Roasted Sweet Potato Layer Salad

Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Salads have layers. Wait … what?

God bless iceberg lettuce and tomatoes, but sometimes you need something different. I’m a big fan of roasting vegetables, and then tossing them in layers on top of salad leaves and calling it a day. Here I kept to the basics — just four ingredients (because that’s what I had), and the olive oil and flavourings from the roasted vegetables formed the dressing. We ate this with fish.

If I wanted to make the salad a little fancier, I could put on MORE layers. I could garnish with diced bacon and toasted pine nuts, or pecans; or throw on prosciutto, crispy or not. Or crumble on feta, or chopped up cubes of cheddar. Roast some cherry tomatoes for more pops of colour. I could also take it a step/layer up with the dressing and do something mustard/honey-y or perhaps Greek yoghurt/cumin and minty.

The point is, this is not a recipe, it’s more a principle. And that principle is — both layers and roasted vegetables are great in salads, so throw your vegetables on some leaves, toss ever so slightly, if you must, and call the result whatever you feel like!

Shrek: For your information, there’s a lot more to ogres than people think.
Donkey: Example?
Shrek: Example… uh… ogres are like onions!
[holds up an onion, which Donkey sniffs]
Donkey: They stink?
Shrek: Yes… No!
Donkey: Oh, they make you cry?
Shrek: No!
Donkey: Oh, you leave ’em out in the sun, they get all brown, start sproutin’ little white hairs…
Shrek: [peels an onion] NO! Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers… You get it? We both have layers.
[walks off]
Donkey: Oh, you both have LAYERS. Oh. You know, not everybody like onions. CAKE! Everybody loves cake! Cakes have layers!

–shrek (2001)