Autumn Harvest Salad
Embrace the season, and the cooler weather, with an irresistible autumn harvest salad. With crisp apples, tangy pomegranates, hearty root vegetables, and an array of other delightful textures and flavours, this salad is a perfect expression of this season’s abundance.
In This Article
A Seasonal Harvest Salad
Autumn harvest salad (or Fall harvest salad) is such a celebration of what is available to us at this time of year. It’s also a great mix of warming, sweet vegetables combined with an array of other textures and flavours. This is important when building salads because it’s what keeps every bite of them interesting.
And as always, using ingredients in season means we are also getting the best our produce has to offer. Seasonal means fresh, vibrant produce that is abundant with the vitamins and minerals we need to keep us well. In cooler months zinc, selenium, iron, protein and vitamin C are some of the more import to support immune function. The combination of ingredients used in this salad give you a little of all of these. We have zinc in the pumpkin seeds, Greek yoghurt, and prosciutto if using. Selenium in the walnuts, feta and yoghurt. Some iron in the tahini, rocket/arugula, and prosciutto. Protein in the Prosciutto, and Greek yoghurt. And we find vitamin C in the pomegranate and rocket/arugula. Then we have the abundance of vitamins available to us in those beautiful coloured veg! Vitamin C is one of them, but levels are reduced with cooking.
We definitely need vitamin D for immune health too, but we can get out and enjoy a little sunshine for that.
Ingredients Needed For This Harvest Salad
When people tell me they don’t like salad, I can only think they’ve never had a good one. Salads are a very versatile meal and they taste as good as the ingredients in them. Colours, flavours, and textures will all make a difference to whether you enjoy the final result or not. This salad has the perfect mix of all those things.
- A mix of autumn/fall vegetables – Brussels sprouts, sweet potato, 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 – Adds a beautiful ruby red colour, and a hint of tanginess.
- Walnuts and pumpkin seeds – or any other nut and seed combination of your choice. This gives crunch.
- Prosciutto – This is optional but is adding protein to the dish, in addition to added texture.
- Feta – I’ve used the horiatiki variety because it’s my favourite. Go for a crumbly over a creamy variety when choosing yours.
- 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.
If needing to make this salad dairy free, simply remove the feta or replace it with a dairy free cheese option. For the dressing, try my tahini sauce instead. A classic vinaigrette is also delicious with this mix of ingredients.
How To Make This Autumn Harvest Salad
This is more involved than salads might usually be however, it’s worth the effort. Not only will you have something beautiful to present, it’s a warming and nourishing meal too. This does have a small amount of protein with the nuts and prosciutto. But, to make it a main meal chicken or eggs could also be added.
- Make the 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 180ºC/350ºF and line three baking trays with baking paper.
- Wash the rocket/arugula and place in the serving bowl then set aside
- De-seed the pomegranate and set aside the arils.
- Tip the walnuts and pumpkin seeds onto a baking tray, then set aside.
- Lay the prosciutto on the second baking tray, then also set aside.
- 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 large 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 a baking sheet 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 rocket/arugula with the baked veg, sliced apple, crumble over the feta, then the crispy prosciutto, sprinkle over the nuts, the pomegranate seeds and finally, sprinkle over the dukkah.
- Serve as is with the dressing on the side.
I always serve the dressing separately with this salad because it’s so vibrant and colourful once assembled. It makes a beautiful centrepiece on the table, and everyone can serve as much or as little dressing as they like.
FAQ
Yes! You can use any autumn/fall vegetables you like. When choosing them, consider colour, texture and combinations of flavours. Remember this is a real centrepiece salad so you want to make it beautiful.
Yes! To make it dairy free just remove the feta or replace it with your dairy free cheese of choice. For the dressing, go with my tahini sauce recipe, or even a classic vinaigrette.
Watch How To Make This Recipe
Autumn Harvest Salad
Ingredients
Salad Ingredients
- 4 cups rocket / arugula (see note 1)
- 400 g sweet potato (roughly 1 medium-sized)
- 150 g Brussels sprouts
- 80 g red onion (roughly 1 medium-sized)
- 250 g carrots (roughly 2 medium-sized, 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
- 100 g feta (optional)
- 100 g prosciutto (optional)
- 1 Tbsp za'atar (optional)
- ½ – 1 tsp salt (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.
- ½ – 1 tsp salt (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 180ºC/350ºF 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 2.5cm / 1 inch). 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, the pomegranate seeds and finally, sprinkle over the dukkah.
- Once done the bowl is so beautiful and colourful I serve it as is with the dressing on the side.
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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