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Roasted Sweet Potato & Goat Cheese Salad with Shallot Dressing

This delicious roasted sweet potato, cauliflower, & goat cheese salad has a delicious, tangy roasted shallot vinaigrette to top it off...it's a super easy side dish (or main, with some added protein) that can be whipped up quickly and even mostly made ahead of time!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Side Dishes & Veggies
Servings: 4 -6 servings

Ingredients

  • 1-2 sweet potatoes sliced thin (¼-inch or less)
  • 1-2 cups of cauliflower florets
  • Olive oil sea salt, freshly ground black pepper
  • 8 ounces of greens I like a combo of spring mix & arugula, roughly chopped
  • 2 medium shallots halved lengthwise and peeled
  • 3 tablespoons of sherry vinegar or balsamic vinegar plus more to taste
  • 3/4 teaspoon of smooth dijon mustard
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons of water as needed
  • 1/4 cup of dried cherries or cranberries or golden raisins
  • 2 ounces of soft goat cheese chèvre, crumbled
  • Optional: 1/2 cup of toasted pistachios chopped (pecans or pine nuts also are great)

Instructions

  • Prepare the sweet potato, cauliflower, and shallots: Heat oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  (Note, I usually do all of this in the air fryer instead.)  Drizzle or brush parchment lightly with olive oil and sprinkle the oil with salt and pepper. Arrange your sweet potato slices in one layer on the parchment. Coat lightly with more oil, salt, and pepper.  Do the same with the cauliflower florets (using a second baking sheet if needed).
  • Place shallot halves on a square of foil and drizzle lightly with olive oil and kosher salt. Tightly seal the foil around them into a little packet and place on the baking sheet with the vegetables.
  • Roast the veggies and shallots for 15 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are lightly brown underneath and the cauliflower is beginning to brown.  Flip the pieces and return the tray to the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are evenly brown and the cauliflower is tender and browning (you may have to remove the sweet potatoes before the cauliflower).  The shallot will not be brown or look caramelized, but will be tender. 
  • Make the dressing: In a blender or food processor, whiz your warm, tender shallots with 4 tablespoons of olive oil until smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed. With the machine running, add the dijon mustard and 3 tablespoons of vinegar, blending until smooth.  Season well with salt and pepper, blending again. Taste and adjust with more vinegar, salt, and pepper as needed. If the dressing is very thick, you can thin it with 1 to 2 tablespoons water.
  • To serve: In a large wide bowl or salad plate, toss the greens with half the dressing and season with additional salt and pepper.  Arrange your roasted sweet potatoes and cauliflower over the greens, then sprinkle with the golden raisins (I like to slightly rehydrate them in hot water for a few minutes), goat cheese, and nuts if you choose.  Drizzle some of the remaining dressing over, to taste.
  • Serve right away, with extra dressing on the side.

Notes

  1. I like to roast my veggies and do the foil packet of shallots in the air fryer, which is faster and I think gets a better caramelization on the sweet potatoes and cauliflower.  Just keep an eye on them, as the timing will vary based on your air fryer.  You can also dice the sweet potatoes if the small slices are too time-consuming.
  2. The nuts you use here are flexible (the original recipe calls for pepitas, which I'm not a huge fan of).  Pistachios are great, but walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, etc. can work nicely.  Just get them nice and toasty.  I often leave out as I'm not the biggest nut fan.
  3. You can roast the veggies and make the dressing ahead of time, then wait to assemble and serve the salad later if needed.  The veggies are great at room temperature so this is a nice make-ahead side dish option.
  4. If you don't want to use sweet potato, you can also use butternut or honeynut squash.  In that case, peel & seed, then slice thin or dice small.
  5. For the lettuce, I like something with a bit of bite and that won't get super soggy fast, but don't love full-blown kale.  Consider spring mix, arugula, even baby kale, spinach. 
  6. I love golden raisins with this (soak in hot water for a few minutes before), but dried cranberries or cherries are great too).