Roasted Vegetable Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

This recipe is the last of the menu items I prepared for my big Irish Shindig. My Irish Shindig. We needed more vegetables, you can never have to many fresh vegetables, after all, so I made a big salad with roasted vegetables and a lemon vinaigrette. It was so pretty and colorful, not to mention healthy and delicious too.

Roasted Vegetable Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

It came out mostly purple because of the red beets, but I had red beets, golden beets, carrots, and parsnips all roasted and tossed together for this deliciously colorful salad. They were all tossed together with olive oil, salt & pepper then roasted to perfection. Simple, yet simply delicious.

1 head of lettuce – any kind

1-2 large carrots, sliced

1-2 parsnips, sliced

1 red beet, cubed

1 golden beet, cubed

salt & pepper to taste

olive oil – enough to thoroughly coat all the vegetables

Preheat the oven to 400*F or 200*C.

Peel and cut all the vegetables and toss them together with the salt, pepper and olive oil. Spread them out on a baking sheet, in a single layer. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.

Decorate a large serving platter with the lettuce. I used red leaf lettuce, but you can use any kind you like. Allow the vegetables to cool slightly, then spread out over the lettuce. Top with the lemon vinaigrette. Use just enough of the vinaigrette to give flavor to the vegetables and to the salad without drowning everything in dressing.

Lemon Vinaigrette

1/2 cup olive oil

2-3 TBSP lemon balsamic vinegar, optional

3 TBSP apple cider vinegar or boiled apple cider

2-3 TBSP lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp dry mustard

salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

Whisk everything together well until it is fully emulsified together. Pour over the roasted vegetables and salad.

This fresh and zesty dressing will go well with just about anything. Lemon brings out the fresh flavors of all kinds of vegetables, chicken and seafood. This is a very versatile dressing, that’s perfect for spring and summer.

Make your day deliciously colorful as much as you can. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.