Roasted Sweet Potato and Toasted Pine Nut Salad

Sorry that this is being posted so late in the day. Playgroup takes a lot out of a mother. So, another day, another salad. One of my favorite kinds of salads is the type that combines warm elements with the cool, crisp greens. The greens soften under the heat and the whole becomes this wonderful comforting thing.

Today’s salad is another take on the warm with the cool, a roasted sweet potato salad. Again this recipe is a take on a Donna Hay. Hay’s salads often feature a warm topping on a salad and over the years I have taken much inspiration from her simple recipes. One of the most original was a chorizo and goat cheese incantation, but I’ll save that one for another day.

The salad today is a roasted sweet potato and toasted pine nut salad. No vegetable is not improved by roasting in the oven in my opinion. Hay’s original version of this salad included an avocado, but I chose instead to sprinkle mine with a sharp, hard cheese like asiago. Something about the salty-ness of the asiago goes well with the sweet roasted pumpkin. Use any salty cheese you have on hand, including Parmesan, if you don’t have any asiago.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Toasted Pine Nut Salad

Serves 1

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
1 Roma tomato cut in quarters
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp pine nuts
1 cup baby spinach leaves
2 Tbsp asiago grated or sliced thin
Dressing
3 tsp honey
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400°
On a cookie sheet lined with parchment place the potato and the tomatoes. Drizzle over olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix it all together to get all the pieces covered with olive oil. Place in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the potato is golden and soft.

Sprinkle over the pine nuts and place back in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the pine nuts start to turn golden.

Place the spinach on a plate and top with the potato, tomato and pine nut mixture. Mix the ingredients of the dressing and pour over top. Sprinkle with the cheese and enjoy. You may like to serve this with a couple of pieces of crusty bread. Enjoy!