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This salad is a combination of roasted sweet potatoes & pecans glazed with cumin, cinnamon, maple syrup and olive oil. Once cooled, they are mixed in with a balsamic vinegar dressing and topped onto a bed of fresh rocket leaves.
If you haven’t tried roasted sweet potato in a salad before, trust me, you’ll be hooked!
Serve this salad either as a side or make a meal out of it and add some salty feta or goat’s cheese together with a slice of gluten-free plain or walnut baguette.
Is balsamic vinegar gluten-free?
For those who are worried if Balsamic vinegar contains gluten, I have checked and as the vinegar is made from grapes, it is gluten-free.
Most manufacturers use one exclusive barrel to prepare Balsamic vinegar so rarely will there be any cross-contamination from gluten-containing vinegar like malt vinegar. If in doubt, check the label as they should indicate it is either gluten-free or “may contain gluten” when they mix their barrels at production.
Don’t dress the salad until you are ready to serve!
I would recommend to only dress the salad once it is served on your dinner plate, that way you can save any leftover salad for the next day, without looking soggy and limp.
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Ingredients
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
- 4 medium orange sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into small bite-size pieces
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 120 ml maple syrup
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- ½ salt
- ½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 150 g whole pecans
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 150 g fresh rocket leaves, washed (rucola or arugula leaves)
- 1 medium red onion sliced thinly
- 150 g feta or goat's cheese, crumbled (optional)
Balsamic Honey Dressing
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar preferably from Modena)
- 2 tbsp runny honey
- salt & freshly cracked black pepper, to season
Instructions
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°.
- Whisk the ground cumin, cinnamon, maple syrup, olive oil, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.
- Add the bite-size cut sweet potato to the glaze and coat evenly.
- Transfer the sweet potatoes to a roasting tray and roast for 15 mins. Set the bowl aside with some of the glaze to coat the pecans.
- Coat the pecan with the glaze and sprinkle the brown sugar over them. Stir and add these on top of the sweet potatoes during the final 5 mins of roasting.
- Remove the sweet potatoes and pecan from the oven and allow them to cool down.
- Arrange the rocket leaves on a serving plate and top it with the sweet potatoes and pecans.
- Add the red onions and optional feta or goat's cheese on top.
Balsamic Honey Dressing
- Mix all the dressing ingredients in a glass jar by closing the lid and giving it a shake. This can be made earlier and chilled until serving time.
- Drizzle the balsamic honey dressing over the salad just before serving it either in a serving bowl or on individual plates.
Notes
- Salad keeps for 2 days (undressed)
- Dressing keeps for 1 week chilled
- Not suitable to freeze
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