If you follow me on Instagram, it’s no secret that I love sweetgreen! I’ve been going for years since they opened their first shop in Georgetown. Naturally, all of us from DC were beyond excited when they opened up in New York, and without a doubt, I always run into a DC friend when I’m at one of the NYC locations. It only seemed natural that I ask them to contribute the first recipe to my new series #RecipesRevealed, where I’ll be featuring recipes and dishes from my favorite restaurants in the city and beyond.

One of the reasons why I love sweetgreen so much is because of the value they put on incorporating local + organic seasonal produce. Their menu actually rotates 5 times a year in accordance to local growing seasons! It’s incredible, but I have to admit I go into a bit of mourning when it’s time to say goodbye to my favorite seasonal salad, like this one (it left the menu on Tuesday). I made sure to snag the recipe for us so we can make it at home whenever the craving strikes.  Plus, I top everything with miso-ginger dressing so I had to check-out their signature recipe! You’ll love this one.

 

Ingredients
6-8

For the Salad:

  • 2 cups cooked wild rice, warm
  • 4 cups kale leaves, shredded
  • 1 handful basil leaves, torn
  • 3 portobello mushrooms, stemmed, diced + roasted
  • 1 small butternut squash, peeled, diced + roasted
  • 1 small red onion, peeled, diced + roasted
  • 1 medium red beet, peeled, diced small +  raw

For the Miso Ginger Dressing:

  • 2 tbsp sweet white miso paste
  • 2 tbsp gluten-free tamari
  • 1 tbsp sriracha (optional)
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • ½ tsp sesame oil
  • ¼ cup warm water
  • 2 tbsp mirin
  • 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and minced
  • 1 garlic clove, smashed and minced
  • 1/2 cup grape seed oil, or oil of choice
Method

Season the mushrooms, diced squash, and onions with 2-3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil along with a tsp of salt and 6 – 7 grinds of pepper. Spread all of ingredients out on two baking trays in a single layer. Place under the broiler until everything starts to caramelize about 10 minutes, stir everything up and continue to broil until all sides are well caramelized, about 20 minutes total. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

For the dressing, combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend on low until smooth, and increase speed to medium while adding the grape seed oil.  Taste and adjust as needed.

Combine all of the salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss with your preferred amount of dressing. Serve immediately. Great as a side dish or vegan main course.

Notes: I found that my broiler cooked my onions and mushrooms rather quickly, so keep a close eye on everything after 10 minutes as you may want to remove the onions and mushrooms before the squash. Also, I didn’t have any mirin on hand so I simply added another tbsp of rice vinegar.