I roast vegetables a lot. I love tossing a combination of chopped sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots, onion wedges, garlic cloves, broccoli florets and/or butternut squash with a little olive oil, kosher salt and maybe some fresh thyme and then roasting on a rimmed baking sheet. They’ll be finished in 30-40 minutes if you roast at a higher heat (I usually start at 425 degrees F) and hte veggies will be nice and caramelized. At this point I’ll toss them with a bit of lemon juice.

In a recent edition of Food & Wine, I saw this fabulous recipe from Chef Art Smith (of Oprah personal chef fame) in Chicago. It’s a simple melange of roasted vegetables, tossed with an orange-honey and balsamic vinaigrette  over mizuna. This salad is reminiscent of the Garbage Salad I wrote about earlier, but the dressing is slightly different and I used different veggies. 

The vinaigrette was so scrumptious! And I loved the texture of the roasted roots with the soft, peppery arugula as I didn’t have mizuna. I also didn’t have the exact root veggies he called for, so I improvised. The sweet, piquant dressing will definitely get used in our house over many a salad to come. This is a real keeper, and a perfect vegetarian meal for our meat-free January. I served it with a simple bread crumb and caper pasta with garlic and olive oil. It was kind of a lot of starch for one meal, but it satisfied as a comfort-food meal on a cold Sunday. Enjoy!

Cellared-Vegetable Salad

Yield: 4 servings

Total Time: 1 hour

This would make a great side dish to a lean protein or fish, or an excellend main-dish salad if tossed with some brown rice or cous cous.

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
4 whole carrots, peeled and sliced on the bias into discs
6 medium turnips, peeled and halved or quartered
1 dozen Brussels sprouts, halved
1 medium onion, quartered
6 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon minced red onion
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon honey
3 cups packed arugula

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Toss first seven ingredients (through rosemary) with 1/4 cup olive oil in a large bowl. Sprinkle to taste with salt and pepper. Spread vegetables on a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Reserve bowl.Roast for 30-40 minutes until veggies are caramelized in places and cooked until softened.

Meanwhile, in a 1/2 pint jar, combine remaining olive oil red onion, orange juice, vinegar and honey. With lid tightly secured, shake dressing until emulsified.

After roasting, toss veggies with arugula and dressing in reserved bowl. Serve immediately.

Art Smith, Food & Wine, February 2012