I am a “Salad person”. A type of person who craves a good salad if I do not get it for a few days. Roasted Sweet Potato and Arugula Salad is one of my favorite salad combinations. Arugula is my favorite salad green. Arugula leaves are not boring like some other lettuce. They have a nice peppery bite to them that goes so well with the sweet potatoes. You can make this salad all year long but I see myself making more of it when sweet potatoes are in season in Fall and Winter. It is great served with a holiday meal.
Here are the main ingredients and some substitution ideas for the Roasted Sweet Potato and Arugula Salad:
Arugula– I have just told you how much I love the peppery taste of arugula, but if you must, you can substitute baby spinach. Spinach leaves are a bit bland so it will not lend the same flavor profile, but the color will go well in the salad.
Sweet potatoes– Roasted Sweet Potatoes taste wonderful in this salad but you can swap it out for butternut squash. I just find it very hard to cut butternut squash myself and tend to buy it precut from the grocery store.
Goat cheese– I like to use crumbled goat cheese in this salad. I usually find it in small plastic containers at the grocery stores. If you cannot find crumbled goat cheese, you can use logs of goat cheese and crumble it yourself. It is a bit messy, but the taste will be the same. Not a big fan of goat cheese, try crumbled feta cheese instead! Feta is a little less creamy and a bit saltier that goat cheese but will work well with this salad.
Pecans– I have used toasted whole pecans here. You could use walnuts as well. To toast the nuts, coat them with a little bit of oil and bake in a 350-degree pre-heated oven on a cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes. Remove and stir once in between for even roasting.
If I am feeling particularly festive, I use candied pecans or walnuts. You can buy them candied already from the grocery stores. Or you can use my recipe for the Maple Spiced Nuts to candy them yourself! Just make sure to omit the spices and use only one type of nut.
Cranberries– The salad has sweetened dried cranberries. You can substitute dried cherries for the cranberries.
The dressing: The Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Arugula salad is dressed with a very simple 5 ingredient dressing of maple syrup, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Maple syrup complements the sweetness of the sweet potatoes and the lime juice brings in the tanginess. You can substitute lemon juice in place of lime juice.
This is a true story. I had made this salad for Thanksgiving this year. We rented a cabin with our friends up in the mountains and we took all the food from home for a nice Thanksgiving dinner. We of course had a lot of leftovers and decided to eat them the next day. Since the adults wanted to eat something light, I decided to make this salad again. I had most of the ingredients left over from the previous night’s dinner but no pecans or any nuts. So, what did we do? We picked out pecans from the leftover pecan pie and used that instead! Perfectly candied and was delicious in the salad. And we had some roasted Brussel sprouts also that we threw in the salad. Yum!
Make ahead tips:
You can roast the sweet potatoes and make the dressing ahead of time for easy lunches or dinners. I like to keep the components separate and toss them together before serving. The sweet potatoes are delicious warm, at room temperature, or cold.
If you are serving this salad for a gathering, this is a great make ahead tip. Put the dressing at the bottom of a large serving bowl. Place arugula and all other salad ingredients except pecans on top. Do not mix. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and refrigerate. You can do this step up to 2 hours prior to serving the salad. When ready to serve, just toss the salad, coating the leaves with the dressing at the bottom. Top with pecans and the salad is ready to serve.
If you like sweet potatoes, you may want to try this unique salad combination:
Sweet Potato and Halloumi Salad
If you try this recipe, leave us a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @livinginfused on Instagram! We would love to see what you come up with.
Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Arugula Salad
Roasted sweet potato and arugula salad dressed with sweet and tangy maple lime dressing.
4
servings10
minutes20
minutesIngredients
2 medium Sweet Potatoes
1 tablespoon Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
7 ounces Baby Arugula
1/2 cup Crumbled Goat cheese
1/4 cup Dried cranberries
3/4 cup toasted pecans
- Dressing
3 tablespoon Lime Juice
2 tablespoons Maple Syrup
2 tablesoons Olive Oil
salt and pepper, to taste
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes in ½ inch dice. Arrange the vegetable on a cookie sheet and drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper. Mix it with your clean hands to coat it completely and arrange it in a single layer. Roast it in the oven for 20-25 minutes, turning the vegetables once in between, till the sweet potatoes are tender and have a nice brown color. Cool completely before you use in the salad.
- Prepare the dressing by mixing all the ingredients in a mason jar. Shake vigorously till the ingredients are combined and set aside.
- In a large bowl, toss the arugula and sweet potatoes together. Add the dressing (amount per preference) and toss until the greens and sweet potatoes are evenly coated. Divide the salad between four plates and garnish with pecans, cranberries, and crumbles goat cheese.
Tips
- The roasted sweet potatoes can be stored in an airtight container for 4-5 days and used in the salad cold or room temperature.
