hearty fall salad

This delicious salad recipe features roasted sweet potato, wild rice and arugula. It's fresh, filling and nutritious! Enjoy this salad all week long. This recipe yields a lot of salad (6 generous servings) and is easily halved.

Hearty Sweet Potato, Arugula &amp; Wild Rice Salad with Ginger Dressing

rice,

fine sea salt, divided

potatoes

olive oil

raw pepitas (green pumpkin

arugula (about 5 packed cups)

feta

green onion

cranberries

apple cider vinegar,

Dijon mustard

maple syrup

ginger

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

twists of freshly ground black pepper

To cook the wild rice: Bring a large pot of water to boil (or see Instant Pot option provided in notes). Add the rinsed rice and continue boiling, reducing heat as necessary to prevent overflow, for 40 minutes to 55 minutes, until the rice is pleasantly tender but still offers a light resistance to the bite. Remove from heat, drain the rice and return the rice to pot. Cover and let the rice rest for 10 minutes, then remove the lid, stir in 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and set aside.

Meanwhile, to roast the sweet potatoes: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup. Place the cubed sweet potato on the pan, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Toss until the sweet potatoes are lightly and evenly coated in oil. Arrange the sweet potatoes in a single layer and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing halfway, until they are caramelized on the edges and tender when pierced through with a fork. Leave the oven on and let the sweet potatoes cool for a few minutes.

To make the dressing, simply combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

Combine the arugula, wild rice and roasted sweet potatoes (keep the parchment paper) in a large serving bowl or platter.

Spread the seeds and/or chopped nuts on your parchment-covered baking sheet. Bake for 3 to 4 minutes, until lightly golden and fragrant (be sure to set a timer; we&#8217;re toasting at high heat here).

Spread the toasted seeds/nuts over the salad. Top with the crumbled feta, green onion and dried cranberries.

If you&#8217;re serving the salad immediately, go ahead and drizzle most of the dressing on top (you probably won&#8217;t use it all). Gently toss to combine, and let the salad rest for a few minutes so the rice has time to absorb some of the dressing. Serve.

If you&#8217;re planning to have leftovers, divide the salad into portions and store the dressing separately. The salad and dressing will keep well, each covered in the refrigerator, for up to 5 days. Leftover dressing is great to keep on hand for future salads!

Amazing!  Didn’t have all the same ingredients you had listed so I used the suggested substitutions. I think we’ll have a different version of this every week! The rice and dressing are key. Thank you for making our plant based journey a delicious one! I have not made a recipe of yours yet that I would rate sub 5 star.

Thanks again for another 5 Star.   I know I will make this again and again like I do with so many others I have found on your site.

First time commenting... THIS WAS THE BEST SALAD EVER! I meal prepped for lunch, layering the roasted sweet potatoes on top of the wild rice, and then topping with the scallions, toasted almond slices, cranberries and goat cheese. Filled my container with baby spinach and brought the dressing in a mason jar.  I seriously cannot wait for lunch tomorrow, and will make this again and again and again!!!

This salad makes everything momentarily right with the world. The homemade dressing pulls everything together!! I loved the combination of tangy vinegar, spicy ginger, and sweet honey mustard. It complements every ingredient in the salad without overwhelming the individual flavors of the sweet potato, green onion, wild rice, etc. I love how versatile this salad is. You can throw in whatever ingredients you have on hand and it works. I added in extra roasted butternut squash and mushrooms and it was not a salad...it was a salaaaad (fancy pronunciation there).

thank you so much for another incredible recipe. I made half the recipe and it was perfect for 2. first time I eat arugula...wow what a wonderful peppery flavor. this is a keeper.

This is one of the best salads I’ve ever made! So hearty and yummy, I made it for my partner and parents and everyone thought it was winner! Thanks :)

We LOVE this recipe. We usually follow the recipe but today we had 2 red beets and decided to swap it for the sweet potatoes. Worked wonderfully. The ginger dressing with the green onions is the best part! Thank you Kate!

Loved this salad! It was bursting with flavor and had great texture.  I didn't have wild rice so I used farro instead. I also substituted goat cheese instead of feta and it was delicious. I definitely will put this salad on my list of regular rotations.

I just made it for lunch. I had brown rice and sweet potatoes and looking something interesting. And now this recipe is going in my recipe file. It's so yummy. Loved all the flavors and how they merge with each other. Ginger gives a nice twist to the dressing. My husband told me 4 times while eating the salad how good it is. It's going to be winter soon here in Australia and this will be a great recipe to make. Thank you.

So good! Even our meat &amp; potatoes dad liked it!

I am so happy to find this recipe on the website as I crave this salad pretty often. We recently moved and I left the book by Cookie and Kate back in Toronto for a friend. 
This is a full lunch or light dinner. Love the texture and the ginger dressing! Absolutely divine!!!!

This is one of my family's faves.  On regular rotation!  Thanks for another delish vegetarian meal!!

Love this, ive made it several times. My boyfriend even request it. I use vegan feta which is delicious. We do grill up chicken and put on top. It’s a rotating dinner in our house. Thanks!

Delicious! Made one "tweak" because I can't eat aged cheeses-- used feta for the rest of the family and then bought some of those tiny fresh mozzarella balls to top mine...worked great. Thanks for a filling and flavorful recipe.

This is like a summer version of  meatless Thanksgiving stuffing! Yum!

Amazing!! Made this tonight and was a huge hit. Will most definitely be making this frequently.

Excellent salad! I made it with sliced almonds and no cheese.
The dressing balances nicely the arugula!

I never have written a review, but I just have to say how yummy this was. I was skeptical because it seemed like a hodgepodge of random ingredients, but we loved it! The sweet potatoes made it a filling salad and the cranberries and dressing gave a nice sweetness to it. We will definitely make this again!

The dressing is delicious and the sky is the limit with varying the recipe

This is a wonderful tasting recipe!
I typically have to make amendments to recipes to "taste-correct". 
I had no need to make any adjustments to this one!
I would make it again, and look forward to serving it to company.

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The most viewed hearty fall salad recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

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