My apologies for the light posting today. I can barely keep my eyes open — let alone attempt to say something with wit — because of all the meds I’m on right now. All I can offer you is this salad, and if my memory serves me well, it was a good one at that.

This peppery salad is the last thing I could taste before a nasty sinus infection set in and rendered my taste buds useless. But it could have been worse. The last thing I ate could have been something awful, like Brussels sprouts or a bowl of frozen peas. I thank my lucky stars.

It’s been a few days and I still can’t taste anything, but the memory of this simple salad still lives on. I loved the crouton-sized roasted sweet potatoes, which lent a sunny vibe to an otherwise wintery salad. (Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for recipe.)

This is another one of those simple-is-best salads, where you can really taste the ingredients. Try it as a first course with a roast chicken, or as a full meal in itself. And reward yourself: don’t skimp on the cheese. You deserve it.

ARUGULA SALAD WITH SWEET POTATO CROUTONS
Yield: 4 servings

• 1 sweet potato
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon crushed and dried rosemary
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 cups packed arugula
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Shaved Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut sweet potato into crouton-sized pieces and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet. toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until pieces are browned and tender. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
2. In a large bowl, add arugula, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss mixture until all leaves are coated. Throw in roasted sweet potatoes, toss, and garnish with shaved Parmesan.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 11th, 2010 at 7:24 pm and is filed under Fruit/Vegetables, In the kitchen, Salads, Side dishes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.