Festive Fall Salad

Festive Fall Salad
By Laura LaValle, RD, LD

This vibrant fall salad features vegetables that reach their peak of flavor in cool fall weather. While your guests savor the rich medley of Mediterranean-inspired flavors and textures, they'll also get a healthy dose of immune-boosting, cold-fighting vitamin C.

Time to table: 30 minutes
Serves: 8
Healing Nutrient Spotlight:
Excellent source of vitamin A and vitamin C
Good source of vitamin B-12 and manganese

Ingredients*

Dressing:
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground fennel seed (optional)

Salad:
3 beets, steamed or roasted
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 fennel bulb, chopped
2 medium oranges
6 cups mixed field greens and/or watercress, coarsely chopped
1 small head radicchio, thinly sliced
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
16 halved and pitted kalamata olives
1/4 cup pine nuts

*Choose organic ingredients for optimal nutrition.

Preparation

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together salad dressing ingredients and set aside.
Steam or roast beets for 30 minutes or until fork-tender. Cool, peel off skin, and cut into cubes. Toss with vinegar in small bowl and set aside. Cut fennel lengthwise and then each half into thin slices. Cut peel from oranges over bowl containing fennel, allowing extra juice to drip into bowl. Separate orange sections from pith and cut into small pieces. Add oranges to fennel and chill. Combine greens and onion on a large platter. Top with fennel and oranges, beets, olives, and pine nuts. Drizzle salad dressing over each portion. Serve extra dressing on the side.

Nutrition

140 calories, 11 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 6 g monounsaturated fat, 2 g polyunsaturated fat, 10 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 5 g sugar, 3 g protein, 1435 IU vitamin A, .08 mg thiamin, .05 mg riboflavin, .52 mg niacin, .07 mg vitamin B-6, .68 mg vitamin B-12, 40 mcg folate, 30 mg vitamin C, 55 mg calcium, 25 mg magnesium, 315 mg potassium, 235 mg sodium, .93 mg iron, .12 mg copper, .38 mg zinc, .35 mg manganese, 1.21 mcg selenium