Parsnip & Sweet Potato Salad
Adapted from Ruffage, an excellent vegetable cookbook by Abra Berens
Fair warning: I’m going to use the word “salad” to describe anything that is a collection of mostly vegetables, and these dishes may not align with your idea of salad as a result. This dish has a somewhat unusual ingredient, pickled golden raisins, that was absolutely the star in my opinion. I really should have let things cool more before adding my goat cheese because it turned into a melty dressing-sauce, but to be honest it was pretty delicious anyways. Serves 2 in my house as a main, but could be a side for 4.
Roasted Parsnip & Sweet Potato
1 large sweet potato or 2 small
2-ish parsnips (2 worked well for me but I could see 3 if they are small)
1-ish tablespoon of olive oil
Salt & pepper
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Peel and chop the sweet potato and parsnips into your preferred sized pieces. I like smaller, more bite-sized pieces.
Toss everything with the olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Spread the veggies out as evenly as you can on a baking sheet (mine are always lined with tinfoil). I really want to emphasize the spread here if you’re looking for caramelized, roasted veggies. When they are close together, you get more of a steaming effect.
Roast for 35-45 minutes. I was at the 35 minute end because my pieces were small and my oven runs hot, so you may need closer to 45 minutes if you have larger pieces.
Allow to cool on the pan for 5-10 minutes, pending your patience.
Pickled Golden Raisins
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Heat the vinegar, brown sugar, and salt in a small saucepan until it starts to boil.
Remove from heat and pour over the golden raisins. Make sure you are pouring into something that can handle nearly boiling liquid. I used a glass measuring cup.
Let sit for at least 10 minutes. Mine were definitely sitting for longer because I did this step in the middle of the roasting, and I think they only benefited from the additional time.
Remaining Salad Parts
1/2 cup pecans (or walnuts or almonds, but pecans are really the best choice in my opinion)
4 oz of goat cheese (or 2 oz if you don’t share my love of goat cheese)
Roughly chop the pecans. I basically only worried about halving mine.
Toast them in a pan over medium heat, for probably around 5ish minutes. You just want them to start smelling really pecan-y and nice, and that means they are toasted. In my experience they can get a little too toasty quite quickly, so keep an eye on them and toss them occasionally during this time.
Stare at your goat cheese longingly but otherwise don’t do anything with it yet.
The Assembly
Drain the pickled golden raisins, but reserve the liquid for potential dressing.
Toss the raisins, roasted veggies, and pecans together.
Taste-test for flavor happiness. If you’re looking for more, slowly drizzle in the pickling liquid, moderating for your love of vinegar. I love vinegar, so all of my pickling liquid was added and I did not think it was too sharp.
Once you’re satisfied with the dressing/flavor situation, crumble your goat cheese.
Give it all one final toss and enjoy!
There is so much room for modifications with this recipe! I would love to hear if you added anything, switched anything, or did anything else fun with it.