Winter Vegetable Salad with Maple Pecans

I won't pretend that this salad doesn’t take some work to prepare but on the plus side, everything can be done in advance, and the vegetables can all be roasted at the same time (I do them on different trays because the cooking times vary though). I also roast everything on trays lined with baking paper which means there is hardly any cleaning up. The end result is really aesthetically beautiful as well as very delicious. If you have some good bread and a sharp white cheese, you have an entire lunch or light meal done.

2 handfuls of greens (eg spinach, rocket, witlof, beetroot leaves)

2 carrots, peeled and cut into batons

6 brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved

3 medium beetroot, peeled and cut into wedges (wear gloves to do this)

6 jerusalem artichokes, trimmed and halved

1 navel or blood orange, segmented, juice reserved

½ cup pecans

1 tbsn maple syrup

olive oil

dressing

2 tbspn good olive oil

1 tspn balsamic vinegar

1 tbspn orange juice

Preheat oven to 190 degrees. Places beetroots and carrots on roasting trays. Spray or drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Steam Jerusalem artichokes til just tender. Place on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and season. Toss brussel sprouts in some olive oil. Saute cut side down in a fry pan until they start to colour. Transfer to a baking tray. Roast all the vegetables til golden and tender. Beetroots approximately 50-60 mins, carrots and Jerusalem artichokes 40-45 mins, sprouts 20-25 mins. Turn everything at least once for even cooking.

Dry fry pecans until lightly toasted. Add maple syrup, and toss until the nuts are coated. Transfer nuts to a baking tray and roast for about 7 minutes, then let cool.

Place greens in a large serving dish. Top with roast veggies, orange segments and pecans then drizzle over dressing ingredients.