Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potato, Black Rice Salad with Apple, Pecans & Pomegranate with a Dijon Orange Dressing

Back in 2014, as a new vegan i quickly became very bored of boring airy salads with no depth or flavour.

At home, I started to create a wide variety of rich hearty salads and it was from here that my vision for wild root began. If you have been to wild root before you’ll know that we offer a vast deli counter packed full of rich colourful and diverse salads that you can pick and choose from to create your own rainbow bowl of goodness.

And now you can have a little slice of wild root at home with this cinnamon roasted sweet potato salad with black rice, pomegranate, apple, pecans with a sweet Dijon orange dressing! 

I know, there’s a lot going on there, but stay with me!

This salad is hearty, sweet, rich and packed full of plants. The combination of the sweet cinnamon sweet potato, pomegranate and apple, give this salad a lovely festive vibe.

Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potato, Black Rice Salad with Apple, Pecans & Pomegranate with a Dijon Orange Dressing
Serves 4 as a main or 6-8 as a side dish.

Ingredients:
For the roasted sweet potato:
2 sweet potato, peeled and diced into 2cm cubes
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp cinnamon

For the salad:
1/2 cup black rice
2 sweet apples, diced. We used gala
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1 pomegranate, deseeded
30g fresh mint, thinly sliced
1 tin of green lentils, drained

For the dressing:
The juice of half an orange
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp sea salt
Black pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Start by preheating your oven to 180 degrees.

2. Peel and dice sweet potato and add to a baking tray with olive oil, salt, pepper and cinnamon. Massage the sweet potato to ensure coated evenly then roast in the oven for 40 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, boil the black rice for 40 minutes until cooked. Drain and cool by running under cold water and then add to a large serving bowl.

4. Add drained lentils, diced apples, chopped pecans, pomegranate seeds and sliced mint to the bowl with the black rice.

5. Once the sweet potato is nicely roasted, soft and browned on the edges, add to the bowl with the other salad ingredients.

6. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and then pour over the salad. Mix together to ensure the dressing has fully coated the salad.

7. Serve right away or store in the fridge for 3 days.