Big Colourful Salad with Grilled Sweet Potato and Asian Dressing

I enjoy this colourful #salad with a blueberry protein smoothie

Salad and a protein smoothie for lunch? You bet, especially if the flavours complement eachother. I'm a big fan of the way this salad makes a complete, satisfying meal when served alongside this Blueberry-Banana Protein Smoothie. Considering the salad by itself, what I really like about it is the contrasts in flavours and textures. Crunchy purple cabbage in a tangy Asian dressing shares the plate with soft caramelized grilled sweet potato. The pepitas add more crunch and another contrasting flavour. I devour a huge plate of this salad whenever I have it for lunch, which is often, and the smoothie on the side is refreshing like a dessert, but with 24 g of vegan protein.

Ingredients

(Enough for two massive meal-sized salads.)

Salad

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4" slices

olive oil and fresh ground pepper for grilling the sweet potato

about 1/2 head, combined, different types of lettuce (head, leaf, romaine, whatever you got)

1/4 head of purple cabbage, chopped

1/2 large red pepper, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and sliced

2 Tbl pepitas or sunflower seeds

Dressing

2 Tbl olive oil

2 tsp rice vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil

1 Tbl tamari sauce

black pepper to taste

Directions

Grilling the sweet potato is a do-ahead task because you want to give it a little time to cool down before it meets the other ingredients. A thickness of 1/4" - 1/3" seems to work best on the grill.

Place the slices in a plastic container with a lid with some olive oil and fresh ground pepper. Shake to coat all the pieces evenly.

Set the grill for low heat—you want the insides soft and the outsides caramelized without too much burning. Perodically baste with olive oil and move the pieces around on the grill. Take them off as they finish. It usually takes me about 15 minutes to get them all done.

Let the sweet potato cool while prepping the other ingredients. When cool, cut the slices into bite-sized chunks.

grilled sweet potato, sliced into chunks

The purple cabbage is an essential part of this salad. Flavour, colour, crunch—I can't imagine making it without the cabbage. Quarter the head of cabbage and slice off the tough root. Then slice crosswise and chop up the slices.