Roasted Sweet Potato Autumn Salad
It’s the season of giving thanks and I have much to be grateful for. Good health, wonderful family and friend relationships, meaningful work and play. Life is full and rewarding. What are you grateful for? Time with family becomes even more precious as we age. For Thanksgiving this year my husband and I will be with three of our five kids along with a few of my siblings and their families. A small group by our standards, but nonetheless meaningful. I’ll take as few or as many as I can get. I love family time.
This salad will likely make an appearance. It’s the perfect Thanksgiving feast recipe, but is sure to please at other times of the year too. It reminds me of nature during the fall season with rich colors of oranges, reds and greens. It’s loaded with fall’s best ingredients: sweet potatoes, garbanzo beans, pomegranate seeds, blueberries, apples, celery, nuts and seeds and a lovely cinnamon citrus dressing you’ll want to use over and over.
I toss the sweet potatoes and the garbanzo beans together in a spicy smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne mixture and then roast. The flavors that emerge are fantastic additions to any salad or filling for a burrito or omelet. So many uses.
Meanwhile I make the dressing by combining all the ingredients in a small jar. Shake and store until ready to use. Both the roasting of the sweet potatoes and the garbanzo beans along with the dressing can easily be made ahead to save time.
Then it’s go time by arranging the ingredients in separate wedges on the salad greens with the dressing on the side or tossing it all together along with the dressing. It’s completely your call. Either way, it’s a lovely salad for this time of year when we can appreciate nature’s most vivid colors as well as life’s most cherished blessings.
- Roasted Sweet Potato Autumn Salad
- Roasted Squash and Sweet Potatoes
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped in 1-inch pieces
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- Spiced Citrus Dressing
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 Tbsp clementine juice (about 1 clementine)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 3 tsp agave nectar
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- Salad
- 4 cups baby spinach and kale
- 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds
- 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
- 1/2 cup sliced celery
- 1/2 cup diced fresh apple
- 1/3 cup toasted pepitas
- 1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds
- 1/3 cup smoked gouda, sliced or shredded
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place the sweet potatoes and garbanzo beans on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with oil, salt, cumin, paprika and pepper. Toss to coat and bake for 25-30 minutes, tossing halfway, until tender and the edges are browning.
- Remove to cool.
- Combine all dressing ingredients in a small jar with a lid; cover and shake to combine. Chill until ready to use.
- Arrange spinach/kale leaves on a large platter. Arrange salad ingredients and roasted sweet potatoes and garbanzo beans in wedges or rows across the greens. Serve with salad dressing on the side. Or toss all of the ingredients in a bowl and add the dressing, stirring well to combine.
Inspired by one of my favorite bloggers at Oh Sweet Basil.
More Salads to enjoy:
- Roasted Artichoke and White Bean Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
- Winter Green Salad with Pomegranate Dressing
- Roasted Beet and Feta Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
- Kale and Quinoa Salad with Lemon Oregano Dressing
- My Big Fat Greek Salad
Laurie
I’m new to your site and love the recipe page but would like to know the nutritional facts to them.
Karen
Hi Laurie: So glad you found my site. I decided not to include nutritional facts for each recipe to encourage more intuitive eating that doesn’t rely on macronutrient count. I eyeball my portions and know that if I’m trying to cut back on processed carbs I won’t have the rice or the pasta in the dish or I’ll cut back on sugar-rich desserts, but I don’t worry about specific numbers. I include desserts here to encourage a balanced eating approach. I eat mostly plant based foods with occasional sweets.