Meatless Monday! Italian Roasted Vegetable Salad with Poached Egg and Parmesan Pine Nuts

We are going to start a new schedule here on the blog:

Meatless Mondays featuring my favorite veggie dishes! So for our first Meatless Monday I am sharing my Roasted Veggie Salad with y’all.

This recipe is completely customizable, use whatever veggies you have on hand! I’ve included some basic instructions and roasting tips for you below.

Remember: Salad Night doesn’t have to be boring!

Roasting veggies is simple but you can’t roast them dry b/c they will stick and burn. A good olive oil is a necessity. For this recipe I used Devo Olive Oil in Chipotle Flavor for a delicious smoky heat. You can order their flavor packed olive oils and balsamics here: http://www.devooliveoil.com/

Ingredients:

Makes 2 large salads

4-6 cups Chopped lettuce (I like Romaine and Boston Bibb)
2 eggs, poached
1/4 cup pine nuts
4 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tbsp olive oil
Italian Dressing, for serving
Devo Olive Oil, Chipotle flavor
sea salt/ cracked black pepper
Assorted chopped veggies for roasting such as mushrooms, onions, carrots, squash, zucchini, corn, beets, cauliflower, asparagus, peppers…..

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Slice veggies in thick slices and place on a baking sheet in a single layer.
Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Roast veggies for approx 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
If you are roasting thicker veggies such as beets and potatoes you may need to roast them for an additional 10 minutes or so.
In a small skillet heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Add pine nuts and 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese and toast over medium, stirring constantly until browned, just a couple minutes.
To assemble your salad place a few cups of lettuce on a plate then top with assorted roasted veggies, then poached egg, then a sprinkle of toasted Parmesan pine nuts, and top with additional cracked pepper and tbsp of Parmesan (optional).
Serve with a side of Italian dressing.

Don’t know how to poach an egg? Look at my recipe here!

Tips for Roasting Veggies:

Slice veggies in thicker slices. Especially tender veggies like onions and mushrooms, that will burn and cook down to inedible pieces if you cut them too small and thin.
Lay veggies flat and in a single layer on baking sheets. This way they will roast evenly.
Don’t forget the oil. Drizzle a healthy amount of olive oil on your veggies before roasting.
Simply season! The basics: good sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper are absolutely required for roasting. You can add garlic powder, cayenne, etc if you’d like but don’t forget salt and pepper!
Flip or stir halfway through.
Remember that some thicker veggies take longer (like beets, potatoes, corn) so roast those on a separate tray than the thinner veggies that cook quicker (like onions and mushrooms).
Veggies are ready when they are soft, crispy, and you can pierce easily with a fork.
Mix it up a try all sorts of veggies!

I love meaty mushrooms especially portabellas and creminis and they are simple to saute or roast.

Simple roasted veggies are crunchy, flavorful, and make tasty salad toppings.

Poaching an egg is easy! All you need is a saucepan of boiling water with a couple tbsp of vinegar, drop your egg in and let it simmer for a couple minutes then remove with a slotted spoon.