If you love salads then this easy to make full flavored Root Vegetable Panzanella Salad Recipe is going to be a new favorite of your!
I absolutely love panzanella salads! Talk about an undervalued salad that over utilizes all available ingredients, no matter if they are fresh or a few days old. We had a really tasty version on one of our menus back in my country club working days and it was amazing.
We used homemade ciabatta and the greens and vegetables changed by seasonally and wow was it amazing!
WHAT IS IT?
Panzanella is Italian and the salad in it’s original form was so that everything in the kitchen got used up. If you had some leftover crunchy bread that was a few days old, you cut up and put into a salad with veggies and greens. Obviously same concept here in this salad but my bread was fresh and needed to be toasted.
There ain’t ever any leftover bread in our house, as long as my daughter is around. Toast it up and toss around with some seasonal greens to make this.
HOW TO PREPARE IT
This root vegetable panzanella salad is super easy to make and honestly can be just about whatever you want. I used a combo of French and multigrain bread but dang it use whatever artisanal homemade bread you’ve got lying around the house. Or even better if you make a ton of homemade bread then I can guarantee you this recipe is going to be that much better.
Remember when you bake it you just want it to be toasty on the outside and softer on the inside, you aren’t making crunchy croutons ok?! With that being said a slower and lower temp approach is key when making this. Do it up at 350° or 375°.
WHAT VEGETABLES TO USE
It’s winter so things like chard, mustard greens, collards, kale and spinach are in season so be sure to use greens like those in this panzanella salad! The root vegetables can be an assortment of things. It’s so important to check out what’s in season and what’s on sale to make this salad work fro you.
I used red and golden beets, sweet potatoes and Brussel sprouts, but you can absolutely use things like carrots, celeriac root, turnips, parsnips, potatoes, etc, you name it you can use it if it’s a root vegetable. Get creative and have fun with the veggies in this recipe.
Whatever you do though, be sure to chill the vegetables after roasting them before serving them!
HOW TO MAKE THE DRESSING
The dressing in this panzanella salad is super easy to make and ridiculously tasty. Since I am huge balsamic vinegar fan, must be that I’m Italian, I decided for that to be my base vinegar.
This dressing has a little mayonnaise in it so because of that you can simply combine all of the ingredients together and whisk away until it is emulsified. I like to chill the dressing before I serve it with the salad.
HOQ TO SERVE IT
Once everything is chilled it’s as simple as tossing together the greens, chilled root vegetables and bread. I like to sort of serve the bread more on the bottom with the beautiful greens and roasted root vegetables all over the top because it’s just so colorful.
In addition I served this salad up with some crumbled goat cheese and micro-greens and dude did it make a difference! This panzanella salad is absolutely delicious by itself, but you should absolutely serve it up with this Roast Spatchcock Chicken Recipe with Lemon and Herbs!
MORE AMAZING SALAD RECIPES
If you love this, then I’m quite sure you’ll love these salad recipes.
- Poached Salmon Salad Recipe with French Green Lentils
- Classic Salad Nicoise Recipe
- Watermelon Aurugla Salad
- Summer Salad with Quinoa
- Lemon Chicken Chopped Salad
Root Vegetable Panzanella Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 1 thinly sliced sweet potato
- 15-20 brussel sprouts cut into quarters
- 1 each quartered and thinly sliced golden and red beet
- 1/2 loaf each French and multigrain loaf cut into 1” cubes
- 4 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 head each of kale and spinach trimmed and cut into bite size pieces
- sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
- optional garnishes: micro-greens and goat cheese
For the Dressing:
- 2/3 cup of mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup of white balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp of grainy mustard
- 2 tbsp of honey
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
For the Spatchcock Chicken
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°.
- Salad: Spread the sweet potatoes, Brussel sprouts and beets out on 2 ½ sheet trays lines with parchment paper and drizzle on 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper.
- Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes or until light browned and tender. Cool completely.
- Spread the cubed bread out on a ½ sheet tray lined with parchment paper and drizzle on 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until slightly crunchy on the outside but soft in the center. Set aside.
- dressing: Whisk together all of the ingredients in a medium size bowl until combined. Cool before serving.
- To Plate: place the bread, greens and chilled root vegetables into a large bowl and dress with the desired amount of dressing, salt and pepper and optional garnishes micro-greens and goat cheese.
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