Lunch - Power Salad!

Now that I've been back in Mobile for a few days and getting past the holiday slump, I thought it would be fun to recreate one of the AMAZING meals I had during our time in Indianapolis to reminisce about our fun holiday trip to the Midwest to see our friends and family. It was a quaint foodie hole...in the Keystone Fashion Mall no less! You can check out their menu online here, which features a number of salads and pizzas I plan to try my hand at :) 

I called this meal a power salad because it was full of nutrient rich veggies that left me feeling full and energized, and with a couple add-on's of my own, it was a wonderful lunch during my work day! The salad features kale, roasted brussels sprouts, and roasted sweet potatoes, along with a few other tasty and colorful veggies...I will definitely be making this meal again!!

I started out roasting a medium sweet potato, which I peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes, and about 2 cups of brussels sprouts that I cut in half. (The ones I had at the the restaurant were much more thinly sliced, borderline shredded, so you could easily run them through a food processor if you're not a fan of brussels sprout texture!)

I tossed the sweet potato and brussels sprouts together in a large bowl with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper, and then laid them on a sheet pan covered in parchment paper. 

I baked them in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes, turning them mid-way through so they could brown evenly on all sides. I also took that opportunity to cook a few pieces of bacon on a cookie sheet...could certainly be done in a skillet on the stove but is much easier in an already-hot oven!

While the veggies were roasting, I prepared my other ingredients, including kale...

...and radishes...

...and green onions, and red cabbage, and toasted almonds....all which are not pictured here :)

For the dressing, I made a simple balsamic vinaigrette with one part vinegar, two parts olive oil, salt, and pepper. I like to make my dressings in a small container that can have a lid put on it and be shaken up....much easier than trying to whisk oil and vinegar together by hand!

Once the veggies were done roasting, I added them to my salad, sprinkled with some goat cheese, crushed up the bacon, and added the vinagrette (and yes I reuse Chick-Fil-A salad containers...do not judge). It smelled heavenly and tasted out of this world!

I made enough for three extra salads, which will be a wonderful lunch/dinner for me and my hubster, who was hesitant about the lack of meat but agreed that it was very tasty and filling! Recreation = Success!