Ingredients:
Arugula
Sweet potato
Red Seedless Grapes
Pumpkin Seeds
Dates
Balsamic Vinegar (preferably Black Currant by Leonardo e Roberto’s Gourmet Blends)

I love this salad for so many reasons. Not only is it healthy and tastes delicious, it was a happy accident and represents holiday flavors at their best. This salad is a great side dish for any of the upcoming holidays, including Christmas, and the vegans in your life will thank you.

It was dinner time and I wanted to make a salad so I decided to use whatever I had on hand in the fridge that would taste good together. There was a sweet potato leftover from dinner the night before, grapes, dates, arugula, and pumpkin seeds. The pumpkin seeds I used are raw and de-shelled from Trader Joe’s, but use whatever pumpkin seeds you have in the kitchen.

Confession: Sometimes when cooking sweet potatoes I cheat. How you ask? Take your sweet potatoes, use a produce wash and scrub with a vegetable brush. Cut off the rough ends, and then pierce it with holes all around with a sharp knife. Place into a pyrex with 1/4-1/2 cup of water, depending on the size of your cooking container and number of sweet potatoes. Cook in the microwave with the lid slightly askew for 9-10 minutes. Once done cooking set timer and let it sit for another 12 minutes. It will continue cooking in its steam. Be careful removing it from the microwave. It is big and hot and heavy. Sometimes I even remove the lid first, then go back for the rest.

Remove the sweet potatoes and place on a plate over a fresh paper towel to absorb any excess water. Let cool. Now your sweet potatoes are ready to eat. This is how I made them the night before, and this is how they were prepared when I had one left over in the fridge the next day, so in the salad it went!

Slice your sweet potato(es) into thin rounds and arrange atop the arugula. Take a large handful of washed red seedless grapes and cut them in half. Next take a few dates, remove the pit, and slice length-wise. Add these to the salad. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds, and then a generous drizzle of Black Currant balsamic vinegar, by Leonardo e Roberto’s Gourmet Blends. Any balsamic will still taste great, but I love the combination of the Black Currant Balsamic with this recipe.

Your salad is now ready to eat. Yum.

Xo
K

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