Fresh Start: Exciting Salad

Part of my fresh start to 2013 is wanting to eat and cook more vegetables - more in both quantity and excitement.

So this week I tried two new salads that are a long way from the typical lettuce, carrots, and tomato. These salads are so scrumptious that they could stand alone, though for dinner I paired one with fish and quinoa. I also made to sure to make extra so I had leftovers for lunch! The first of these recipes is below:

Sweet Potato and Orange Salad from Cooking Light

Inspiration from this salad came from my go-to source, Cooking Light

Serves 4

Ingredients

Salad:

1/2 Tbsp. dried rosemary 

1 tsp. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 1/2 oranges, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

1/4 of a red onion, vertically cut

2 Tbsp. sliced almonds

1/2 bag of spinach, kale, and swiss chard mix (I get mine from Trader Joe's)

Dressing: This will make extra to save for another salad

3 Tbsp. fresh orange juice

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. ground spicy mustard

1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

1 Tbsp. honey

Sea salt, to taste

Ground pepper, to taste

1 garlic clove, minced

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Combine first four ingredients and toss to coat. Place sweet potato mixture in jelly-roll pan. Bake for 15 minutes, stir, and then bake another 15 minutes or until potatoes are roasted.
3. Remove from oven, and combine sweet potatoes with remaining salad ingredients.
4. Prepare dressing by combining all ingredients in a small bowl and stirring with a whisk. (Or use a handy dressing mixer like I got for Christmas! See picture above.)
5. Drizzle about half of the dressing over salad and toss to coat. 

To make a complete meal, pair this salad with grilled and seasoned fish with a side of avocado quinoa.