From Crate to Plate: Root Vegetable Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette

It's hard to believe that this crate of gnarly vegetables turns into a delicious seasonal salad.

Let’s face it. With the exception of perhaps carrots, most root vegetables suffer from a serious image problem. It’s to be expected. This motley looking bunch spends most of its life buried beneath the earth’s surface, and half the time they show up to the market still covered in dirt. I suppose sweet potatoes tend to do okay this time of year, but tuberous roots have always had a leg up. It’s those damn bottom dwelling taproots that really struggle for recognition—turnips, parsnips, beets, rutabagas, and the like. They are essentially the Rodney Dangerfield of the produce department.

It’s difficult to get kids, and even most adults, excited about root vegetables. Even when cleaned up, they don’t seem to impress a host of people. However, there is something about oven roasting that can turn these forsaken cretins into something extraordinary.

Case in point: Last year I took a vegetarian cooking class at L’Acdemie de Cuisine taught by Chef Allyson Lara. Now for the record, I am not a vegetarian, but a year and a half ago, I made a conscious effort, primarily for health purposes, to greatly reduce the amount of meat I consume. Since then, I’m always on the lookout for flavorful vegetarian recipes. You know the kind that can make you forget you’re not eating any meat?

In class, we learned how to make several tasty dishes, but surprisingly, it was a simple root vegetable salad that was the class favorite; a combination of roasted sweet potatoes, parsnips and beets served warm with a shallot vinaigrette, toasted pecans, scallions and dried cranberries. Since then I have made it several times, and it never fails to impress. Today, it is one of my single favorite vegetable dishes. So much so, that this past September, as I lamented the loss of of summer’s bounty, I was able to console myself with idea of a plateful of this salad.

These three accoutrements add crunch, sweetness and pungency to the salad.

Leveraging presentation will go a long way towards impressing skeptics. So a little extra preparation is necessary, but it will have a big pay off. No, this will not be one of your 30-minute meals, but hey, Rome was not built in a day. So while there is enough lipstick for these little piggies, the makeover is going to take a little time.

The key is cutting the vegetables into consistently sized pieces. It not only looks nice, but it helps the sweet potatoes and parsnips roast evenly. (The beets are actually cut-up after their cooked.) You’re going to put your dicing skills to good work here. We’re going to use a grid method to cut both the sweet potatoes and the beets into uniformed 1/2-inch dice-sized pieces.  To get the parsnips into perfectly cubed pieces is trickier and would mean wasting two-thirds of the vegetables. There is only so far that I am willing to go in the name of presentation. So we will approximate, but if you’re feeling industrious, give it a try. You will probably need to double the number of parsnips needed.

As a point of reference, a 1/2-inch cube is about the same size of a common board game dice.

At the market, choose larger vegetables over smaller ones. This will mean less work and less waste. For sweet potatoes, try to find ones that are about 3 inches thick but more tubular shaped than bulbous. Select beets that are about the size of a tennis ball. In the grocery store, parsnips are usually sold in plastic bags like carrots. If you’re able to buy them individually, select thick ones. 

The sweets and parsnips will be roasted on a sheet pan together, but we will roast the beets whole in foil. This will help keep all the other vegetables from turning ruby red. Once the beets have cooled, you can use the grid method to cut them as well. They will go from ratty looking roots to bejeweled cubes by the time you’re finished. For now, prep them by simply rinsing them well and removing all dirt. If needed, scrub them lightly with a vegetable brush. Slice off the stem end but keep the root end.

Not a fan of root vegetables, my apprentice decides to sit this one out.

Ingredients

Salad

• 3 large sweet potatoes
• 5 parsnips
• 3 large beets, cleaned with stem ends sliced off
• 1/4 cup olive oil,
• 1 heaping tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely minced
• 4 scallions, sliced on the diagonal
• 1/2 cup pecan pieces, toasted
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• Kosher salt

Dressing

• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 shallot, finely minced
• 3/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil

Preparations

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400° F. Line a backing sheet with heavy aluminum foil and spray foil with cooking oil spray.

Prick the beets several times with a fork.  Grease a square piece of aluminum foil with two teaspoons of olive oil. Place the beet, cut side down, in the center of the square and wrap the beet, twisting the excess foil around the root. Wrap the remaining beets similarly. This method should give you a flat end on which to rest the beet and a convenient handle to move them in and out of the oven. (See picture below.) Place them directly on the center of the oven rack but not touching. Roast for 1 hour.

These beets go from dirt covered to nearly translucent.

While the beets are roasting, prepare the sweet potatoes and parsnips. Peel the potatoes and slice off the narrow ends.  Cut them into 1/2-inch slices. Take each of the slices and cut of just enough of the rounded edges to form a square. Slice the squares into 1/2-inch strips. Then cut across the strips in 1/2- inch increments to form the dice shaped pieces.  Peel the parsnip and cut them in half lengthwise. Turn each half on its flat side and cut it lengthwise again. Align the four quartered strips together and cut across in 1/2-inch increments.

In a large bowl, toss the potatoes and parsnips with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 3/4 teaspoon of kosher salt and the rosemary and mix thoroughly. Spread the mixture evenly out across the foil lined baking sheet.

Uniform sizing ensures that each piece cooks the same as the next.

When finished roasting, remove the beets from the oven and set them aside to cool for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, put the potatoes and parsnips into the oven and roast for about 45 minutes, stirring them every 10 minutes to prevent sticking.

When the beets have cooled enough to handle, gently peel the outer skin with your fingers or the edge of a paring knife. Slice off the root end and, using the same method as used with the sweet potatoes, dice the beets into 1/2-inch cubes and set them aside in medium-sized bowl.

To prepare the dressing, combine the vinegar, Dijon mustard, sugar and salt in a bowl. Very slowly whisk in the olive oil until emulsified. Then add in the shallots.

When the potatoes and parsnips are done, allow them to cool for about 10-15 minutes and then transfer them to a large bowl. In 3 or 4 increments, slowly toss them with the dressing, reserving about 2-3 tablespoon of the dressing for the beets. The potatoes and parsnips will absorb most of the dressing. Add in the scallions, pecans and cranberries and mix thoroughly.

Add the remaining dressing to the beets in the separate bowl and toss well to coat. Gently fold the beets into potato-parsnip mixture. This method will also help to prevent the beets from staining the other veggies.

Serve warm or at room temperature. (The salad will keep for several days in the refrigerator, but I recommend allowing leftovers to get to room temperature before serving.)

And now for the final reveal…

Roasted Root Vegetables Salad. Recipe adapted from L'Academie de Cuisine

Tagged as: Allyson Lara, beets, L'Academie de Cuisine, parsnips, recipe, roasted root vegetable salad, root vegetables, sweet potato, vegetarian