Roasted Sweet Potato, Asparagus & Arugula Salad

I served this salad under roasted chicken when Euro and James came over for dinner. It's gluten free and vegetarian. The peppery leaves of the arugula pair wonderfully with sweet potatoes and the citrus vinaigrette balances the salad out nicely.



Pecan Pieces
Sweet Potatoes - peeled and diced in large chunks
Asparagus
EVOO
s/p
Arugula
Citrus Vinaigrette
Goat Cheese

Preheat oven to 400°.

Toast the nuts by placing them in a heated pan and cook for about a minute. You'll know that they're toasted when you smell them. Set the nuts aside.

Separately, toss the potatoes and asparagus in EVOO. Sprinkle both liberally with s/p.

Place the potatoes in the oven. Cook until tender, stirring once or twice, 40-60 minutes depending on the size and type of potato chunks.



When the potatoes are 10 minutes from being cooked, put the asparagus in the oven. Cook the asparagus turning once until they are tender crisp, 6-10 minutes.

Tomato, Swiss Chard, and Asparagus

After going out to a big breakfast this morning, and anticipating a decent Sunday dinner, I wanted something light and quick for lunch. I started by boiling about a cup of veg stock in a sauce pan with a small pad o butter (just for fun). Then, I added 1 diced tomato, 1 large roughly chopped garlic clove, and a 1/4 cup or so of chopped rainbow char stems with s/p. For extra flavor, I threw in a bay leaf and a slice of jalapeño, which I discarded before serving. After tasting for seasoning and adding a pitch of salt, I reduced the tomato mixture by half.



Then, I added a hand full of chard leafs and sliced asparagus. This cooked covered for a minute or two over low heat, till the char just wilted.



This would be nice on pasta or rice. It would also make a great vegetarian meal simply mixed with a can of warmed beans. For this lunch, I incorporated breakfast leftovers by mixing diced turkey sausage into the veggies. I served the colorful dish with reheated hash browns mixed with a little feta cheese to add a creamy element to the dish.



It took me about 20 minutes to cook this gluten free meal, not bad for a three hour cook. Tony didn't need that much time to eat it though. His plate was clean in about 2 minuets!