Hot & Cold Roasted Vegetable Salad
Greetings my Friday-goers! Hope you’re Friday goes great and you’re well ahead of your game plan for the weekend. 🙂
I know I am.
As I am attending a HUGE conference Saturday and Sunday with widely known authors, speakers and documentary filmmakers in the mindful spirituality, health, holistic, and sustainability lifestyles movements. It should be incredibly varied and pretty informative. Not to mention fun.
I’m actually going to see, specifically, one person who I fell in love with after watching her inspirational and motivating documentary, Crazy Sexy Cancer. After watching Kris Carr’s movie of her battle (and victory) with cancer, several times, I made a full transition into a raw lifestyle, which I enjoyed for a year, after adding in a little more cooked foods. But her film started a whole new revolution of food knowledge for me, as well as a great outlet for healthy recipes!
I get her newsletters for her blog and website, Crazy Sexy Life and she announced that she would be coming to San Jose, CA, right around the corner from where I live. Needless to say, there was no way I wasn’t going to this.
Her energy for life and passion for healthy living is contagious and she completely embodies a person who loves and respects who she is. Kris has created quite an industry for herself, helping others find a healthy path for themselves, never pushing a way of life, only offering suggestions.
Anyway, that’s my game plan this weekend and I’m excited to report back after the two days of learning!
In the meantime, I’m leaving you with a fitting, veggie-filled recipe to try out.
This one is my take on Jamie Oliver’s Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad. This salad caught my attention because half of it was cooked, still warm, while it mingled with the other cold, raw half. It sounded tasty so I had to try it. Although I didn’t quite have all of the ingredients, I’m sure my version could stand up to a side-by-side taste test. 🙂
The hot and cold of this adds for an interesting dimension for your taste buds. And the dressing, or “rub” is divine! Enjoy!
Hot & Cold Roasted Vegetable Salad
- 3 cups mushrooms, any variety, washed and chopped into quarters
- 3 cups brussel sprouts, halved
- 1/4 cup sweet yellow onions, diced
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp chili peppers
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme (or a sprinkle of dried)
- olive oil, enough to coat veggies
- 1/8-1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar (or white or red wine vinegar)
- 1 orange or 3 tangerines, juiced
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 red bell peppers, sliced into short strips
- 2 zucchini, cut into rounds
- 2 ripe avocados, sliced
- green onions and cucumber, for garnish
Directions:
Preheat a large non-stick skillet on high heat, adding a little olive oil to coat the pan. When the pan is hot, add the brussel sprouts, mushrooms, and onions. Roast until vegetables are tender and slightly crisped, about 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine the cumin, chili peppers, salt and pepper, garlic, and thyme. This should start to form a paste. Add in enough olive oil and vinegar to create a thick dressing.
When veggies have pan-roasted to your liking, place into a large bowl. Coat the veggies with the thick dressing as a “rub”.
To the bowl of marinating veggies above, add the orange and lemon juice, red bell peppers, and zucchini. Toss and taste, adjusting the salt and/or pepper, as needed. Fold in the sliced avocado.
Serve with garnishing with green onions and cucumber.
This would be delicious with any vegetable. Squash and spicy radish would be wonderful in this!
🙂