Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Hearty and nutritious Roasted Sweet Potato Salad highlights mixed greens with roasted sweet potato, seasoned wild rice, dried sweetened cranberries, sliced almonds, creamy avocado, crisp apples, and salty feta cheese with a lemon balsamic dressing. Plus, I’m sharing some shortcuts to prepare this salad even quicker, tips to make it ahead of time and how to meal prep with this salad.
The minute fall hits, we make Roasted Sweet Potato Salad an embarrassing number of times. I’m typically craving a bit more veggies with all the fall baking that goes on around these parts. The minute September hits, I can’t resist making a few batches of this Pumpkin Coffee Cake or this Pumpkin Bread and when it comes to these Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars, let’s just say I could polish off the pan single-handedly if my kids let me!
So more veggies in the form of this salad, it is! And I’m not complaining; I enjoy this salad every bit as much as the aforementioned desserts. It’s loaded with a variety of textures — from the tender seasoned wild rice to the crisp apples to the creamy avocado to the perfectly caramelized sweet potatoes. And topping everything off is one of my all-time favorite dressings — a bright and crisp balsamic blend.
This particular dressing has a hint of lemon that is a wonderful complement to every component of this salad.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups (438g) chopped sweet potatoes cut into 1/2-inch thick pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Fine sea salt and cracked pepper
- 1 package (6 oz; 170g) Long Grain and Wild Rice Mix (like Uncle Ben's)(See Note 1)
- 2 large apples (we love Honeycrisp best) chopped or thinly sliced
- 1-2 ripe avocados chopped or thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cup (66g) dried sweetened cranberries
- 1/2 cup (48g) sliced roasted almonds
- 9 cups (8 oz; 231g) mixed greens lettuce (I use a 50/50 blend spinach & spring mix leaves)
- Optional: crumbled goat cheese or feta cheese (add to personal preference)
- 2 and 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 cup (108g) olive oil