One Hot Mess Of Veggies

As I said earlier this week, making salads can be a lot like making soup or pastas--you can throw together just about anything that tastes good!  There's pasta salad, and fruit salad, and a bevy of options when it comes to any greens-based salad. But I have to admit that even I hadn't thought of mixing in roasted vegetables until I ate a salad at a restaurant called the The Oven.

Their delightful mix of seasonal vegetables on organic greens inspired me to make my own roasted vegetable salad, with some of my favorite additions to add color, texture, and flavor. This salad is hearty enough to be served as it's own meal, but is also a great addition as a side dish as I learned when I made it for a family gathering featuring BBQ pulled pork...

Also, time is running out for our Operation Goodbye Gut contest. Be sure to email your recipe by Tuesday, June 15th to be entered to win our BIGS™prize packs!

Roasted Vegetable Salad
--Handful of raw almonds (about 50 or so)
--1 small onion, chopped
--1 medium zucchini, washed and sliced into thin slices
--1 head broccoli, stems removed and cut into florets
--1/2 bunch of kale, ribs removed and chopped or torn into pieces.
--2 TBSP olive oil
--salt & pepper
--6 medium strawberries, stems removed and sliced
--1 pear, cored and chopped into bite-sized pieces
--1 head of red leaf or romaine lettuce, torn into salad pieces

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place the almonds on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 5 minutes, removing once to shake/turn them for even roasting. Once roasted, remove from oven and set aside.

Coat the onion, zucchini, broccoli, and kale with olive oil. An easy way of doing this is to place all the veggies into a plastic bag, pouring the olive oil over top, adding some salt and pepper, and shaking the heck out of it until the veggies are evenly coated.  Spread the veggies out on a cookie sheet and roast, turning once, until the vegetables are cooked and begin to crisp.

Once the vegetables are crispy, remove them from the oven.  Combine the lettuce, veggies, fruit, and almonds and serve!

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4 as a meal; more as a side dish
Calories: 235 per serving (as a meal)