Roasted Vegetable Salad
on Feb 21, 2024
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For this roasted vegetable salad recipe, I toss cauliflower, sweet potatoes and carrots into a blend of dried spices before they go in the oven to roast. That gives me plenty of time to make the couscous and the lemon vinaigrette. Then this filling salad comes together with pistachios, feta, parsley and scallions.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This is a sheet pan salad because the main ingredients—cauliflower, sweet potatoes and carrots—roast together on a couple of pans. Even though you make the dressing and the couscous outside the oven, the prep is still very simple.
Not all salads require lettuce. If you’re a salad person, there’s something so exciting about changing your routine. Salads without leafy greens make great leftovers because you don’t have to worry about them wilting.
Think of this recipe as a two for one because it can be salad and a vegetable side dish. Plus you can serve it cold or at room temperature with lots of different main dishes.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Cauliflower: Choose a head of cauliflower that feels heavy for its size and doesn’t have any dark spots. You can use a white, orange, purple or green one. Also, slice the cauliflower, so you have florets with flat sides that will touch the hot pan, giving them more opportunity to brown.
- Sweet potatoes: The recipe calls for 1 pound, which is about 2 medium sweet potatoes. Peel the potatoes before you dice them. You can substitute with butternut squash.
- Carrots: You can use all orange carrots, but if you can find rainbow carrots go with them for their beautiful colors. Fresh carrots should be firm and not limp.
- Spices: I season the vegetables with cumin, paprika, sumac, kosher salt and black pepper.
- Couscous is actually pasta that’s made from semolina flour. (I still refer to it a a grain.) It’s an ingredient commonly found in North African cuisine.
- Scallions give the salad delicate onion flavor. They aren’t overpowering and are somewhere in between red onions and herbs.
- Parsley: You will need 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs. You can substitute with cilantro or a mix of both.
- Pistachios are great with the spice mix in the veggie marinade. You can substitute with chopped almonds or walnuts.
- Feta cheese adds a nice salty, creamy accent. You can swap with crumbled goat cheese.
- Lemon vinaigrette: It’s a combination of garlic, mustard, salt, pepper and olive oil. Use extra virgin olive oil for the best taste. (You also toss the veggies in oil when roasting them.)
Optional Additions
You can add more or one of the following to the salad:
- Avocado: Diced will work best with the size of the roasted veggies
- Greens: Either chopped kale leaves or baby spinach
- Chickpeas or white beans make the salad even more filling
How To Make This Roasted Vegetable Salad
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
1. Marinate the vegetables. Mix the cumin, paprika, sumac, salt, pepper and oil in a big bowl. Then stir in the cauliflower, sweet potatoes and carrots.
2. Spread the veggies across 2 baking sheets They should be in a single layer.
3. Roast the vegetables until they are tender in the middle and lightly browned on the outside, about 30-35 minutes. Toss the vegetables halfway through roasting and rotate the baking sheets.
4. Make the couscous. Combine the grains with the boiling water in a bowl and cover. Let stand for 5 minutes. Comb the couscous with a fork to break up clumps.
5. Make the vinaigrette. Whisk together the garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil in small bowl.
6. Assemble the salad. In a large bowl, combine the couscous, roasted vegetables, scallions, fresh parsley, pistachios and feta. Pour in the dressing and toss to combine.
Serving
As mentioned, this is a salad that you can treat like a side dish too. This is a good choice for fall-winter meals. It’s even worthy of Thanksgiving and this dry-rubbed turkey. Remember that you can serve it at room temperature or cold, so it is forgiving when it comes to timing.
Storage, Leftovers & Make-Ahead Tips
Unlike salads with lots of lettuce, there is no risk of this roasted veggie salad getting soggy when you save it. You can keep the salad in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. I like to let it sit out at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before I eat it. Then it loses some of that initial chill from the refrigerator.
If you want, you can make the dressing up to 2 days in advance. Keep it in a jar in the fridge. Also, put it out at room temperature for 15 minutes, so the oil has a chance to turn into liquid again. Then stir it.
Recipe Tips
- Use 2 sheet pans. Don’t be tempted to crowd all the veggies on one pan. They will end up steaming instead of roasting.
- Don’t line the pan. The oil in the marinade is enough to keep the sweet potatoes, cauliflower and carrots from sticking. The will veggies brown better when they make direct contact with the pan.
- Use fresh lemon juice in the dressing. Bottled juice has all sorts of other ingredients and preservatives. The best taste is when you squeeze a lemon.
- Don’t let the couscous sit too long before drag a fork through it. The couscous will absorb the boiling water in 5 minutes. Comb it right after that to get rid of any clumps.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. Kale is a great because it is a heartier green and can stand up to the weight of the roasted veggies. Baby spinach is another option.
Couscous is not gluten-free. Use quinoa instead.
Either leave out the cheese or use a plant-based, dairy-free substitute.
More Salad Recipes
Kale Quinoa Salad
Kale Sweet Potato Salad
Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad
Roasted Fingerling Potato Kale Salad
Roasted Golden Beet Salad
Fall Harvest Salad with Butternut Squash
Broccoli Quinoa Salad
Roasted Vegetable Salad
Ingredients
For vegetables
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon sumac
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and diced
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal into 1/2-inch long pieces
- 1 head cauliflower, leaves removed, bottom stem trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices and broken into small pieces
For couscous
- 1/2 cup couscous
- 1/2 cup boiling water
For vinaigrette
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup olive oil
For salad
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, stir the cumin, paprika, sumac,1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and 2 tablespoons olive oil.
- Add the sweet potatoes, carrots and cauliflower and toss them in the spice-oil mixture. Spread them across 2 sheet pans in a single layer.
- Roast the vegetables until they are tender in the middle and lightly browned at the edges, flipping over and tossing halfway through roasting, about 30-35 minutes.
- For the couscous, combine the couscous grains and boiling water in a medium bowl. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Use a fork to comb through the couscous, breaking up any clumps.
- To make the vinaigrette, whisk the garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil in small bowl.
- In a large bowl combine the couscous, roasted vegetables, scallions, parsley, pistachios and feta. Drizzle in the dressing, tossing to combine.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.