blissful eats with tina jeffers: Roasted winter vegetable and citrus salad

Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, I certainly did and most of it consisted of eating seemingly endless quantities of my favorite fatty foods.  I have to confess that I haven’t been feeling myself and could definitely stand to lose a few pounds so for the next few weeks we might be seeing some lighter dishes here at Blissful Eats.  I’ve never been one for new years resolutions, they seem to vanish as quickly as you utter them.  But this year I am ready for some changes, so I’m starting with a month of no caffeine and no processed sugar.  I had considered giving up gluten and dairy as well but then I realized I would be miserable giving up so many things at once.  I started cutting back on my caffeine right after Christmas and thought I was ready on January first to go without but I was wrong.  Four days later and I’m just now starting to feel human again.  Anyway I am trying to eat cleaner and this salad is making that super easy. 

Roasted Brussels sprouts, romanesco cauliflower, juicy blood oranges, and a sweet citrus dressing come together to make what has become my favorite winter salad.  If you don’t like Brussels sprouts or cauliflower give this salad a try.  If you’d like to make this a complete meal serve it with some pan-fried tofu or some chopped hazelnuts, but I find it makes a satisfying lunch just as it is.  If you can’t find romanesco substitute cauliflower and feel free to experiment with the type of citrus, you use, grapefruit or tangerines would be lovely and I’ve also made it with fresh mango, which was delicious.

If you are looking for some other post holiday recovery recipes I’m posting 7 days worth of smoothies over at www.scalingbackblog.com.  I hope you’ll come for a visit! 

 

Roasted winter vegetable and citrus salad

Ingredients:

1 pound Brussels sprouts

1 head cauliflower or romanesco

1 blood orange peeled and sectioned into segments

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons minced fresh mint

For the dressing:

juice from half an orange

½ teaspoon finely grated ginger

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

¼ cup vegetable oil

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.  Prepare the Brussels sprouts by washing and trimming them, remove about ½ cup of the outer leaves to finish the salad with.  Cut the sprouts in half from stem to top and place on a baking sheet.  Separate the cauliflower into florets and place on another baking sheet.  Toss the vegetables with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast the vegetables until caramelized and tender about 20 minutes.  

While the vegetables are roasting heat a teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat and add the reserved sprout leaves, season with salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes just until the leaves turn bright green. 

Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients in a bowl.  

To compose the salad, toss the vegetables with the dressing and scatter the citrus and mint over the top.