All winter long I crave salads with gorgeous fresh vegetables and grilled stone fruit. The kind of salad you can usually throw together in a matter of minutes in the summer months but is a bit more of a challenge once the temperature dips and the puffer coats and scarves come out of the closet.
So the other day, when I went for a long walk with a friend, we started talking about roasting vegetables. I know what you’re thinking, these ladies are truly old and have nothing better to talk about than vegetables. You’re partially right (we also talk about our children, illnesses, what the cold weather is doing to our bones as well as the hot young guy who just jogged passed us) but there’s a point to this so please hear me out. This got me thinking about all the wonderful winter time vegetables that can be roasted to create an amazing salad. Butternut squash, carrots…you get the idea.
Then I started thinking about the other ingredients that can be added to up the fiber and crunch. Apples, edamame, nuts, and what salad would be complete without cheese.
But that wasn’t enough, there had to be a dressing, the kind you find in a fancy restaurant (you know the type that serves deconstructed everything). That’s when my mind went into overdrive…balsamic cherry vinaigrette, people. Ruby red and deeply flavorful. This stuff is sooo good. I had to stop myself from eating it by the spoonful or dunking an entire loaf of bread in it and calling that my dinner. Don’t like cherries? Substitute cranberries and raspberry jam.
Thrown together and paired with a loaf of crusty bread this salad is perfect on it’s own. Want more protein? Add a rotisserie chicken that you can pick up on the way home from work. Either way, this dinner can be on the table in about an hour. Then all you have to do is sit back and smile as everyone compliments you for having slaved over the stove for hours. Which is perfect because you can kick your feet up after dinner and let everyone else do the dishes. Your part is done. Enjoy!
Winter Salad With Burrata and Balsamic Cherry Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Salad:
- 1¼ pounds butternut squash, cut into one inch cubes
- 8 oz baby carrots, halved lengthwise
- 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 5 oz baby arugula
- ½ cup shelled edamame, defrosted
- 1 large apple of your choice (I used honeycrisp), sliced
- ½ cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
- 16 oz burrata
Dressing:
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp honey
- ½ cup cherry preserves
- ½ cup dried cherries
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 cup extra light olive oil
Instructions
Salad:
- Heat the oven to 400 °F
- Combine the butternut squash and carrots and on a rimmed sheet pan. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper and mix. Spread the vegetables out in one layer (this is very important as they will steam rather than roast if they are too crowded). Roast for 15 minutes then toss and continue roasting for another 15-20 minutes until tender and slightly brown around the edges. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Combine the arugula, walnuts, edamame, apple slices. Add the roasted vegetables and the burrata. Drizzle with the dressing and sprinkle on the cherries.
Dressing:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the balsamic vinegar and honey. Allow the mixture to come to a boil over medium heat until it's reduced by half. About 10 minutes. Add the preserves and the cherries and continue cooking for about another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
- With a slotted spoon, remove the cherries to a separate dish.
- Whisk in the red wine vinegar and extra light olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the vinaigrette into a jar with a lid which will allow you to shake it up prior to use. The vinaigrette will keep in the fridge for about two weeks which means that you can make it ahead of time if you'd like.