Balancing Act: Roasted Fall Vegetable Salad

While fall is the ideal time of year for comfort food - apple pie, mashed potatoes, stuffing - it's also the easiest time of year to pack on a few extra pounds. Thanks to the cooler weather, it's easy to hide what all that pie does to your middle underneath layers and loose sweaters. And though I'm not one to sacrifice my favorite fall foods for vanity's sake, I don't want to be cursing those extra helpings of cider donuts come next spring. So in order to get the most of the comforting fall flavors we all love, I look to the many hearty vegetables the autumn harvest has to offer.

This salad with roasted butternut squash, brussels sprouts and beets is so satisfying that you won't feel like you're missing out at all. Plus, just look at those colors. If that doesn't look like fall, I don't know what does. And if anything, eat this salad so you can feel a little less guilty about polishing off that bag of candy corn after.

Roasted Fall Vegetable Salad
makes 4 entrée-sized servings

Ingredients:
1 lb butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 lb brussels sprouts, halved
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cups precooked beets, quartered
1/4 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
16 oz baby spinach (or 2 bags of the pre-washed kind from the grocery store)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Assemble the squash and brussels sprouts on the baking sheet so they're in one even layer. If the pan is too crowded, use 2 baking sheets. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Using your hands, toss the veggies so they're evenly coated in oil. Roast in the oven about 30 minutes, or until tender and slightly browned. Allow the veggies to cool slightly.
3. Top the spinach with beets, gorgonzola, walnuts and roasted veggies. I don't use any extra dressing for this, because I find the beets and roasted veggies help moisten the spinach, but if you want to drizzle with some extra olive oil, more power to ya.

What does your cereal say about YOU?

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not a spontaneous person. I do not live by the seat of my pants, but by schedule. I like routines. I like making plans. "Spontaneous" for me is sleeping until 9 A.M. on a Saturday and splurging on a bagel instead of my usual Kashi cereal. In fact, my brother and I were joking the other day about what kind of cereal we would be. We said he'd be Coco Puffs and I would be Bran, because I'm always regular (hehe). So that's me. A big bowl o' reliable Bran.

My need for a routine and structure translates into my eating habits as well. I always eat three square meals a day, and of course a snack and dessert (or two). I really do not understand people who just "forget" to eat a meal, or somehow manage to stave off hunger all day simply by eating a banana or yogurt. Not only do I get irritable like a 5 year old if I've gone too long without eating, but what I eat is all I think about. All. Day. Long. Thinking about food (and of course eating it too) is what makes my world go round. A life without breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert(s) is simply a life not worth living.

People always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And while I agree that nothing beats a big bowl of cereal with cold milk, I do think lunch gets shafted. Lunch is sadly an afterthought for many people in the busy working world. Scrapped for time, some people will just grab a so-so sandwich or soggy salad at the corner deli. But for me, planning my lunches every week is like a secret drug. Picking the recipe, making the shopping list - it's a Type A's dream. As soon as I get to work every morning I start counting down the hours until it is acceptable to eat lunch. If I didn't have a delicious lunch to look forward to, what would be the point of getting up every day?

Here I bring you my lunch for the week: wheat berry salad with figs, golden raisins, celery and red onion. Stirring the pot of wheat berries this weekend, all I could think to myself was "I cannot wait for lunch on Monday". I know I sound crazy - a compulsive planner with the mentality of a morbidly obese person - but you should trust me on this one. This salad is good. And totally worth a little compulsive planning.

Wheat Berry Salad adapted from The Kitchn
makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups wheat berries
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tbs honey
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dried figs, finely chopped
1/2 medium red onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)
1 cup roasted almonds, roughly chopped
Handful fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
Freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

1. Cover the wheat berries with water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and partially cover the pot. Cook 45 minutes, until the wheat berries are tender and chewy.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the rice vinegar, orange juice and honey together in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and add the raisins and figs. Turn off the heat and let the fruit steep in the liquid.
3. When the wheat berries are ready, drain and add to a large bowl with the celery and red onion. Toss with olive oil and lemon zest. Add the vinegar and juice mixture, with all the fruit and mix. Stir in almonds, parsley and salt. Season with pepper as desired. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold.