Roasted Vegetable Salad with Lemon Rosemary Vinaigrette

On Tuesday afternoon, my sister and her husband welcomed Evan Henry to the world. I am so excited for them, for our family, and to be an Aunt! I'm so lucky and happy that my sisters and I are as close as we are. I was able to really feel like a part of Kris' pregnancy even though I'm 1000+ miles away. While technology can be annoying - and even unsafe, it also provided me with labor-update texts, emails with photos, and even video camera chatting. While I'm jealous of some of my friends who skype their grandparents and mine can barely work their cell phone, it's probably better Grandma can't skype. I still call them often, but sometimes less is more - haha.

I was never much of a turnip girl. My Popie's Thanksgiving specialty is mashed turnips. I bet you can guess what dish produces the most leftovers... With Thanksgiving on my mind (when I'll get to finally meet Evan!), so were the turnips. See, I've only ever had them once in my life, when I made this Roasted Vegetable, Barley and Lentil salad. I considered making it, but I planned to pair it with veggie burgers and wanted a less starchy side. I thought about tossing roasted vegetables with a spring salad, but decided to just skip it all together, and make a roasted root vegetable based salad with a light vinaigrette and some traditional salad toppers. I think my favorite part of this dish is the rutabaga, but really, they are all so delicious together! If you want to keep all of the vegetables from turning red, roast the beets separately, but they're bound to stain the others eventually.

Roasted Root Vegetable Salad with Rosemary Lemon Vinaigrette

1 lb. beets, peeled and diced

1 large rutabaga, peeled and diced

2-3 turnips, peeled and diced

3 large carrots, peeled and sliced

3 large parsnips, peeled and diced

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

1/4 c. walnuts, toasted

1/4 c. goat cheese, crumbled

1 tbsp. EVOO

vinaigrette:

juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp. honey

1 tsp. fresh minced rosemary

2 tbsp. red wine vine vinegar

1 shallot, minced

1/4 c. EVOO

kosher salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400*

Trim, peel, and dice all root vegetables.

Arrange on a foil lined baking sheet drizzled with EVOO.

Toss with salt and pepper, cover with additional foil.

Roast for 30 minutes, uncover and roast for another 15 minutes, or until tender.

Roast an additional 15 minutes if you want vegetables to caramelize.

In a small dish, whisk together dressing ingredients.

Arrange vegetables in a bowl, drizzle with dressing, top with goat cheese and walnuts. 

Serve warm.