The ‘secret’ to this salad is lightly roasting the vegetables; they are cooked just long enough to increase their natural sweetness yet not long enough to soften to mush. The veg is still firm (especially when chilled) but has a near-noodle quality when served.
This salad is fairly acidic (it uses balsamic and lemon) and you may wish to lower the amount of acid that you use; but I wouldn’t! Vinegar and beets are a natural combination (i.e. pickled beets) and this salad exploits their relationship. The addition of lemon makes it light and spring-like yet the amount of root vegetables also makes this a salad you could eat as a meal.
ROASTED VEGETABLE SPRING SALAD – INGREDIENTS
Salad:
- 3-4 medium beets
- 3 medium carrots
- a handful (8-12) of asparagus
- 10-12 large mushrooms
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- Sprouted greens (we used broccoli sprouts)
- Juice of half lemon
Dressing:
- 2-3 tablespoons mustard (I used grainy mustard)
- 3-4 cloves roast garlic
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper
- 9 tablespoons olive oil
ROASTED VEGETABLE SPRING SALAD – INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Trim mushrooms, cut beets in half and cut trip one side of the garlic (the sire without the root) so that you can seethe ends of each clove of garlic.
- Scatter veg (garlic, mushrooms, asparagus, and beets) on a cookie sheet, toss in olive oil salt and pepper. Place cut site of beets and garlic facing upwards.
- Set a timer for 15 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and asparagus and set in a bowl to cool. Feel the carrots, mushrooms and garlic (using care as they may be hot). They are done when the outer layer gives slightly but the overall texture is firm. The carrots will likely be done with an extra 5 minutes (20 minutes total), the beets will likely take 5 minutes longer than them (25 minutes total) and the garlic will take another 5 minutes (30 minutes total). Remove each when done and place in bowl to cool.
- Assemble the salad dressing by chopping and crushing the garlic into a paste and mixing it with salt, mustard and vinegar. Stir until you have a consistent texture; add the oil and stir with a spoon until you have a consistent dressing (the mustard will bring the oil and vinegar together).
- Once the veg is cool enough to touch, cut each fine. We used a matchstick mandoline to cut the carrots and the beets; the asparagus and mushrooms were cut with a kitchen knife.
- Mix the dressing and the veg together. Cover and place in fridge for 30 minutes. Add sprouts and lemon just before serving.