Superfood Salad

This salad will make you feel on top of the world- it's THE thing to eat if you've let yourself go a bit recently (me, all the time...), as it's packed full of things that are good for you. Admittedly it's a bit of a faff, as it involves roasting the veggies and toasting seeds, but if you do this in one big batch at the start of the week, then you can just store all the ingredients in the fridge and that's all the hard work done- all you have to do is put it all together each day.

The real winner of this salad for me is the dressing- it's really zingy with all the citrus flavours, and really wakes you up- perfect for a grey old autumn day. I wanted to add avocado as well, but unfortunately mine wasn't ripe (first world problems hey?). The feta is optional, but I adore the combination of beetroot and feta. Halloumi would also work beautifully.

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes
Handful of tender stem broccoli
Handful of pumpkin seeds
Smoked paprika
Olive oil
Coconut oil (optional)
Couple of bulbs fresh beetroot
Handful of fresh spinach
Lettuce (I used a few baby gem leaves)
Handful of pomegranate seeds
Avocado, sliced
Small block of feta (optional)

For the dressing:

Juice and zest of 1 lemon
Juice and zest of 1 orange
1 tbsp Dijion mustard
1 tbsp white wine or balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

1. Peel and chop the sweet potato into chunks. Place on a baking tray, add a drizzle of olive oil or a teaspoon of coconut oil (this will give it a nice flavour). Season well with salt and pepper and sprinkle over a light dusting of smoked paprika powder. Roast at 200°C for approx. half an hour (giving it a shake around every 10 mins or so), until the sweet potato is soft and starting to caramelize. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

2. Put the pumpkin seeds in a baking tray, add a tiny bit of olive oil, and dust with some smoked paprika and salt. Roast for approx 20 mins, shaking every 5 mins. Keep an eye on these because they can catch and burn very quickly.

3. Wash the beetroot and cut into chunks. Add to a baking tray with some olive olive, salt and pepper and roast for about 20 mins. Then add a splash of water to the tray and cover with tinfoil. Continue to roast for another 20 mins or until the beetroot is soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

5. Whilst the veggies are all roasting, wash and blanch the tender stem broccoli for approximately 5 mins, or until it is cooked. Careful not to over cook it- you want it to retain a bit of crunch. Drain and leave to cool.

4. Once the beetroot is cooled, the skin of it will easily peel off- probably best to wear gloves for this as it can stain your hands purple.

5. For the dressing, mix all the ingredients together, season with salt and pepper and have a taste- alter the quantities according to how sharp you like it.

6. Add the spinach, lettuce, cooled sweet potato, broccoli, cooled beetroot, avocado and half the pomegranate seeds to a bowl, and pour over half the dressing (keep some back so that people can add more to their salad at the table) and toss it all together.

7. Once you've plated up, finish with the toasted pumpkin seeds and the rest of the pomegranate seeds scattered on the top, and the feta crumbled over if your using it.