Roasted Fall Salad

A friend of mine was telling me about a dreamy fall salad she had out in Boston the other night and I couldn’t help but drool as she described it and quickly jot down ALL of the ingredients. Figured it would be a perfect dish to try and re-create because the mix of sweet and savory ingredients really just sounded like the perfect combination! I decided to give what she had a little twist; and because I’m really trying to embrace seasonal eating this year, what better way to do it than with a huge bowl of veggie goodness?

So here this tasty salad was born! It’s filled with roasted veggies, protein, and healthy fats. If you’re like me and meal prep, you can prep all of these ingredients ahead of time except for the actual salad assembly and eat for lunch or dinner, or gosh even breakfast if you prefer! For the most part, I’m still trying to be conscious of my added sugar intake so I didn’t add any honey to this dressing, but if you’d prefer a sweeter dressing, by all means add a little honey or a dash or maple syrup to sweeten it up. It tasted fabulous as is though, I promise! Now to think about the next fall inspired dish to totally embrace this wonderful season. All ideas are welcome!

Dairy free, gluten free, grain free

Yield: 2 large, meal sized salads

Ingredients

·      Arugula

·      Medium sized head of cauliflower, chopped

·      Small acorn squash, sliced into wedges

·      1 pear (or apple), chopped

·      Organic, nitrate free chicken sausage (could also sub with shredded chicken)

·      Handful of walnuts, chopped

·      Nuttin ordinary original cashew cheese (found at Whole Foods)

·      ~2 tbsp avocado oil

·      Cinnamon, sea salt, turmeric, garlic powder, & black pepper

·      Dressing:

·      Juice from ¼ lemon

·      2 ½ tbsp. apple cider vinegar

·      ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

·      ½ tbsp dijon mustard

·      1 shallot or ½ a small onion, diced

·      Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F

2. Line a baking pan with parchment paper or baking mats and place cauliflower florets and sliced acorn squash onto pan

3. Add avocado oil to the veggies

4. Add cinnamon to the acorn squash and sea salt/pepper, turmeric, and garlic powder to the cauliflower and lightly mix

5. Bake veggies for 40 minutes (I like mine pretty soft)

6. While veggies are baking, add all of the dressing ingredients to a blender and blend, set aside

7. Cook chicken sausage according to package

8. Assemble a large salad bowl with arugula, roasted acorn squash & cauliflower, sliced chicken sausage, chopped pear, dollops of nutting ordinary cashew cheese, chopped walnuts, and lastly toss with dressing

9. Enjoy!