This roasted root vegetable salad is a recipe I learned from my mom, who would always make it whenever guests were coming over and somehow manage to wow everyone every single time. It became my go-to the same way it was hers: easy enough to throw together, but impressive enough to bring to a friend’s house and feel proud setting it on the table. With caramelized sweet potatoes and yams, roasted red onions and bell peppers, and a simple finish of olive oil, lemon juice, and fresh basil, this is the kind of salad that disappears quickly and gets asked about long after dinner is over.
Roasted Root Vegetable Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Basil
A vibrant roasted root vegetable salad made with caramelized sweet potatoes and yams, tender roasted peppers and onions, and finished with fresh basil, lemon juice, and olive oil. Simple, flavorful, and perfect served warm or at room temperature.
Ingredients
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow or orange bell pepper
- 2 lbs light fleshed or "Hannah" sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 2 in pieces, ½ in thick
- 2 lbs orange fleshed sweet potatoes or yams peeled and cut into 2 in pieces, ½ in thick
- 2 large red onions sliced in half, peel discarded and cut into ¾ in pieces
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- kosher salt
- ½ cup basil leaves chiffonade
- 1 lemon juiced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°. Place bell peppers on a sheet tray covered with parchment paper and roast in the oven for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove from the oven and set into a heatproof bowl and cover with plastic wrap. When cool enough to handle, peel peppers, discard seeds and core and slice into thin strips 2 inches long. Set aside.
- Drop oven temperature to 400°. Set three oven racks equally spaced to fit three trays. Set up three sheet trays with parchment paper. One tray with sweet potatoes, one tray with yams and one tray with red onions. Toss each vegetable with about 1 tbsp of olive oil and season with salt. Use your hands to made sure the vegetables are coated and roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes. Note: Halfway through the cook time, remove the trays of sweet potatoes and yams from the oven and use a fork to flip over each piece so that they cook evenly. Use a spatula to toss onions halfway through cook time so that they don't burn in spots. Keep an eye on each sheet tray because sometimes one vegetable will finish cooking more quickly than the others.
- Once all the vegetables are removed from the oven and cool enough to touch, add them to a bowl, drizzle with one additional tbsp of olive oil, season with more salt and toss with the juice of one lemon and the basil. Serve at room temperature or cold. Note: I often make the components to this salad a day or two ahead, keep in the fridge and toss it all together before serving.