Recipe of the week: Roasted Root Vegetable Salad with White Wine Vinaigrette

Cheap meals don’t have to consist of Easy Mac and fast food. As proven by Melissa d’Arabian’s cookbook, Ten Dollar Dinners, it’s possible for a family of four to eat inexpensive, savvy meals.

Writes cooking columnist Sybil Pratt, “She’s gathered all her spending-with-a-purpose strategies for supermarket shopping (smart splurges included), tips for stretching expensive ingredients, budget entertaining and pantry management, as well as 140 tantalizing recipes.”

Roasted Root Vegetable Salad with White Wine Vinaigrette

serves 4

preparation time:
20 minutes (plus 20 minutes to cool the vegetables)

cooking time:
40 minutes

for the salad

• 2 medium beets, peeled and halved, each half quartered into wedges (reserve the greens for another time)
• 2 medium carrots, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and sliced into 1½ inch pieces
• 1 large parsnip, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and sliced into 1½ inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 cups arugula

for the vinaigrette

• 1½ tablespoons white wine vinegar
• Pinch of sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion or shallot
• Pinch of kosher salt
• Pinch of ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

1) To make the salad: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the beets on one third of the baking sheet; place the carrots and parsnip on the other side of the beets (the beets will stain the lighter-colored vegetables if they are too close together). Drizzle the vegetables with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt. Gently rub the vegetables slightly with the olive oil and salt and roast until caramelized and tender, 35 to 40 minutes, turning midway through roasting. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool, 20 minutes to several hours at room temperature.

2) To make the vinaigrette: Pour the vinegar into a large bowl; add the sugar, onion, salt, and pepper, and stir to combine. Set aside for 10 minutes and then whisk in the olive oil. Add the arugula, toss to combine, and transfer to a large platter. Arrange the vegetables on top of the greens and serve.

Reprinted from the book Ten Dollar Dinners by Melissa d’Arabian. Copyright © 2012 by Melissa d’Arabian. Photographs copyright © 2012 by Ben Fink. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House, Inc. Read our review of this book.