If you search the Internet for Easter recipes, the results will undoubtedly be sugar-laden treats full of artificial dyes. But why is this the case? Why must we celebrate every holiday with ungodly amounts of sugar and fake ingredients?
To counter the Easter junk food, I created a colorful spring salad that would make a beautiful starter salad for your Easter lunch. This salad is a blend of mâche and baby greens topped with roasted golden beets and carrots, watermelon radishes, goat cheese crumbles, hemp seeds, and a homemade apple shallot vinaigrette.
Golden beets
Baby carrots
Watermelon radish
Apple shallot vinaigrette
This apple shallot vinaigrette is tangy and sweet, which complements the bitterness of the greens and the radishes well. It also brings out the natural sweetness of the beets and carrots, which caramelize slightly when roasted.
Watermelon radishes are a rare find, but I always buy a few whenever I see them! They seem so plain on the outside — just white and green — but are a brilliant pink on the inside. They’re incredibly nutritious and make any salad special. I found a very large radish, sliced it with my mandolin, and cut it with a cookie cutter shaped like a rabbit. This small trick gave my salad an Easter theme and made it more kid-friendly!
- *Apple Shallot Vinaigrette:
- 1 slice apple, peeled (about ½ ounce)
- 1-inch piece of shallot (~ ½ ounce)
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ⅛ t. sea salt
- 1 T. honey or agave
- ------------------------------------------
- 1 box mixed greens of your choice (I used mâche and baby greens)
- 1 large golden beet, peeled and chopped
- 1 bunch small carrots, peeled
- 1 medium watermelon radish, sliced thin (I used a mandolin)
- 2-3 T. hemp seeds, raw sunflower seeds, or raw pumpkin seeds
- 2-3 T. goat cheese crumbles (optional)
- Cracked pepper
- Roast beets and carrots for about 30 minutes at 425 degrees F, flipping halfway, until fork tender. Allow to cool completely.
- While vegetables are roasting, combine vinaigrette ingredients in a blender until completely smooth.
- Plate your salads (2 large or 4 small): Place a large handful of greens on each plate. Top each with the roasted veggies, radish slices, seeds, goat cheese, and cracked black pepper. Drizzle with vinaigrette, and serve!
This recipe makes about 1 cup of vinaigrette. The leftovers can be kept in the fridge up to one week. Separation is natural, so just give the bottle a little shake before dressing your salad.
This salad is an excellent serving of dark greens and warm-colored vegetables, which means it contains plenty of vitamins A and K, as well as many important minerals and phytonutrients.
Also, this dressing is so good, you’ll want to pour it over other salads too! Just go ahead and double the recipe 🙂
I hope everyone has a happy and healthy Easter!
♠ ♠ ♠
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