Warm salad of blue cheese, sweet potato and hazelnuts with watercress

Name: Warm salad of blue cheese, sweet potato and hazelnuts with watercress
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 large sweet potato (about 550g); 1 red onion; 1-2 tbsp olive oil; 50g hazelnuts; 1 bunch of watercress; 1 clove garlic, crushed

October 18, 2011

Salad days: Warm salad of blue cheese with sweet potato, hazelnuts and watercress.Marina Oliphant

easyTime:< 30 minsServes:4

The salad combines the sweetness of roasted sweet potatoes and red onion, with hazelnuts and creamy blue cheese. Its robust flavours are perfect for this time of year. If you don't like blue cheese, you could easily substitute a delicious creamy marinated fetta.

Ingredients

For the salad

1 large sweet potato (about 550g)
1 red onion
1-2 tbsp olive oil
50g hazelnuts
1 bunch of watercress
1 clove garlic, crushed

For the dressing

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
150g creamy blue cheese

Method

For the salad
· Preheat oven to 180C. Peel sweet potato, cut in half lengthwise and then cut into 2cm thick slices.
· Peel onion and cut into thick wedges.
· Place vegetables on an oven tray and drizzle with a little olive oil. Roast for about 40 minutes until cooked.
· Place hazelnuts on an oven tray and roast for about 5 minutes to loosen skins.
· Remove from oven and rub off skins in a clean tea towel. Set aside.
· Wash watercress and pick through to remove large stalks.
For the dressing
· Whisk all the ingredients together.
· Place watercress in large salad bowl, add roasted vegetables and hazelnuts and toss with the dressing. Cut the blue cheese into bite-sized pieces and scatter over the salad. Serve immediately.