taste sweet and delicious when roasted. The dressing sounds amazing.
lathering up veggies.. you had some serious food porn going on in this salad! Looks awesome; Im all about dates!
This is a great salad! love everything about this!
I’m all about that dressing! Looks awesome lady!
I love the sounds of that balsamic and date vinaigrette! It’s snowing here…but this is a salad I can get on board with.
So crazy that it’s still snowing in other parts of the country! We’re in full-fledged spring mode here. The salad – you can serve it warm, too! I actually love putting fresh-out-of-the-oven hot roasted veggies on my salads. Although I totally get why other peeps would be opposed to mixing hot and cold 🙂 Let me know if you try it!
That dressing has my name written all over it! Yum!
Yes, yes, it does! <3
Yum! I like the bridging of the old root vegetables with the fresh salad. Sounds delicious.
LOVE toasted veggies more than anything!
Wahooo!! Root lovers are…the…best…lovers. I read that in a scientific magazine somewhere. It’s a fact. Just kidding. But high-fives for loving roots 🙂
This salad sounds lovely! Love the addition of the balsamic date vinaigrette!
Thanks m’lady!
This looks delicous and so healthy! I need to make more salads now that winter is over.
Yes, yes, and yes! All I’ve wanted lately is raw vegetables. Syonara, winter!!
this sounds so good right now! i had to explain to my co-worker what afternoon delight meant the other day when it came on the radio… that was fun 😉
hahaha! I’m glad you/I could provide some music trivia/life lessons for your co-worker 🙂
Dates in the dressing=pure genius!! I cannot wait to try that. Have a great weekend Julia!
You put dates in your balsamic! Oh, yum! And roasted your roots? Indeed, indeed. Nothing better. I’m needing this. Nothing inappropriate today from me. Just drool.
Thanks, lady! As simple as this salad is, I’m absolutely obsessed with it. I want to swaddle it in a blanket and call it Chickpea 😉
Hahahaha! I love it!
This is like your site’s theme salad. You’re so cool you have a theme salad. Loving all the roasted roots!
I was thinking the same thing. HOW it took 2.5 years to get my signature salad posted, I will never know. But indeederooski, this thing’s a BOMBSHELL! 😀