Roasted Vegetable Salad

I had every intention of making this Roasted Vegetable Salad with grilled vegetables until I discovered there was no more gas for the grill. So instead of grilling my vegetables, I roasted them in the oven which is equally delicious. Besides, this is how I typically make my vegetables when it’s not optimal grilling weather outside, or in this case, out of gas.

Start with any vegetables you might like. I used zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, red and yellow bell peppers, red onion, grape tomatoes, and mushrooms. I’ve made it with baby carrots, fennel, and sweet potato before…the possibilities are only limited to your taste buds and imagination. Once you’ve selected your vegetables, all you do is cut them up into chunks of similar size and toss them in a roasting pan, drizzle with a little olive oil and toss in some herbs and garlic. Roast for about 20 minutes or so and they’re done!

I like to make a big batch of these vegetables to eat off of for a few days. It’s so versatile. You can eat them just plain as a side dish of vegetables, toss them with pasta, add them to omelets, or like I’m doing today, make a salad with them. Very satisfying… and you feel like you’ve eaten something good for you! Especially good to get back on track after traveling or a weekend of over-indulging (and since I frequently do both, I eat this a lot!)

Roasted Vegetable Salad

Ingredients

For Roasting Veggies:

2 zucchini
2 yellow squash
1 eggplant
1 red onion
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 8oz. box baby bella mushrooms
handful of grape tomatoes
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
A few sprigs of fresh rosemary, oregano and basil (or about a tsp. dried of each)
1 tsp. fennel seeds
⅛ tsp. red pepper flakes
salt & pepper to taste
Olive Oil to drizzle over veggies (about 2 Tbls.)

For the Salad:

Field greens, or your favorite salad greens
Roasted veggies
Crumbled goat cheese
Toasted pine nuts
Drizzle of balsamic vinegar, if desired

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

To make the roasted vegetables:

Cut up zucchini, squash, eggplant, peppers, onion into bite-sized pieces. Depending on size of your mushrooms, just cut them in half, or if especially large, cut in quarters. Place veggies in large roasting pan. Add grape tomatoes (whole), garlic, and herbs/spices. Drizzle olive oil over veggies and toss to mix veggies and coat with oil.
Roast for about 10 minutes then stir to mix them up a bit. Then roast another 10 minutes or so. Be careful not to overcook them. They're better when still a little firm and not mushy.

To assemble the salad:

Place a handful of salad greens on a plate. Spoon on roasted veggies...as much as you want to eat. Top with some crumbled goat cheese, and about a tablespoon of toasted pine nuts. Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar over salad if desired.

I don't use any salad dressing with with salad because the vegetables are full of flavor and moist. If you prefer a little salad dressing, just lightly toss the greens with your favorite vinaigrette before topping with veggies, cheese and pine nuts.

Substitute feta cheese if you'd like.

I also like to save the fresh chopped basil to add after cooking instead of before. I prefer the fresh basil on the salad, but feel free to add it prior to cooking if you want.