Healthy Autumn Salad

Hi guys! I'm so glad to be back - my nose is no longer stuffy; I can breathe and taste again!!! I started feeling better just in time for our Canadian Thanksgiving holiday {and for that I am thankful!}. This past weekend was full of family, food and fun.

I am still stuffed from two back-to-back days of Thanksgiving dinners  ~ can you say 'hello stretchy pants'???

Heavy meals, holiday parties and lots of comfort food can be pretty dangerous this time of year! I find that the Fall results in a lot more temptation and I tend to crave carb-heavy meals and can easily go a little light on my fruits and veggies.

After a weekend like this past one, it's critical for me to get right back on track with my eats. I created this salad on the weekend and while it's light and healthy, it includes some roasted butternut squash, which totally satisfies my love of comforting Fall fare.

Healthy Autumn Salad

Serves 4 - 6 as an appetizer salad

For the salad:

2.5 - 3 c chopped butternut squash*

1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

6 c mixed greens

1large apple, chopped

1/2 sweet yellow pepper, chopped

1/4 c dried cherries

1/4 c dry roasted unsalted pepitas

2 - 3 oz crumbled goat cheese

*Slice the neck of your butternut squash into 1/2" thick rounds and then cut each round into quarters.

For the dressing:

6 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/3 c extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp dijon mustard

2 - 3 tbsp honey

2 cloves garlic, minced

pinch sea salt & fresh ground pepper

Place all of the dressing ingredients into your blender or Magic Bullet and blend well. Refrigerate.

Preheat your oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Place your chopped squash into a bowl and drizzle with the olive oil and sea salt. Spread the chopped squash onto your cookie sheet and roast for 30 minutes, making sure to flip about halfway through the roasting time.

Once roasted, remove the squash from the oven and set aside to cool.

To assemble your salad, place your mixed greens into your salad bowl. Add the squash, apple and pepper and toss. Top the salad with the cherries, pepitas and crumbled goat cheese.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I served the dressing in a cute little pitcher on the side, so that each person can drizzle the dressing on themselves.

A good peeler is a huge help when dealing a squash.

I have a Tupperware peeler and it is the absolute best!

I like the look of the uniform wedges, but you can just chunk it up if you prefer.

Store your leftover dressing in a mason jar in the refrigerator.

A gorgeous colourful salad to be proud to serve to guests.

Or as a delicious dinner at home after a weekend packed full of FOOD!

 

The sweet-savoury flavour combo of each bite will rock your socks off!!!

What is your favourite healthy meal to make after a weekend full of indulgences??

Have a great day y'all!

Andrea

xoxo



Balsamic Broccoli Slaw

Happy Monday to you!

This weekend I have been devising a plan to start toning and losing weight now that my eating habits are back on track....I've put the brownie fiasco behind me and am back on the cleanse.

I joined the local YMCA on January 2nd (yes, yes I know that is such a "New Years resolution" thing to do). I'm not a resolution type of gal, but I do believe in making goals. Two of my goals in 2011 were to join a gym and to run a 5K race.

I got right into the gym routine and was loving my workouts and then I hit a couple of snags. I suffered some pulled muscles in my back that stopped me from working out for about a week and then I proceeded to drop a large 3-wick candle (in a glass jar) on my toe. Ouch ~ there were tears and curse words involved Who knew one little toe could cause so much pain!! Needless to say I was unable to wear running shoes, or any shoes for that matter, for almost three full weeks. My toe is now recovered, but sadly I believe that my toenail is going to be a casualty of this injury.  I'm quite concerned about when I'm going to be able to start wearing sandals....does anyone know where I can some really cute band-aids to hide my toe for the time being??

Derek has some camo band-aids he said I could use (yes, we are in our 30s :-) but I'd prefer something a little more girlie.

This weekend was the first time I've been able to get back to the gym in a month. Do you go to the gym with a plan in mind as to what you are going to do? I usually try to catch a good cardio class, but if I go in to use the treadmill and/or weights I am at a complete loss as to what I should do. I have no plan and usually end up doing a 30 minute run and then leaving.

So my plan now is to make a mental list of what I'm going to do prior to going to the gym. My goal is to hit the gym four times per week. I'd like to do 2 - 3 cardio classes and then at least one day of running on the treadmill together with the dreaded weights. I'm a weakling and don't enjoy weights at all, but I have zero muscle tone and want to have a rockin' bod this summer, so I am going to have to suck it up and go for it! On my off days, my plan is to increase the dogs' walks, so I still get an hour to an hour and a half of physical activity.

I have also made a promise to myself that I am going to eat at least one very large salad per day. Today, I tried my hand at a broccoli coleslaw. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I have to tell you it exceeded my expectations ~ it was really, really good. The balsamic dressing is a perfect match with the sweet apples and cranberries and I just love the extra crunch that the walnuts give.

Balsamic Broccoli Slaw
serves 1

1 1/2 c broccoli slaw
1/2 apple, shredded or finely chopped
2 green onions, chopped
2 tbsp dried cranberries
1 tbsp walnuts (next time I am going to toast them)
3 - 4 tbsp of your favourite balsamic dressing

I used the leftover Balsamic Dressing from when I had the roasted beet and sweet potato spinach salad. It is the most amazing dressing I have ever had and it was a perfect match with this salad. Warning: If you make this dressing, you will never buy bottled salad dressing again!!

Mix all of the ingredients except for the walnuts together in a bowl. Let sit for at least 30 minutes in the fridge. Add walnuts when you are ready to serve and enjoy!

Is it me or is this broccoli slaw glowing??

Delicious!!!

This was a really easy salad to pack for lunch at work today. It was very easy to throw together and the sweet cranberries definitely satisfied my sweet tooth, so I wasn't craving a chocolate bar by mid-afternoon.

Do you have any creative salad ideas you want to share? Leave me your link, so I can check it out.

Hope your week has started in the most fabulous of ways,

Andrea

Roasted Beet & Sweet Potato Spinach Salad

Don't you just love it when you mull over a meal idea in your head and it turns out better than you imagined??

That would be what this salad did for me. When I decided I was going to do the 21 day cleanse, immediately I got to making a food list ~ I'll let you in on a little secret, I constantly make lists. There are post-its stuck around the house with to-do lists, grocery lists, handyman lists, gift lists, etc. etc. I probably have all my grocery lists from the past 2 months crammed into my purse and there is often a post-it note stuck inside my jacket pocket. This little 'habit' of mine is quite annoying to my better half, but I can't help it. I think its a genetic trait!

One of the first meal ideas I jotted down was a spinach salad with beets & sweet potato. I saw this in a magazine and it looked delicious and really pretty on the plate. I've been thinking about trying it, but if I have the choice between a processed veggie burger or a salad, you can guess which one I normally would choose. Well, that was the old me and now I am the salad diva extraordinaire!! I am also a sweet potato fiend as you can tell from my many sweet potato recipes!

Roasted Beet & Sweet Potato Spinach Salad
1 medium beet, peeled and cubed
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 - 2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of sea salt
1 c baby spinach
2 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp dried cranberries

2 - 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar (see recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350. Toss the cubed beets and sweet potato with a drizzle of olive oil and spread out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I was worried that the beets might run and discolour my sweet potatoes, but they didn't run at all.

Roast the sweet potatoes and beets for approximately 40 minutes, making sure to flip halfway through. You want them to be soft and starting to brown.

Once they are roasted, remove them from the oven and let them cool for five to ten minutes.

Start assembling this amazing salad.

1. Arrange your spinach on the plate.



2. Add the potatoes and beets.

3. Add pumpkin seeds and cranberries.

4. Drizzle with dressing.

5. Savour every single bite.

This salad makes one large dinner serving or two to three sides.

Of course, you can use your favourite dressing, but I came across the most fabulous recipe for an easy balsamic dressing recently.

Homemade Balsamic Dressing
Very slightly adapted from Oh She Glows

2.5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (or regular mustard)
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Ground black pepper to taste
1/2 minced clove of garlic (optional)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Add all ingredients into a small mixing bowl and whisk! Makes about a 1/2 cup of dressing. The only changes I made to the recipe was to reduce the maple syrup from 2 tbsp to 1 tbsp. I found it too sweet with 2, however you can adapt the measurement to your taste. I didn't have garlic and it was fantastic without, but I think next time I would definitely add it in.

I stored my extra dressing in a small mason jar in the fridge. I am a crazed-balsamic vinegar maniac, so I never have to worry about it going bad. Someday you might catch me slurping it up with a straw (ok, that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but you hear what I'm saying ~ I really love it!!)

So there you have it, two awesome recipes in one post. If you love sweet potatoes and beets, you are going to love this salad. The crunch of the pumpkin seeds paired with the sweetness of the cranberries puts this salad over the top. Add the most amazing and easy homemade dressing ever and you have one awesome salad...and believe me, the old me would never have used the words 'awesome' and 'salad' in the same post let alone the same sentence!!

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Happy Hump Day!!

So, I am having a little problem. I am starting to get myself psyched up and ready to start the 21 day cleanse this weekend, but instead of weaning off caffeine, sweets and processed foods, that seems to be all I am craving. I think my subconscious is trying to tell me to eat as much of the "bad" stuff as I can before I start the cleanse, but my logical sensible voice is saying that I am really going to regret it when I have my first sugar and caffeine withdrawal!!

Derek is not helping matters. Today he bought me a Cadbury Cream Egg. I love cream eggs. I spied them in the store a few weeks ago and they have been on my mind since, but I have held strong and kept them out of my cart....until today. Derek has good intentions, but really he is becoming my "enabler".

In order to be able to eat my cream egg, I have made a deal with myself. I have to have a healthy dinner first and no other snacking. So, the question is...what am I going to eat that will be satisfying yet very healthy?? I've got it!!

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad w/ Cranberries & Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
2 c sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp sea salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp rosemary (I used dried, but I think fresh would be even better)
1/4 c raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 c dried cranberries

Dressing:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
pinch of pepper
additional pinch of rosemary (if you love it as much as I do)

Mix cubed sweet potatoes, coconut oil, sea salt, garlic and rosemary.

Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes (make sure you flip halfway through). I like my sweet taters dark and crispy, so I left them the entire 30 minutes.

Those look so amazing; why they look good enough to eat .... hehe

Meanwhile, toast your pumpkin seeds. Place them in a dry frying pan over medium heat. Stir constantly for approximately 3 minutes until the seeds are golden brown. Do not let them burn!

Also, you can whip up your dressing while the potatoes are cooking. Add all ingredients and whisk together.

Once the potatoes are cooked, place them in a large bowl and let cool for approximately 10 minutes. Add pumpkin seeds and cranberries.

Toss with dressing and serve.

This salad is really delish!!  I enjoyed it warm, but I think it would also be really good when chilled.

It is pretty and festive and would be a nice side to serve your guests. I think you could really spruce it up and make it look fantastic if you had fresh rosemary for garnish.

Hope you have a wonderful evening ~ I am off to watch Survivor (I am team Rob all the way!!)

Andrea

Note: I drizzled just 1 1/2 tbsp of the dressing over the entire salad. I was afraid it would be too overpowering and take away from the taste of the salad ingredients. Next time I might add a splash of honey to the dressing to mellow out the taste of the vinegar.