Warm Winter Salad

While the weather outside is frightful, this warm winter salad is so delightful!

Our bodies are looking for easier to digest, hearty and warming foods in the winter, and this salad is just the thing!

Served with a simple roasted chicken you’ve got yourself a meal that is filling without being heavy and it’s loaded with foods that will support our body’s natural detox systems after all the holiday indulgences.

This salad not only suits your seasonal nutrient needs, but also falls in line with what’s available in nature. Root vegetables can be stored for several months after harvest, kale is still growing here in the Okanagan (albeit under a foot or two of snow at the moment), and cauliflower is readily available year-round.

Cauliflower, beets, kale, and parsley are liver loving and general “detox” superfoods, and the dressing provides healthy fats from olive oil and probiotics from apple cider vinegar and miso – all great for a digestive jump start. Please remember to purchase organic kale to avoid some pretty heavy duty pesticides, and don’t forget to massage it! Kale likes a good massage even more than I do, and this makes this sturdy leafy green easier for us to digest.

So instead of making radical and restrictive dietary changes in January, my goal is to bring in more nutrients, better (not less) food, and to flow with what my body needs in the changing seasons.

Who’s joining me?

Warm Winter Salad with Citrus Miso Dressing

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally
• 3 medium beets, peeled and cubed
• 1 bunch organic kale, washed and sliced thin, placed in a bowl
• 1 bunch parsley, chopped
• 2 green onions, sliced
• Himalayan pink salt, to taste as per directions
• black pepper, to taste as per directions
• 5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided – 3 tbsp for dressing, 1 for kale, 1 for roasted veggies.
• zest and juice of ½ a large orange
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons yellow miso paste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place cauliflower, carrots, and beets in bowl, toss with 1 tbsp olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and roast root veggies and cauliflower in oven for 30 minutes, or until tender and lightly browned.
4. Blend orange juice and zest, 3 tbsp olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and miso in bowl or jar. Season with salt and pepper.
5. In a large salad bowl, massage kale for a few minutes with remaining tablespoon of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.
6. Add parsley, green onions and warm roasted veggies to kale, toss with dressing, and serve warm
7. Enjoy!

With love from my kitchen to yours,

B.