Who says salads are just for summer? I love a salad but prefer something warm during these colder days. And after indulging too much recently with Diwali and birthdays, I could do with something a little bit lighter.

This is a great mid week meal and is hardly even a recipe, it’s more of a combination of ingredients. It’s a lovely warm salad with spinach, roasted sweet potato, grains, walnuts, feta and a lovely dressing made with maple syrup. Delicious!

You can swap in any ingredients that you have in your kitchen, for example you could use butternut squash, rocket or goats cheese. Feel free to experiment!

I had a packet of grains in my pantry from Aldi. I see nothing wrong with packet rice or grains as its a great mid week cheat when you are pressed for time. All the hard work is done for you and I don’t think there are any hidden nasties inside (not that I know of!). You could use any grain you like, such as rice, quinoa or barley. Here’s the one I used (not an Ad):

I normally make a salad dressing using extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard and honey. But this time I swapped the honey for maple syrup and it was heavenly. It gave the salad a really nice flavour and a lovely sweetness.

Here’s how I made mine:

As I said, this is not exactly a precise recipe, so feel free to adjust the quantities accordingly. I made this for two people and it was plenty!

1. Peel, wash and chop 2 small sweet potatoes into chunks. Drizzle over olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in an oven at 200c for approximately 40 minutes, tossing half way through, until golden.

2. Prepare the salad dressing. Add about 5-6 tbsps of extra virgin olive oil to a glass or jar, then add 1-2 tbsps of lemon juice and maple syrup. Add a small tsp of dijon mustard, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Taste and adjust the seasoning if need be.

3. Prepare the rest of the ingredients. In a large bowl, add the chopped spinach and drizzle a little of the dressing over the top. Then add the grains, roasted sweet potato, toasted walnuts and feta.

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4. Drizzle over more of the dressing, serve and enjoy!

This was absolutely delicious and very welcome after too many treats recently. The sweetness from the maple syrup and sweet potato paired really well with the salty feta and the savoury grains. The crunch from the toasted walnuts add great texture. Plus I loved all the colours!

Thanks for reading and let me know if you give this a try! Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think 🙂

My name is Bhavisha Surti and I am a food photographer and stylist based in Milton Keynes. Please subscribe to my blog below and check out my website to see more of my work at www.jbimagery.co.uk. Thank you!