There’s nothing like the flavour of roasted vegetables in a salad.  They elevate an ordinary supper salad to a fancy little feast.  Meanwhile the addictive dressing is a variation on Jae Steele’s basic House Dressing; adding lots of fresh herbs to her already fabulous recipe and thereby making use of what was readily available in the perennial garden patch this week.

Yield: 2 servings

What you need for the salad:

• 1 small head of broccoli cut into florets, stem peeled and cut into thick sticks
• A dozen or so small brussel sprouts, halved or quartered depending on size
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Freshly ground salt and pepper
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 2 tablespoons dried cranberries or raisins
• 2 tablespoons hemp hearts (optional)
• 3-5 tablespoons of chive-oregano dressing (recipe follows)

What you need for the dressing (and this will make quite a lot, enough to be dressing your salads all week):

• 1 tablespoon red miso
• 1 tablespoon tamari or shoyu
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• 3/4 cup flax or olive oil, or a combination of the two
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup unpasteurized apple cider vinegar (depending on how much vinegar you like in your dressing)
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh chives and oregano in a proportion to suit your taste (or go with basil or marjoram and scallions or scapes if you prefer those flavour combinations!)

What you do for the salad and the dressing:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Line an 11×17 baking pan with parchment paper. Toss the broccoli and Brussel sprouts together with the oil and freshly ground salt and pepper to taste.  Roast for 25-30 minutes, stirring about half-way, until the veggies are cooked through and toasted on the outside.  Remove from the oven and let cool.
3. While the roasted greens are cooling, grate the carrot into a bowl and add the dried cranberries or raisins and hemp seeds if using.
4. Put all the dressing ingredients together in a blender or Magic Bullet type mixer and blend until smooth.
5. Add the roasted vegetables to the bowl along with 3 to 5 tablespoons of the dressing and toss well.
6. Serve the salad and pour the leftover dressing into a glass jar to store in the fridge where it will keep for up to a week.