Roasted Vegetable Salad with Roasted Garlic Dressing

Please trust me on this one – this is the perfect fall and winter salad. It is so flavourful because of the combination of roasted vegetables, and the roasted garlic dressing is to die for. I could eat this every day. It makes a great starter, but throw the optional nuts on and it can work as a main course.

There were two surprises for me in this recipe: I’ve never really enjoyed turnips before, and I never imagined roasting apples with other vegetables, but I enjoyed every bite.

I made 1/4 recipe of the dressing since this was the first time I was making it, just in case I didn’t like it. I will definitely make more next time, as I imagine it would be good on top of many other foods. If you come up with other ways to use this dressing, please leave a comment so I can try it too. It will keep in the fridge for about a week.

This recipe  comes from Candle 79 restaurant in Manhattan, as printed in Brendan Brazier’s Whole Foods to Thrive. Thanks for sharing!

Serves 4

What you need for the dressing:

• 1/4 cup garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons water (or more)
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon white miso
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• tiny pinch of nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

What you need for the salad:

• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cups new potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup baby turnips, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 medium-sized beets, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 medium apples, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• arugula
• toasted walnuts or pecans (optional)

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Place the peeled garlic cloves in a baking dish and add olive oil until they are covered. Cover the dish with foil and roast for about 25 minutes. When they have cooled slightly, remove the garlic and put it in a blender (I used an immersion blender). Keep the olive oil to use at another time, like for a stir fry or tomato sauce.
3. Add all the other ingredients for the dressing to the blender, and blend until smooth. Add a little more water if necessary.
4. When the garlic is roasted turn the oven up to 400F.
5. Place all the cut vegetables and apples in a large bowl and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.
6. Spread the vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for about 35-40 minutes, until tender. Mine were slightly browned, which I really enjoyed.
7. Toss the vegetables in about 2 tablespoons of the roasted garlic dressing.
8. Arrange the arugula on plates and top with the roasted vegetables. Sprinkle with some nuts if you are using them, and add a little more dressing if you wish.
9. Serve immediately!

Enjoy!