Fall Harvest Salad With A Creamy Dressing
Embrace the season, and the cooler weather, with this irresistible Fall Harvest Salad. With crisp, sweet apples, tangy pomegranates, roasted veggies, and an array of other seasonal ingredients and flavours, this salad is a perfect expression of autumn’s abundance.
In This Article
Nutritional Benefits
An autumn harvest salad is such a wonderful celebration of seasonal flavors in addition to providing a very robust nutritional profile. This delicious salad is a rich source of the nutrients needed to support immune function and digestive health, which is essential during the cooler months. These include fibre, vitamins A, C, K, and B vitamins (1,2) along with minerals like potassium, iron, selenium, calcium, and magnesium (3).
The abundance of antioxidants present in the veg also provide health-protective effects (4). There is also a nice amount of protein to make the salad more filling, and some healthy fats in the nuts, seeds and dressing that aids heart health and helps to reduce inflammation (5).
Ingredients – What You’ll Need To Make This Recipe
This hearty salad is a versatile meal that makes a great addition to a holiday table. It’s a delicious side dish that can easily become a main with some added protein, and even an added grain. If including any of your favorite fall ingredients to those listed below just ensure to combine a variety of colors, flavors, and textures.
- A mix of fall/autumn vegetables – Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, carrot, red onion. Anything you like will work but do consider the colours.
- Apple – provides crunch and added sweetness. I used Pink Lady but go with any you prefer.
- Rocket / Arugula – provides texture and adds a touch of bitterness to balance out the sweet vegetables.
- Pomegranate arils – adds a beautiful ruby red colour, and a hint of tanginess.
- Walnuts and pumpkin seeds – to add crunch. Sunflower seeds are great too, or any other nut and seed combination of your choice.
- Prosciutto – this is optional but is adding protein to the dish, in addition to added texture.
- Feta cheese – go for a crumbly over a creamy variety when choosing yours so it’s easier to crush over the salad. This could also be swapped for blue cheese if preferred.
- Extra virgin olive oil – for drizzling over the vegetables pre roasting.
- Greek Yoghurt – the base of the salad dressing that makes it both tangy and creamy.
- Tahini – this is a great ingredient to combine with yoghurt. It adds some earthiness to the yoghurt’s tang and sweetness.
- Lemon juice – adds a light and fresh flavour to the dressing.
- Garlic – adding pungency, and it’s a great match for the Autumn veg.
The salad can be made dairy free if needed by removing the feta or replacing it with a dairy free cheese and a vegan yoghurt. Or consider other sauces and dressings that go well with this salad like an orange vinaigrette dressing, tahini sauce, or just a classic vinaigrette.
How To Make A Fall Harvest Salad
This fall harvest salad recipe is a bit more involved than a standard salad however, it’s worth the effort. It makes a beautiful centrepiece for the table and it’s warming and nourishing too. This does contain some protein, but you can make it a full, delicious meal by adding something like chicken or eggs. See the substitutions and variations section below for more on how to do that.
- Make the harvest salad dressing first by combining the yoghurt, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Stir well then set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC and line three baking trays with parchment paper.
- Wash the arugula/rocket and place in a large serving bowl then set aside.
- De-seed the pomegranate and set aside the arils.
- Tip the walnuts and pumpkin seeds onto the first sheet pan lined with parchment paper, then set aside.
- Lay the prosciutto on the second sheet pan, then also set aside (optional).
- Peel the red onion and cut into eight wedges then place in a bowl with 1 Tbsp olive oil and some salt.
- Peel the sweet potato and carrots. Cut them into chunks and place in a large bowl.
- Cut the base off each Brussels sprout then cut them in half from root to tip. Place into the large bowl with the potato and carrots. Toss together with more olive oil and salt.
- Tip the sweet potato, carrots, and Brussels sprouts onto the third sheet pan and place in the oven for 15 mins. Add the onions to the tray and cook for another 10 minutes.
- When the timer goes off, leave the veg in, but add in the trays with the walnuts/pumpkin seeds and the prosciutto on the other oven shelves. Bake for a further 10 mins then remove everything from the oven.
- Cut the apple into quarters, cut out the core from each section then thinly slice.
- Top the arugula/rocket with the baked veg, sliced apples, crumble over the feta, then the crispy prosciutto, sprinkle over the nuts, and the pomegranate seeds.
- Pour over the dressing and toss gently to combine. This can also be served on the side if preferred.
Cut all the vegetables to roughly the same size so they cook evenly. This will also ensure no one ingredient stands out when the salad is assembled, and it looks instead like the perfect medley of seasonal foods.
Substitutions And Variations
Make this a higher protein salad and substantial enough for a main course by adding cooked chicken breast. Sliced or shredded would work well and using rotisserie chicken will make it an easy addition.
Swap out the prosciutto for crispy bacon, or hard-boiled eggs for a vegetarian version.
You can add any other greens to the salad you’d like. Chopped kale and baby spinach are great additions, but best quickly pan-fried to soften them slightly before including them.
To make this vegan simply swap leave out the prosciutto, swap the feta for a vegan feta, and swap the creamy dressing for an apple cider vinaigrette. To make this combine the following ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously until the emulsify (become creamy):
- ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp of Dijon mustard
- A dash of maple syrup
- A pinch of salt
Tips For Success With This Recipe
You can make the salad extra beautiful by simply layering it, instead of tossing it. Do a layer of arugula/rocket followed by a bit of everything including the dressing and keep adding layers until everything is used. Be sure to finish with some of the dressing on top.
Storing/Make Ahead
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
You can get a head start on the salad by making some of the elements in advance! The dressing can be made ahead and so can the nuts and seeds as well as the roast veg. When assembling the salad and cooking the prosciutto just put the veg, nuts and seeds all back in the oven to warm up.
FAQ
Yes! Use any fall/autumn vegetables you like. When choosing them, consider colour, texture and combination of flavours to ensure the salad is both beautiful and delicious.
Yes! To make it dairy free just remove the feta or replace it with your dairy free cheese of choice. Replace the yogurt in the dressing with a vegan option or simply swap to a vinaigrette.
More Salad Inspiration
If you try this recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment, rate it, and remember to tag @wholenaturalkitchen in your pics or reels on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok!
Fall Harvest Salad
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
- 4 cups arugula/rocket (see note 1)
- 14 oz sweet potato (400g, roughly 1 medium-sized)
- 5 oz Brussels sprouts (150g)
- 1 medium, red onion
- 2 medium-sized carrots (try for yellow or purple if available)
- ⅓ cup pomegranate arils
- 1 apple (any preferred but sweet varieties would be best)
- ½ cup walnuts
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 3.5 oz feta (100g and an optional addition)
- 3.5 oz prosciutto (100g and an optional addition)
- ½ tsp salt (or to your taste)
Dressing Ingredients
- 1 cup Greek yoghurt
- ¼ cup tahini
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic (crushed). If preferred add more to your tastes.
- 1 tsp salt (or to your taste)
Instructions
For The Dressing
- Make this first so the flavours have time to meld together.
- In a medium-sized bowl stir together all the dressing ingredients until well combined, then set aside while you make the salad.
For The Salad
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC and line three baking trays with baking paper (see note 1).
- Wash the rocket/arugula and put through a salad spinner or pat dry with paper towels. Put this into the dish you're using to serve the salad, then set aside.
- De-seed the pomegranate and set aside the arils. They'll be used for the topping.
- Tip the walnuts and pumpkin seeds onto one of the baking trays. Keep them separate so that if one lot cooks faster they're easily removed. Set this aside for now.
- Lay all the prosciutto out on the second baking tray and set aside.
- Peel the red onion then cut it in half from root to tip. Cut each half into 4 wedges then add them to a small bowl.
- Peel the sweet potato and carrots. Cut them into large chunks (roughly 1-inch/2.5cm). Place in a separate bowl to the onions (see note 2).
- Cut the base off each Brussels sprout then cut them in half from root to tip. Place into the bowl with the sweet potato and carrots.
- Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the onion bowl, and the remaining 2 tablespoons into the bowl with the other veg. Sprinkle the salt across the two bowls then toss each of them to ensure all veg are coated.
- Pour the sweet potato, carrots, and Brussels sprouts onto the third baking sheet and place on the top shelf in the oven for 15 mins.
- When the timer goes off, add the onions to the baking sheet and cook for another 10 minutes.
- This time when the timer goes off, leave the veg in, but add in the trays with the walnuts/pumpkin seeds and the prosciutto on the other oven shelves (see note 3). Bake for a further 10 mins then remove everything from the oven.
- Just before assembling the salad, cut the apple into quarters, cut out the core from each section then thinly slice.
- Now top the rocket/arugula with the baked veg, sliced apple, crumble over the feta, sprinkle over the crunchy nuts, then the crispy prosciutto, and the pomegranate seeds.
- Serve with the dressing mixed through or on the side.
Video
Notes
- One can be pan-fried. The prosciutto until crisp, the nuts/seeds until they have released some oils and are looking a little more golden (or slightly brown around the edges for the seeds).
- They can both be added as is. If you don’t want to go to the added fuss of pan-frying you can just tear up the prosciutto and add it to the salad. For the nuts and seeds – you can buy pre-roasted. I do recommend cooking the prosciutto though. It’s so delicious with this salad.
Nutrition
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Gabby Campbell
Gabby is a degree qualified Naturopath/Nutritionist (BHSc Nat) with a love of all whole foods. She started her Naturopathic career in clinical practice before making the move to recipe development and online education – a result of wanting to combat the misinformation that abounds on the internet about food and health. Whole Natural Kitchen aims to transform the way you think about healthy eating by helping you embrace an abundance of nutritious foods while leaving the health fads behind. MORE ABOUT GABBY