Recipe: Roasted Beet and Spinach Salad

Let's go ahead and add beets to the list of things that I never in a million years thought that I would like even though I had never tried them (because I had never tried them).  WRONG.  Beets are amazing.  I love them for a few reasons: their earthy sweetness, their color (we really don't eat enough purple), and the way they can be transformed to fit many different types of dishes.  For this salad I roasted and sliced them and added them to a simple salad with a simple dressing.  It all comes together beautifully, and the beets could even be roasted a day before if you want them cold.

Recipe: Mixed Greens with Clementines and Apple Cider Vinaigrette

So let me start off by saying how sorry I am for such a long gap between posts, my exams got in the way.  That being said, I have lots of great recipes to share with you all over the coming days, and I'm going to start with this one.  Over Thanksgiving, my family had a variation of this salad at my aunt's house.  She used blueberries where I used clementines, though any berry (strawberry and blackberry also come to mind) would be great in this.  If you don't have a few clementines on hand, I think a can of well drained mandarin oranges would also work.

On a different note, if you wanted to leave out the greens, the clementines could be tossed with the dressing, almonds, and feta to make a lovely citrus salad/salsa.  I would love to hear back if any of your try these variations.
*Note to vegans, the dressing contains Worcestershire, so it is not vegan in this form, but I believe there are substitutes for it out on the market.
This recipe makes 4 side salad portions or two dinner portions, but can easily be doubled.

Recipe: Autumn Caesar Salad

Salads really are wonderful things, they are easy to put together, can use plenty of leftovers, and are nutritious and filling.  Caesar salads tend to take a bit of a hit in the nutrition department, so a mustard or tangy vinaigrette would be a suitable substitute. This salad keeps the toppings pretty simple.  Some roasted sweet potato cubes, Romano cheese, and some sweet and slightly tart Honey Crisp apple for crunch.  This recipe made one large dinner salad or 2-3 side salads.  You can play with the quantities of this as you need, imagine a half sweet potato and apple for every 2 people.  I used a bit more in this so they wouldn't spoil and, it worked nicely.

You will need:
Amount of salad mix desired, I used a field green mix
1/2 sweet potato
1 Honey Crisp apple
Sprinkle of Romano cheese
Casear dressing to just coat
salt
pepper

Start by setting the oven to 425, and cubing the sweet potato.  Toss the cubes with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast for 20-25 minutes on an oiled, foil-lined cookie sheet, turning halfway through. When finished, remove from the oven and let cool slightly outside the oven while you prepare the rest of the salad.  Wash and gently dry the salad, slice the apple in to thin slices (or bite sized cubes), and put both in a large bowl.  Add the sweet potato and the cheese and a drizzle of the Caesar.  Toss gently and taste, adding more dressing until it reaches the desired amount.