Roasted beet, charred cauliflower, seeded salad

Charred cauliflower is a tasty food trend. Roast a batch and keep it handy in the refrigerator for snacks and salads.

I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things after four weeks of fun vacation abroad visiting Scotland and Iceland! I’m still reeling from how beautiful Iceland was, and will do a picture post (like I did with Scotland) soon. Thanks for keeping up on Instagram and Facebook — it was fun to see so many of you engaged and clearly in love with Iceland, too!

Now that I’m back, I’m stuffing my face with as many veggies as I possibly can. While in Britain I lived on pub grub (heavy, delicious, not many veggies) and in Iceland lived on instant noodles and oatmeal – so, I’ve been craving vegetables for a while. Green smoothie mornings back in action! Also: breakfast salads. Also: all the time salads. This salad included!

This is super simple: roast the veggies, make the dressing, toss everything together. I often make the veggies in a big batch and keep them in the fridge to assemble my salad as needed/wanted/craved. Throw in a bunch of seeds and nuts, or whatever else you have on hand and you have a salad!

This recipe uses charred cauliflower – a tasty food trend you might enjoy.

Roasted beet, charred cauliflower, seeded salad
Serves 2 to 3

2 large beets, cubed to 1/2-inch
1 head cauliflower, chopped to large florets
4 strips uncooked bacon, cut into small strips 

For the dressing:
1/4 cup minced shallot
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice

For the salad:
6 cups mixed fresh greens
3/4 cup mixed seeds and nuts (Pumpkin, sunflower, pecan, etc.)

1.   Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spread the beets and cauliflower out evenly. Cook for 30-40 minutes, checking for when the beets are done and the cauliflower is charred. The cauliflower will cook faster than the beets, but that's OK! You want them to get charred black bits!

2. As the veggies are roasting, make the dressing. Cook the cut up bacon until crispy, then add it (along with all of the fat drippings!) to a jar with the shallot, honey, olive oil, and lemon juice. Mix to combine.

3. When the veggies are done, assemble the salad with the nuts/seeds, veggies, and dressing.

Related post on The Kitchen Paper: Chorizo, beet, sweet potato, kale hash