I have never been SO happy for a weekend to be over until today! Taylor got back late last night and I gave him the biggest/strongest/I never want to let you go again kind of hug. I think his back might be a little sore today.
Confession. I am scared to be alone. Yes, I am 29 years old and I am scared of the dark and the slight possibility of someone breaking into our house and kidnapping me. I spent the majority of my youth watching too many true crime tv shows and have been traumatized ever since. While Taylor was away my Verizon bill surely went up. I talked to my mom for hours. And when I wasn’t on the phone with her I was talking to my sister. Hearing their voices made everything a little less scary. And talk about scary, when Henry and I were up at 2 a.m. bringing all of our seedlings into the house during the storm I was positive I was a goner! Surely someone was lurking in the bushes waiting to snatch us up.
What doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger right? Turns out no one was waiting to kidnap me and all of our seedlings survived. Taylor and I celebrated this morning with coffee and fresh juice. And guess what? The sun came out to greet us.
It was a nice morning and it felt so good to be together again. Even the plants seemed to be happier.
Tomorrow is another big day of transplanting and seeding. It’s hard to believe that in just a few short weeks we will start to put our seedlings into the ground. We can’t wait!
In the meantime, you all should make this lovely harvest salad. The combination of hearty winter vegetables with a light and tart vinaigrette is absolutely delicious. Perfect for this time of year. Enjoy.
Use this recipe as a guideline and adjust according to your preference and taste.
Harvest Salad (serves two)
1 large purple beet, scrubbed clean and cut into matchstick pieces
2 large carrots, cut into matchstick pieces
a handful of large brussels sprouts, sliced in half lengthwise
1 small yellow onion, peeled and cut into quarters
a few large handfuls of arugula
olive oil
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the veggies with olive oil salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 30-40 minutes turning veggies over at least once during the cooking process.
Lemon-Lime Vinaigrette (inspired by The Best 50 Salad Dressings Cookbook)
This makes a lot of dressing. Use only what you need for the salad and save the rest for up to 1 week in your fridge.
6 TBS olive oil
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
1 TBS fresh lime juice
1 tsp dijon style mustard
2 tsp grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
Place all ingredients in a jar and shake well until well mixed.
To assemble your salad mix roasted veggies with a few handfuls of arugula. Drizzle everything with dressing and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Enjoy!
I want to marry roasted root veggies. They’d never leave me alone to be kidnapped. (I share your same fear. I blame Dateline NBC.)
Andrea, this looks like an AMAZING salad! Can’t wait to try it, and will include some leeks, some artichoke hearts, and some more onions!
But here’s a question: Would the dressing last longer than a week in the fridge if you don’t add the parmesan until you’re ready to toss your salad, and you add it to just the amount you plan to use? You could then reserve the rest in your fridge for a bit longer, I’m thinking.
Yes? No?
I’m afraid of the dark too, and once stayed up almost all night when I was home along after reading Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, convinced that someone was waiting in my close to rape and murder me. The imagination is a powerful thing! Then again, if you didn’t have one, you wouldn’t be able to come up with gorgeous salads like this!
I love, love, love roasted vegetables. I’ve never thought of putting this combination on a salad before, delicious!
haha, I understand and try to avoid being home as much as possible!
I love all those roasted veggies. And combining both lemon *and* lime in a vinaigrette is such a fabulous idea.
I can totally psych myself into a frenzy – WHAT IS LURKING?!!! – when I’m out alone in the dark.
I share your fear too. Who knows what causes it? If I watch too much tv, I won’t sleep. 🙂
Such an amazing blend of colors and flavors. In a recent months I forgot about existence of brussel sprouts and how great they taste when roasted. Thanks for reminding me.That vinaigrette sound delicious too.
I’m the same way, every nighttime sound is a murder trying to kill me.
Buuut, I love this vinaigrette, I’m all about homemade sauces right now.
I hate being alone too. One of my dogs barks as loud as she can at every little sound so I have mini heart attacks like every 10 minutes when he is out of town. I feel your pain. I’m glad your husband is back to keep you safe. 🙂
I do terribly at being alone, I’ve always thought I’m the biggest scaredy cat in the world because every little sound is definitely a murderer who got in… At least you have a dog so you can blame sounds you hear on him! 🙂 Love the mix of winter and spring in this salad!
I feel you on the scared of being alone at home part and I also blame it on too many crime shows when I was younger. When my boyfriend is gone, I blast the t.v at ear splitting levels so that it drowns out the silence. I’m sure my neighbors love me. This salad looks like exactly what I need after the winter I had of bread and bread.
I’m such a baby about being alone also!! If I didn’t live in a building filled with hundreds of other people, I don’t know what I’d do…
This salad looks so delicious. It’s filled with all of my favorite roasted veggies!
I have the same aversion to being home alone. Sometimes Jeremy travels for work and when we moved into this triplex I had an alarm installed since we’re on the ground floor. I also consumed dozens of Ann Rule true crime novels as a teenager, which I’m pretty sure has made me paranoid for life. But at least you have your doggie to alert you 🙂 My cat would probably just hide silently in the closet if an intruder came in.
I love being alone until it’s time to go to sleep…then I get a little spooked. But I figure that I live on the 3rd floor of our apartment building so if someone is going to break in, they’ll probably give up by the time they reach me or they’ll hit the people below me. Grim but comforting! 😛
You’re one brave lady for going out in the middle of the night with loomy trees around! It’s amazing how terrifying everything is when the sun goes down, and being away from your comfort man is definitely tough. Glad Taylor’s home safe and sound and I’m so excited for your transplants to get rooted in the earth!!
My partner is away often for work, that first hug is always the best and given with so much love. I have just stumbled upon your blog and love what you are doing. I live in Australia and doing a similar thing – keeping the simple life, we just don’t have enough tanks and water yet to break the soil open for any reason. All in good time.
Your recipe looks really good, we are going into winter now and I am looking forward to my beets and brussel sprouts to be ready. Unfortunately our soil does not like carrots.
what a perfect salad!
Hi sweet friend. I totally understand. I couldn’t reach Ryan for an hour today, and it felt like eternity. He got a huge bear hug when he got home too! This looks like a beautiful salad. Thank you so much for sharing. I have had a long day…and I needed something delicious to cheer me up. I hope you are well. Enjoy the rest of your week. Happy Spring!
Oops! That last comment was from me, Monet. Not Lucy and Louise (my work blog)
haha! got it! thanks for the lovely comment Monet!